Along with the ‘comfort’ quotient of the fabric which is given due attention, the company is also concerned about the carbon footprint created during production. Keeping in line with its vision for sustainable fabrics, Rajkrupa Textiles seamlessly pursues greener ways of creating its products so as to minimise any harmful output that could possibly be generated
Niraj Shah, Managing Director, RajKrupa Textiles (aka Raj Exports)
The textile industry was still in its infancy in the late 1970s with participants primarily concerned with operations such as those of knitting, weaving and fabric processing. As a result, entering a sector like textile manufacturing, which differed significantly from the others, was a tremendous risk that only a few were ready to undertake. At that time, Yugesh Shah and Shirish Shah, both brilliant visionaries of their days, foresaw the sector’s potential in the coming years and invested a significant deal of their time, efforts and money in founding the erstwhile Raj Exports albeit Bhoomi Textiles, which is now better known as Rajkrupa Textiles.
Today, the company is almost 50 years old and is regarded as a pioneer in the entire industry – its name synonymous with the words ‘sustainable fabrics’. The vision with which the company was started was to utilise innovation in transforming the lives of those dealing with the textile sector and of course that of the end consumer. The functionality, reliability and popularity of Rajkrupa Textiles bears testament to the fact that the company has, over the years, stuck to its vision and has consistently reinvented itself to cater to domestic as well as international markets in the best possible ways.
Expanding the Spread
The initial offering of the company heavily relied on India’s richness in cotton production and preferred production of knitted fabrics and the like. However, with the passage of time the company grew exponentially, and it now extensively deals in the processes of knitting, dyeing, printing, finishing and garmenting. The company’s ability to deliver and create beautiful products with extraordinary precision is the reason why western giants such as Walmart, ASDA, Sainsbury, Next, etc. have established tie-ups and placed their trust in Rajkrupa Textiles for procurement of fabrics that are of the highest quality and are manufactured using sustainable ways.
In addition to the aforementioned, the company’s Managing Director Niraj Shah has also established and is now successfully operating a premium loungewear brand for women, which is very minimalistic and sophisticated in nature. This has been named after the Greek goddess Artemis which symbolizes the moon and the virtues of beauty and chastity. The inspiration behind the brand name stems from the relentless dedication that the creators have invested into taking the customer experience to an optimal level of comfort, thus making their women customers feel like flawless goddesses.
Going Green
At Rajkrupa Textiles it is not just the comfort of the fabric which is given due attention but also the carbon footprint created while manufacturing the fabric. Keeping in line with its vision for sustainable fabrics, the company seamlessly pursues greener ways of creating its products so as to minimise any harmful output that could possibly be generated. When asked to visualise pollution, most people may end up imagining oil spills, emissions from coal power plants, smog and plastic waste. However, rarely do people recognise that the clothes they wear also contribute towards a massive source of pollution. Textile production in the year 2015 alone emitted 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 and the same was more than what the maritime shipping industry and foreign flights generated cumulatively.
Textile dyeing and related processes also accounted for 20% of all industrial water contamination of the world in 2015 and it is the ‘fast fashion’ culture of inexpensive, stylish apparel that does not last long which is to blame for this catastrophic impact. The said trend is unsustainable owing to the suboptimal quality of fabric that it is being generated, and more importantly so because of the processes which are being utilised for manufacturing such fabrics. The cumulative effects of fast fashion are thus causing the environmental cost of fashion to increase enormously. In terms of economic activity, the textile industry is the second-largest sector of the world trade market, anticipated to reach USD 1,230 billion by 2024, up from USD 920 billion in 2018.
However, while the sector is a wealthy market on one hand, it also necessitates a high level of monitoring and adaptation to suitable norms in order to decrease its negative environmental effects. Sustainable fashion’s purpose is to promote healthy ecosystems and communities through its activities. This involves but is not limited to increasing the value of local production and products, extending the lifecycle of materials, elevating the value of ageless clothes, minimising waste and lowering the environmental impact of production and consumption. Niraj Shah is conscious of all such issues and he firmly believes in a greener future. One can easily catch a glimpse of his pro-sustainability temperament through the mode of functionality of the company’s production facilities, wherein the ‘best in the world’ energy-efficient machines are deployed to produce the renowned and cherished ‘Rajkrupa’ brand of fabrics.
While discussing the motives and ideals according to which he successfully runs his enterprise, Shah says, “The expansion of our organisation should never occur at the cost of the environment and we at Rajkrupa Textiles pursue this determination by not compromising on the quality of anything that is utilised throughout the chain of manufacturing.” As such, deliberate attempts are undertaken to decrease the carbon emission of the company through the usage of environment-friendly and energy-efficient machines for production. These state-of-the-art machines have the ability to generate 4 – 4.5 million metres of fabric every month.
Tackling the Pandemic
As for the challenges imposed by the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, Shah admits to the serious impact caused by this unprecedented crisis. But he also states with a note of optimism of the resilience of the human spirit in dealing with such a situation. “All the death and suffering that the pandemic has brought about in its wake has been truly unfortunate and disheartening but credit must be given to the innate human tendency of adapting successfully to all types of situations, which give us an edge as a species from the point of view of survival,” he says.
This is something the team of Rajkrupa Textiles exemplified with being optimistic through the turbulent times. “We initiated operations as soon as the government gave the go-ahead to the textile industry to resume production. The objective was to meet the demands of our loyal customers. There were substantial challenges faced by us during this period. Fear of contracting infection, uncertainty about vaccination and the migration of workers were some of the major issues which had to be dealt with. However, the team managed to overcome all such hurdles by following safety protocols. We brought the workers back to the plants by arranging for transportation and training other workers for the various tasks. All these steps resulted in the company regaining its full efficiency by the month of September 2020,” Shah informs.
The company ran with full efficiency from September 2020 to March 2021 but new challenges awaited them as the second wave of the pandemic kicked in which once again brought everything back to a standstill. This time around, Shah and his team were better prepared for the situation and made sure that work would continue seamlessly by taking due care of all the protocols and successfully managing to meet the targets of the pre-pandemic days even though the margins might have dwindled a little. Shah admits that it is a part and parcel of the business that he operates in, but is also proud about the fact that he and his team were able to successfully bounce back to post a V-shaped recovery. “Such a quick recovery was possible also because the demand for our products never dwindled. That is because we create comfort wear which became more popular in the pandemic period,” he adds.
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The Road Ahead
The company has a full order book for fabrics and garments for the coming six months. Rajkrupa Textiles also exports its products to 12 countries. Various factors, as Shah explains, have contributed to the good health of the company. “There is the perfect combination of an innovative approach to solve problems, a dedicated team of employees and workers and experienced and visionary leadership that has helped us to cross various milestones of success,” he adds. Meanwhile, plans are afoot for further expansion, one of them being to establish a greenfield project in the near future. “The project is part of our ambition to produce environment-friendly fabrics through sustainable ways,” Shah informs.
