Nandan Denim Limited (NDL), India’s second largest integrated denim fabric company has one of the largest manufacturing capacities in the world. NDL is a part of leading conglomerate, Chiripal Group, established in 1972 and is currently diversified across several businesses like textiles, petrochemicals, chemicals, packaging, infrastructure, and education.

Deepak Chiripal, CEO, NDL, says that the company continued to increase its penetration of international markets to drive its exports business as revenues from exports grew 75 per cent –yo-y to reach Rs 1,36.3 crores in fiscal year 2015, from Rs 77.7 crores in fiscal year 2014.

Speaking about the evolution of denim, Chiripal believes that denim has evolved from humble casual wear to haute couture today. It is a universal fabric and not just a commodity, but the lifeline of fashion. In this context, Chiripal states that NDL is optimistic about the prospects of the domestic denim industry. Today’s youth is increasingly turning towards denim, and the company wants to capitalise on this opportunity promising to give the youth an international fabric at a local price. Chiripal says India has one of the lowest per capita consumption of 0.3 pairs in the world, with far more opportunities in the offing.

Thus, with rising denim demand, the company is well-placed to meet it and has spearheaded a capacity expansion programme at a project cost of Rs 612 crores for which the debt tie-up is completed. The installed capacity will stand at 110 million metres per annum (MMPA) of denim fabric, 124 tonnes per day (TPD) of spinning facility and 10 MMPA of Yarn Dyed Shirting facility, after the commissioning of the expansion project. Chiripal says that the project will be completed on time by the first quarter of 2017.