Mills & Boon: Rajnagar Textile to re-open by Sept

Once a face of flourishing textile industry in Ahmedabad, Rajnagar Textile Mills, which was closed down in the wake of rising wage costs leading to close to 2,000 workers losing jobs, is soon set to see daylight again.

A unit of the National Textile Corporation (NTC), Rajnagar Textile Mills is part of the corporation's Rs 500 crore modernisation process of over 22 mills. Post-modernisation, the erstwhile composite mill will begin production of 50,000 metres per day of yarn and grey cloth each by September this year.

Being set up altogether as a greenfield project at an investment of Rs 150 crore, Rajnagar Textile Mills will comprise imported looms and other machinery. What's more, the mill will provide direct employment to over 700 workers, apart from indirect employment.

"The unit had to be closed down following increased competition and rising wage costs. But few years back, the modernisation project received a nod from the Bureau of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). An epitome of the flourishing textile industry in the 1950s, the mill will be opened again by September this year," said a senior NTC official.

However, while both the sections of the mill were closed down, the modernisation work is being conducted in only one section, spreading across an area of eight acres.

"There were two compounds of the mill and both were closed. But the modernisation work is being conducted in only one compound. The corporation is yet to take a call on what will become of the other section," the official added.

Apparently, Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA) had charted out the details of the modernisation of the Rajnagar Textile Mills located in Asarwa area of Ahmedabad.

According to sources, once opened, Rajnagar Textile Mills is set to offer a direct employment to over 700 workers, apart from indirect employment through ancillaries. The modernised mill will now be manufacture both yarn and grey cloth at a daily capacity of 50,000 metres each.

"Advanced machineries have already been imported from Germany for yarn and grey cloth manufacturing. The building construction is expected to be completed soon, following which machineries will be moved in. The commissioning plant will, nevertheless, take another 5-6 months," the official added.