On an expansion drive, TT sourcing for funds

TT the well known innerwear and casual wear brand is planning a major expansion drive. On the anvil is an investment of Rs 150 crores over the next two years to build new garment capacities in Tirupur and expand yarn operations in Gujarat.

Apart from that they want to invest in wind energy for captive requirements and may also go in for de-bottlenecking their existing facilities.

The promoters are sourcing funds for further expansion of TT. “The company needs fresh capital to fund the Rs 100 crores expansion of the Rajula spinning unit with an additional 25,000 spindles, another Rs 25 crores towards the expansion of its garment manufacturing unit in Tirupur, a Rs 10 crores for balancing existing equipment at all existing spinning plants and Rs 15 crores for setting up a wind energy plant in Tamil Nadu.  The Rs 150 crores of investment has a funding strategy in place. Around Rs 25 crores will be contributed through internal accruals whilst Rs 50 crores will be sourced through equity and Rs 75 crores through debt,” informs Sanjay Jain, Director. In fact, TT is already listed on NSE and BSE and was the first Indian knitwear company to go public in 1990.

TT best known for its innerwear range has a long list of 150 products in its portfolio covering innerwear and casual wear. They also have various sub brands under the TT umbrella like – Cool, Green, Spice, Desire, Gold, etc. This covers various products for men, women and kids. “Also we have recently introduced a premium segment brand called Coco Tree in which we offer a range for men, women and kids. The kids segment is under a sub brand Fundoos and ladies under Pretty Women,” informs Jain.

The products are available all over India and exported to more than 25 countries. The company has manufacturing facilities in Tirupur, Kolkata, Delhi, Varanasi, Saharanpur, Kanpur and Ludhiana. The company has recently started an exclusive TT chain of stores and at present has 20 such exclusive stores and will continue to focus its retail venture primarily in Delhi, NCR, UP and Bihar for next 1 year. The shops are strategically located in residential areas of the cities it is present in and are of 200-400 sq. ft. space. The business strategy is to reach out to the masses through retail chain and provide complete solution to the basic garment needs of a family. With e-retailing site already in place, TT is now looking to initiate e-shopping mailers or DTR (Direct-to-Retail) order concept.

Amongst all its retail products, TT innerwear is perhaps the most popular, having a strong presence in India’s Hindi belt. TT has just introduced for the first time in India, organic innerwear under the name Green Vests & Briefs for Men. Made of organic yarn certified by Control Union, Green is available in Big Bazaar stores and in selected counters in some cities. The MRP is about Rs 100, which is at a 25-30 per cent premium to the same quality regular TT cotton product. Jain says, “We are able to keep the price reasonable due the use of our in-house organic yarn. We plan to extend the range over the next few months to some other styles.”