Kitex Garments has incorporated a new company in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, with an initial capital of Rs 100 cr, in keeping with the company’s earlier announcement of shifting some of its expansion to the new South Indian state.
The Kerala-based company had created controversy in its home state several months ago due to political statements made by its promoter Sabu Jacob.
Some months ago, Sabu Jacob alleged that he was being subjected to a witch-hunt by the Left Front government, and he would not invest any more into the state. This followed an unsuccessful attempt by 2020, a political party backed by Sabu Jacob, to win its first seat in the Kerala Assembly elections of this year.
Kitex Group, founded by Sabu’s father MC Jacob in 1968 at Kizhakkambalam near Kochi, is one of the largest home grown manufacturing companies in Kerala, and the only one to have tried to intervene directly in electoral politics.
Thanks to its early success in local body elections in Kizhakkambalam, 20-20 recently set its eyes on bigger prizes during the state assembly elections, but failed to make much headway.
However, the attempt did earn Sabu Jacob and Kitex Garments the distrust and enmity of leaders of political parties, including both the Left Front as well as the Congress-led UDF.
Shortly after the election, Sabu Jacob said his company was being subjected to harassment in the form of frivolous complaints about working conditions and pollution and so on, followed by inspections by state agencies.
Soon after, Sabu Jacob made a high-profile announcement that he was ‘leaving Kerala’ and he was ‘hounded out’ of the state by local politicians.
At the time, he also revealed that the Telengana industry minister and the son of Telangana Chief Minister KT Rama Rao had offered him lucrative incentives to invest in that state, and that he would take up on the offer.
Today, the company announced the details of its first investment, in the form of Rs 70 cr as seed capital for a new company based in Hyderabad, Kitex Apparel Parks Ltd.
The total authorized capital of the company — or the money that it can raise by selling its shares — is Rs 750 cr.
Kitex Garments Ltd, the listed entity, will hold 70% of the new company, while the remaining will be held by a private entity within the promoter group, Kitex Childrenswear Ltd.
It will engage in the business of ‘textile items, such as yarn, fabrics, garments, wearing apparels..including children’s garments, baby wear, infants’ wear, men’s wear, ladies’ wear and so on.