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| Denim Club India - Newsletter |
| Denim Club India - a social and
professional networking place, for members of the denim community - brings to your desk well-researched
compilations in the form of articles and documents relating to the Denim industry, carrying information from
India and all over the world. |
| Vol. 1 No. 1 January 2010 |
| In 10 years time, India can become a world-leader in Denims |
| Exclusive Interview with Dr. P. R. Roy |
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In a freewheeling conversation, Dr. P. R. Roy, the man who gave a new meaning to the word denim and was responsible for building the
foundation of Denim Industry in mid 80's, shares, with Denim Club India, his passion for denim, and vision for future of denim in India.
Q.You have been the pillar of the Indian denim industry and it wouldn't be
wrong to say that Dr. P. R. Roy and Denim Industry are inseparable since the
colour of denim literally runs through your veins! Could you highlight your
journey through those initial years?
A. During late 70s, when I traveled to Europe, United States, I observed that
people wear a particular type of bottom-wear, jeans, which were not being
produced in India back then. So the thought was - why can't we produce such a
popular product in India? In the beginning of 80s, we got an opportunity to
interact with a young inspiring entrepreneur, who encouraged us to develop
this product on our own and we developed and supplied the product to him
for almost 2-3 years with our own in-house technology.
Soon new enterprising and upcoming youngsters like Sanjay Lalbhai felt that we
should not wait for a long period for international technology to come to India
through others. So, for the first time, the denim production technology was
imported to India. We moved in a big way into this new denim product line.
Since Arvind Mills was already a leading producer of product categories such as
dhotis, sarees, shirtings, handkerchiefs and so on, and had been facing tough
competition from the decentralized sector on such product groups, our denim
product line put us ahead, far ahead, in this sector, where most players did not
have the ability to finance and manage such a product line at that time. This
denim product line with international connotation placed us beyond any
competition.
For me, it was an excellent Blue Ocean strategy that worked in favor of us in 86-87.Thus, we became world's one of the largest denim
producers.
Q. How was the demand situation then?
A. There definitely was demand, though not very visible. Arvind having come up with a new international denim product line gained a huge
export potential. Everyone was surprised by the fact that despite being a newcomer, how Arvind could launch a new international product line
to compete with the global leaders. During those days, Indian exporters mainly exported grey textile goods whereas our
ready/processed/finished product line was highly competitive in terms of prices and quality. Many large importers and buyers
began visiting Arvind Mills to see the product development.
This path-breaking initiative was a proud moment not only for us but the Indian textile industry as a whole. |
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