Sending a message to the global market that Sri Lanka is gearing up to become a top fabric destination, the country’s fabric industry is positioning itself to emerge from the shadow of the apparel industry.

The industry’s repositioning comes in the backdrop of knitted fabrics manufacturer Textured Jersey – Sri Lanka’s only multinational mill – becoming the largest textile manufacturer in the region, post-acquisition of Quenby Lanka Prints and Ocean India as its subsidiaries in 2015.

According to Textured Jersey Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, today the fabric industry in Sri Lanka is bigger than some of the historical big local industries and is ahead of other key industries. TJL Group is presently the only one of its kind of this scale and sophistication in South Asia and has set its sights set on becoming a $ 300 million business by 2020.