Welspun has been recognised as Giga-Guru by Walmart for sustainability processes. Giga-Gurus are the suppliers who are demonstrating results through Project Gigaton, Walmart’s initiative to reduce emissions in the global value chain by 1 billion metric tons – a gigaton – by 2030.
The company has recently launched the “Welspun” brand in India for the mass market. Mr. B.K. Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group, said, “We have launched our mass market brand ‘Welspun’ to tap the enormous domestic market potential. We are now confident of building a strong B2C presence in the domestic market. Our new initiatives such as flooring solutions, advanced textiles, e-commerce and hospitality are adding to this, to achieve a sustainable growth. Branding, innovation and sustainability continue to be the pillars of our differentiation strategy.”
Welspun clocked turnover of Rs. 6, 606 crores in the year 2018-19. The company’s retail business crossed annual sales of Rs. 200 crores and the advance textiles business clocked similar numbers.
Over the last three years, Welspun has taken various steps to enhance traceability, including the introduction of Wel-Trak™, a patented and cutting-edge solution that provides Welspun and its customers with reliable end-to-end traceability for Welspun’s premium cotton home textile products. This system builds customer trust by allowing customers to track the source of these products from farm to the retail shelf and reiterates Welspun’s commitment to prioritizing customer interest above all. The company has also increased additional third party assurances, such as vendor audits, and deployed a dedicated resource in Egypt to source Egyptian cotton.
Welspun continues to calibrate capex according to cashflows. The capex for the flooring project is on track. In the year 2018-19, capex was approx. Rs. 750 crores including Welspun Flooring capex of Rs. 560 crores. For the year 2019-20, the total capex is expected to be Rs. 600 crores.
Flooring project
Welspun is setting up a fully integrated and independent flooring business. The company aims to become a one-stop flooring solutions provider for domestic and international markets. The new facility is coming up in Telangana at an investment Rs. 1100 crores with a capacity of 27 million sq. metres per annum. The project is on track. Currently the erection of machinery is in progress. By end of June the equipment will get into commissioning stage. The company hopes to start commercial production at the flooring plant by August/September 2019.
Welspun is steadily expanding into flooring solutions, advanced textiles, e-commerce, hospitality and wellness which offer significant future growth opportunities.
The US hospitality market is estimated at $1.5 billion (i.e., for towels and sheets). Welspun’s marketshare is currently around 3% of this market, which clearly indicates huge growth potential. The company is planning major business expansion in the hospitality business globally as well as in India.
Another major opportunity is in the wellness market. The high potential global wellness economy is estimated at $3.7 trillion. Welspun has partnered with Stay Well to tap the global wellness potential. Stay Well infuses wellness into hotel rooms with features and programs to maximise the guest experience and minimise the impact that travel has on the human body.
Welspun is also actively working on opportunities in technical and advanced textiles. The company has developed products for specialized use in healthcare, fire departments, aerospace, defense, automobile, railways and other utilities. These products have features such as fire retardants, stain resistant, anti-bacterial, PET resistant, and soil resistance, among others. The company’s advanced textile division has qualified as a supplier to one of the world’s largest players in wet-wipes.
The other major market which the company is looking to tap is in bedding. There is a large untapped opportunity in basic bedding, comforters and quilts. Currently, China dominates the market. India is gradually making inroads.