Bombay Rayon Fashions to invest Rs 1,100 crore in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s customised policy for mega industrial projects has won the state yet another big-ticket investment commitment. The state has lured Bombay Rayon Fashions (BRFL), a leading fabrics and garment manufacture with bulk of its operations based in Karnataka, into making an investment of Rs 1,100 crore for setting up new facilities in the industrially backward pockets of Maharashtra. A major outcome of this investment proposal would be the creation of 32,000 direct jobs and another 50,000 opportunities for indirect employment.

An MoU was signed between BRFL and the state government on Tuesday to set up manufacturing facilities at Tarapur, Islampur, Ichalkaranji, Latur, Nanded, and Osmanabad. BRFL managing director Prashant Agarwal and principal secretary of industries, government of Maharashtra, VK Jairath, signed the MoU.

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the investment was another feather in Maharashtra’s cap and the mega project policy had gone a long way in ensuring that big guns in several sectors set shop in Maharashtra. Mr Deshmukh and Mr Agarwal, however, refused to divulge the details of “customised policy” and the special incentives granted by the government. Mr Jairath said the state had bagged 78 investment commitments worth Rs 73,000 crore under its mega project policy.

At present, BRFL has fabric processing capacity of 1.5 lakh metres per day and garment capacity of 1 lakh garments per day at its facilities around Banagalore. But the capacity expansion plan by setting up greenfield units for yarn dyeing, weaving, processing, and garmenting in Maharashtra would scale up fabric processing capacity by 5 lakh metres per day and garment capacity by 1 lakh garments per day. Mr Agarwal said all facilities would start production by September 2008 and the production unit at Ichalkaranji would come up within three months. BRFL would have an equity of Rs 400 crore and debt of Rs 700 crore has been tied up, Mr Agarwal added.

On this occasion, Mr Agarwal also disclosed BRFL’s plan to invest in setting up production facilities in the cotton belt of Vidarbha on Mr Deshmukh’s suggestion. The CM pointed out that more number of cotton growers in Vidarbha were inclined towards growing organic cotton. Mr Agarwal acknowledged the suggestion and pointed out that it made logistical sense also to have fabric and garment production facilities in Vidarbha itself rather that carrying cotton from Vidarbha to Karnataka. He maintained that BRFL was the only fully certified garment manufacturing company in India to produce the entire chain of products from organic cotton.