Shri Govindaraja Textiles Ltd. (SGML) is part of the well-known Jayavilas Group of south India which was founded by the late 
T.Ramasamy Naicker way back in the 1930s. The group has its presence across the entire value chain covering transport, food, renewable energy, automotive, textile, mining, education and agriculture.
Started with bus transport business in 1935, the group diversified into textiles during the 1960s by acquiring a sick mill with 6,000 spindles at Rajapalayam. Presently the Jayavilas Group comprises about 30 textile mills, having about 11 lakh ring spindles, close to 10,000 rotors, about 100 buses and 170 lorries and tankers, in addition to finance companies providing direct and indirect employment to about 30,000 workers. At present, the Jayavilas Group is one of the leading industrial groups in the South with a total annual turnover of about Rs. 2,000 crores.
Shri Govindaraja Textiles is a significant offshoot of the bigger Jayavilas Group which came into existence under the management of Mr. T.R. Varadarajan, and his son Mr. Ramkumar Varadarajan. Presently the Govindaraja Group consists of eight textile units with about four lakh spindles, six wind mills and transport business as a separate wing.
SGT specializes in 100 per cent grey cotton yarn ranging from 2s to 160s counts with over 60 per cent of yarn revenues derived from the fine/superfine count (60s and above counts) category. The company also has a good presence in the value-added domain through products such as gassed, high-twisted and compact spun yarn.
The company exports its products to countries like Israel, Turkey, Korea, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, 
Bangladesh, etc., in addition to local markets in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Around 26 per cent of the company’s yarn business is presently derived from export revenues, primarily from exports to Korea constituting around 40 per cent of total exports.
Raw materials
With a rich textile background and with decades of exposure, SGML gives high priority to selection of the best cotton from around the world. Cotton for the group is imported from countries such as the Egypt, the US, West Africa and CIS countries, while local cotton is procured from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Man-made fibre such as polyester is being sourced from Reliance.
Spinning
In order to supply its customers the best yarns available, which clearly stand out from the conventional grades by virtue of their quality and their processing and serviceability properties, SGML is systematically investing heavily on training and technology. In the line for decades, the company has now become a specialist in producing 100 per cent grey cotton ring spun and open end yarns for weaving and knitting as well as polyester cotton blended spun yarn and polyester viscose blend yarn. With a wide variety of counts ranging from to 2s to 160s, the company is all geared to cater to customer requirements from across the globe.
Govindaraja Textiles seeks to offer customers additional benefits and specializes in 
very fine count yarns marketed under its own global brands. With this in mind, the company researches and assesses market developments and invests continuously in its own personnel and the latest technologies in order to ensure ongoing success in the marketplace.
Moving to the technology part, all the mills of the Govindaraja Group are equipped with the latest and most modern machines available in the market today. More interestingly, there are machines that are more than 30 years old giving the same output as achieved with the new ones. Of course, a lot of modifications and design alterations have been carried out as per suggestions by its own qualified employees. “This level of efficiency is achieved purely because of our highly committed workforce”, says Mr. Ramkumar, Executive Director, Shri Govindaraja Group.
High technology machines from LMW, Rieter, Trutzschler, Savio, Schlafhorst, Muratec, SSM, Veejay Lakshmi and RIFA have been installed at all the production units. Further, SGT uses the best testing equipment, sourced from Uster and Premier, to provide the best quality product. Humidification is a very important factor to be considered for a dry place like Aruppukotai since it affects overall production efficiency. However, Luwa has done a wonderful job for the company plants with their tailor-made solutions.
Leveraging on the expertise in this domain, the company understands the requirements of the varying clients easily and serves them above their expectations.
Best practices
The SGT Group is always keen on enforcing new systems and policies that help increase productivity without compromising on best work culture practices. All its mills have adopted popular systems like Quality Circle, 5S, Kaizen techniques and TPM practices to improve the organizational performance.
The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is considered the backbone of SGT. The group is highly respected for its value-based management and its people-centric approach. The exponential growth of the mill can only be attributed to the vision of the management and the unrelenting dedication of its workforce.
Talking to The Textile Magazine, Mr. Ramkumar, Executive Director of Shri Govindaraja Group Mills, observed: “There is NO substitute for Quality. At Govindaraja mills, this is the axiom we believe in and it is with this philosophy we service our customer at every stage. We believe quality means best raw materials, state-of-the-art machinery and highly trained and skilled human resources.”
The management gives top priority for employee welfare, and has taken several measures in this regard, including meditation and breathing exercises, free recreation and library facilities, canteen facilities, free housing and transport facilities, rewards and recognition programs, gifts during festivals, counselling for workers personal problems, technical and safety training, quality control training, free hospital facility, single window system and the ATM facility for its employees.
“At Govindaraja Mills, we believe in people, people in turn believe us. This is the secret of our success”, says Mr. S. Bharani Maheswaran, President, Shri Govindaraja Group Mills.
Plan to open mill in the US
The Govindaraja Group is yet again in the spotlight as it plans to open its first textile mill in the US, in an effort to save money on energy, a company executive said. The mill, which would spin US-grown cotton into yarn, would be a major shift in the textile industry. For years the US has shipped its cotton to mills overseas for processing, and then imported the finished products.
Mr. Ramkumar said: “Govindaraja Textiles would spin the US cotton and export the yarn to weaving and sewing factories in Latin America. It is going to be an open-end plant consisting of 24 machines as a first phase of operation.”
Govindaraja chose the US for its access to cotton. The US is the world’s third largest cotton producer, after China and India. More importantly, energy cost in the US is just a fourth that in India. This and the comparatively high US labour productivity index are among the other reasons behind the decision to set up a plant there.