Timbor Home gets into plantation to secure wood supply

Ahmedabad-based furniture maker and retailer, Timbor Home Limited has initiated plantation of trees to integrate supplies for its hard-wood requirements. The move would make Timbor the only furniture maker in India to have a fully integrated chain from plantation to retailing.

The company has already planted 30,000 saplings in 60 acres of leased land in Gujarat. It plans to expand the plantation to over 2500 acres in the next three years. A large part of the plantation would come up in Bharuch and Kheda districts of the state."We are now the only player in Indian furniture industry to be fully integrated from having our own plantation, treatment of wood facilities, manufacturing and retailing. By foraying into plantation, we intend to reduce our dependence on imported wood and improve our profitability," said Anant Maloo, chairman and managing director of the company.BSE-listed Timbor Home imports nearly 70 per cent of its total annual requirement of 600,000-800,000 cubic feet (CFT) of wood. Giving the statistics of wood recovery from the plantation, Maloo informed that about 600-800 trees can be planted on an acre of land. Each tree gives about 20-25 CFT of wood. The land will be taken on a long-term lease ranging between 10 to 20 years.

"For the furniture industry, we require a special hard-wood quality, which is less available in India. Hence we had to import a large quantity of our total requirements. The plantation of hard-wood species that we are taking up are fast growing versatile species, which would start giving yield in a period of 5-6 years," he said.

However, he declined to share the name of the specie being planted due to trade secrete reasons. The plant is largely found in Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and China. The specie is extensively used for manufacturing of furniture, plywood, joinery and all kinds of wood work.

The plant, company claims, is ecologically friendly as it makes fast-growing deciduous tree, which also create ideal micro-climate for growing other varieties of food crops.

Timbor Home has large retail presence in India with 110 franchise stores spread across 72 cities with six company-owned large format stores. Company had raised Rs 23 crore through initial public offering in June this year.