The Indian saree market is expected to register a compounded annual growth rate of 6 per cent over the next three years to touch ₹61,700 crore by FY25 from ₹46,400 crore in FY20 with a steady increase in the contribution of women to economic growth, especially in leadership roles.

Given the growing potential of this market, Isha Ambani, who heads Reliance Retail, at the company's recent shareholders meeting said the company strengthened its product portfolio by entering categories such as saree, lingerie and home furnishing, and have quickly scaled to establish significant positions in each of them.

A year back, Reliance Retail launched its flagship store ‘Avantra by Trends’ store in Bengaluru with ambitious plans to expand its saree brand in the south and take it to a Pan India level. Reliance Retail invested ₹ 7,600 core in strengthening its retail presence in the March quarter.

K Satyanarayana, Managing Director, Vighnaraja Textile Agencies, a large Surat-based saree wholesaler, said that despite saree being a huge market, about 80 per cent of the industry is still unorganised and this slowly changing with the entry of corporates and the younger generation.

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Sizable business

The saree market in Surat and Rajkot is estimated at ₹80,000 crore, and many other markets in India like Varanasi should be in the range of ₹ 75,000 crore, Kancheepuram, Mysore, Kota, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Mysore, Kolkata, and Madhya Pradesh would be at ₹1,45,0000 crore, he said.

Some of the large brands which have witnessed and achieved sizable business in the saree segment are Sai Silks Kalamandir, Pothy’s Nallis, and Kalyan Silks.

Sai Silks Kalamandir was started by a first generation techie and built to the current level of ₹ 1,129 crore revenue in FY22, out of which ₹761 crore was from saree sales.

It is the first saree and women’s ethnic player, which recently filed DRHP to raise ₹ 1,200 crore from the markets and other major players may follow suit.

The promoters of Vedant Fashions raised ₹3,100 crore through an offer for sale. With the economy growing steadily and travel opening up after Covid restrictions, consumers are expected to spend more on fashion and leisure, said an analyst.

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