The Hindu Business Line : Rieter investing $50 m in India in next 5 years

New Delhi April 11 Swiss multinational textile machinery major Rieter plans to invest about $50 million over the next five years to set up textile machinery manufacturing capacities in the country.

"India is one of the key emerging markets for us. We are looking at investments of around $50 million in the textile machinery business over the next five years," Chief Executive Officer of Rieter, Mr Hartmut Reuter, told Business Line. Rieter has appointed SICPA Vice Chairman Mr Sudhir Jalan as its Indian partner and Chairman of its Indian advisory board.

Rieter plans to start off by expanding an existing facility in Pune that is being operated by its subsidiary Suessen Asia Pvt Ltd, with plans for a ring spinning machinery facility in the first stage. The unit would eventually be expanded to include its entire line of textile machinery.

"We have some free land there and will be kicking off our plans at our Pune wing," he said, adding that Rieter would also be looking at greenfield options in other locations across the country subsequently.

Regional hub

Mr Reuter said the company, which has about 1,100 employees across six locations in India, hopes to double its headcount in the country in the medium term, with focus on not just blue-collar recruitments but engineering jobs as well in the areas of development, design and layouting. The company would eventually look at India as a technology development and export hub for markets in the region, he said.

Mr Reuter said that while China will continue to expand its dominant role in the textile industry, India and Turkey were the other important textile hubs and therefore key markets for Rieter. "The removal of quotas from 2005 has made the textile manufacturing base move to Asia occur in a much shorter time than expected and we are looking at expanding our activities in the key markets of China and India to service the entire region," he said.

He said the Government's Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) had given an impetus to overall machinery sales, with demand going up three-fold on this count.

On competition from cheaper Chinese models and second-hand imports, he said Rieter is a premium segment player, with quality and after-sales service being key pluses, unlike in the case of Chinese imports and second-hand machinery where quality and service remained concerns.

Rieter Textile Systems, part of the Rieter Group, is the leading supplier of integrated systems for manufacturing yarns from natural and manmade fibres for all applications. The Rieter Group comprises two divisions — Rieter Textile Systems and Rieter Automotive Systems.

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