Raymond, Reliance Group among those evincing interest
Reputed garment manufacturers have evinced keen interest in investing ?700 crore to ?800 crore in setting up units in Maharashtra’s Solapur District, said a top official.
“Of late, Solapur has been gaining prominence as a sourcing hub for ready-made school and corporate uniforms,” said Amit Kumar Jain, joint secretary, Solapur Garment Manufacturers Association. “We expect Solapur to attract investments of ?700 crore to ?800 crore by 2022.” According to him, Mafatlal Industries had already started a 200-machine factory to make ready-made uniforms. Reliance Group, Raymond and Mumbai-based Rupam Exports and Amber Home, which make shirts for the European market, are next in the line.
Officials from Raymond would visit Solapur on February 8 to begin initial discussion with 40-50 manufacturers for sourcing uniforms. “Right now, we have 300 members in Solapur making school and corporate uniforms,” said Mr. Jain. “Our target is to scale it up to 2,000 members by 2022 and touch a turnover of ?25,000 crore.
Average investment
On an average, the investments by these firms will be about ?2 crore. The investments by big firms will be much higher,” he said. The market size for ready-made uniforms in India was estimated at ?18,000 crore with the unorganised sector accounting for ?8,000 crore, said Nilesh Shah, vice president, Solapur Garment Manufacturers Association. “Solapur is gaining significance for garment trade. Hence, to help its promotion and expansion at international level, an uniform and garment exhibition was held at Solapur in the last two years. The announcement of an airport at Solapur will provide us the missing link,” said Mr. Shah.
Mr. Jain said awareness among the domestic and international buyers about ready-made school and corporate uniforms was on the rise and it could be seen by the substantial increase in the number of participating States from four to 12 in the second edition of the garment exhibition. “We are expecting higher demand for school uniforms, kids garments, gents and ladies garments by 2022. We hope that each firm can provide employment to about 250 people on a single shift basis,” said Mr. Jain.

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