Grasim Industries to foray into menswear with Liva fibre

Aditya Birla Group company Grasim Industries is looking foray into the menswear segment with eco-friendly viscose branded Liva fibre, produced by its sister company Birla Cellulose. The company's total viscose production has risen to 1,250 tons per day from 650 tons per day five years ago. The company has now announced Rs 5,000 crore fresh investment to set up two plants, with an annual production capacity of approximately 220,000 tons per annum, in Gujarat. Selling under the brand name, Liva, Birla Cellulose’s viscose is currently used in 35 million garments as compared to mere 1.8 million in 2015.

Charging a premium over other textile raw materials such as cotton and polyester, viscose consumption in India is growing rapidly following growing income of average middle class. The overall viscose consumption in India has grown from 3.5 per cent five years ago to 4.5 per cent now, despite a phenomenal growth in overall textile industry during the period.

It may be recalled that Birla Cellulose recently introduced an eco-enhanced variant of Liva fabric called Livaeco. With Livaeco, Birla Cellulose is looking at systematically engaging with the textile value chain and offering fashionable clothing that is ecofriendly. Livaeco will be available exclusively in the spring/summer and autumn/winter collections of women’s brand W, which has specially curated a high fashion collection leveraging the attributes of Livaeco.