Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 94

INDUSTRY LIVE
Epic Group enters India; will invest US $ 20 million
in Ranchi unit
ESSENTIALS
Really Epic
90
million
garments
per annum
T
hough Ranchi (Jharkhand)
may not have attracted many
Indian apparel exporters to have
a unit there, Hong Kong-based
Epic Group has announced to
invest US $ 20 million (Rs. 140
crore) in apparel manufacturing
in the state. The move is expected
to generate 4,000 direct jobs.
This will be the Group’s first ever
garment factory in India.
So far majorly India’s Orient Craft
and Arvind Ltd. have operational
units in Ranchi while Shahi
Exports, Matrix Clothing, Richa
Global and few other apparel
manufacturers do have land there.
Ranjan Mahtani, Chairman and
Group CEO, Epic Group recently
had a meeting with Indian
25,000
Employees
Textile Minister Smriti Irani.
Ranjan and Group’s ED  K P
Pradeep also had a meeting with
Jharkhand’s CM Raghubar Das,
Principal Secretary of CM Sunil
Kumar Barnwal. Five-decades-
old Epic Group is one of the largest
manufacturers in the garment
industry. It works with top brands
and retailers like Walmart,
JCPenney, Uniqlo, H&M, Tesco,
Kohl’s and Levi’s, among others.
“The investment will be done
in the initial two years to
set up the manufacturing
facility, machinery and provide
training to the workforce. The
manufacturing unit in Ranchi is
similar to the smallest facility
of the company in Bangladesh,
16
factories in
Bangladesh,
Vietnam, Jordan
and Ethiopia
the biggest manufacturing hub
for the Group. The initial first
year will be spent in setting up
the unit and providing intensive
training. If everything goes
according to the plan, we will
increase the scale of our Ranchi
facility before setting up a new
unit in some other parts of the
country,” said Mahtani.
The initial plan is to produce
15 million pieces in Ranchi while
doing decent business in the
country in the next two years.
Currently, the Group is exporting
garments to nearly 47 countries.
Approximately 70 per cent of the
company’s export is to the US
market while the remaining goes
to Europe, Japan and China.
As a growing
organisation,
Epic Group is
continuously
exploring ways
to expand our
global footprint
and offer various
sourcing solutions
to our customers.
We believe,
adding Ranchi as
a manufacturing
location to our
matrix will get
benefited by the
close proximity to
the raw material
base which helps
to react quickly
to the market
fluctuations.
Further adding
smaller modular
lines will enhance
the manufacturing
flexibility to
support diverse
range of products.
Product lines will
be built in Ranchi
with the alignment
of our international
customers and we
strongly believe
this initiative will
further strengthen
our relationships
with the global
brands and
retailers.
”We intend to set up
a greenfield garment
unit in India with
around 40 lines at an
investment of up to
US $ 20 million. Ranchi
looks most promising
as a potential location
and we look forward to
starting our association
with the state. We
are confident that
in the next decade,
the company can
generate 20,000 direct
employment in India,”
said Ranjan Mahtani,
Chairman and Group
CEO, Epic Group.
Ranjan Mahtani, Chairman and Group CEO, Epic Group, recently met Textile Minister Smriti Irani
94 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com