A yarn well spun: Reliance Polyester has left its mark on the global market

BIRTH OF A BRAND

Today, Reliance Polyester is the world's largest manufacturer of polyester fibres and yarn. With a presence in Turkey, the US, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, China and the UK, among many other countries, Reliance Polyester has left its mark on the global market. Its strength lies in the fact that the corporation has completely integrated the various components of the polyester value chain into its operations, beginning from crude oil right up to the final product.

WHY TEXTILES?

For Reliance, the textile business has sentimental value. Its first brand, Vimal, was launched in 1966 at Naroda in Gujarat, later becoming the foundation of its polyester business. It is probably the only business that the late Dhirubhai Ambani as well as his sons Mukesh and Anil have personally handled at some point of time. Founded by Dhirubhai, the brand was popularised by Anil and later expanded by Mukesh. Several celebrities, including actors Sridevi and Jaya Prada and cricketer Ravi Shastri, were roped in as product ambassadors for the brand. Vimal also launched sarees, and after 1993, shifted its focus to suiting textiles. Nicknamed 'Queen of textiles', Vimal soon established one of India's first textile chains and became a formidable player in suit and shirt textiles, as well as sarees, dress materials and home textiles. The company began focusing on exports between 2000 and 2001.

THE COMPANY TODAY

Under Mukesh, Reliance has announced the revival of its Vimal brand, in association with China's Ruyi group. The company has decided to scale up its polyester business after a short hibernation. The growing demand for Indian fibre across the world is one of the reasons. At the same time, cotton prices have almost doubled in the past few years allowing makers of man-made fibres like polyesters to wield enormous pricing power. Reliance Polyesters sees this as an opportunity for exponential growth because of the demand from industries such as bottling, packaging and food.

DID YOU KNOW?

As a gesture of affection towards elder brother Ramniklal, Dhirubhai christened the brand after his son, Vimal Amban