J K Ansell In Expansion Mode, To Market Gloves

J K Ansell, the 50:50 joint venture between the Vijaypat Singhania group company Raymond and Australia-based Ansell International, is expanding its business portfolio.

The company, which was so far known for manufacturing and marketing the Kamasutra brand of condoms, has now started marketing gloves. Ansell International is a world leader in manufacturing, designing, developing and marketing of gloves. It operates in the industrial, consumer and medical gloves segments.

Aniruddha Deshmukh, executive director of J K Ansell, said, "The company has launched the 'Gammex' brand of surgical gloves in the market. The Gammex brand of gloves will be imported from Sri Lanka and sold in the domestic market.

It may be noted that Ansell has a 75 per cent stake in Kemwell International, a Bangalore-based, 100 per cent export-oriented unit.

Deshmukh said, "Kemwell manufactures the 'Medigrip' brand of medical gloves and its distribution will be handled by J K Ansell."

However, J K Ansell will not undertake manufacturing of gloves. The company is planning to achieve a turnover of Rs 10 crore from the new business.

However, Gammex and Medigrip will not compete against each other as it is positioned at different segments of the market.

According to analysts, the medical gloves market is estimated to be around Rs 80 crore and 120 million pair per annum in volume terms.

"The company will face lot of competition as it is largely ruled by the unorganised sector," analysts added.

J K Ansell has registered a turnover of Rs 38.5 crore for fiscal 2000-01 and is targeting a growth of 30 per cent in the next two years.

The company, at a later stage, will also start marketing industrial gloves. It has already conducted a market study for this purpose.

As part of its expansion plans, the company has introduced Kamasutra Sport range of condoms, targeted towards the youth. Priced at Rs 15 for a pack of three, the move is to bring in new untapped consumers by expanding the market. Its premium brand Kamasutra has a 35 per cent market share, while the TTKLIG's Kohinoor brand is the market leader.