Welspun India, announced Thursday that the company has entered into a co-operation agreement with Cotton Egypt Association (CEA) to promote and market Egyptian cotton products worldwide. The Cotton Egypt Association, established by the Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade and Alexandria Cotton Exporters Association, is mandated to manage, promote and protect the Egyptian Cotton and the Egyptian Cotton Logo worldwide. Welspun India Ltd, part of US$ 2.3 billion Welspun Group, is one of the world's largest home textile manufacturers. With a distribution network in more than 50 countries and world class manufacturing facilities in India, it is the largest exporter of home textile products from India and a supplier to 17 of top 30 global retailers. In a strategic global initiative, Welspun India, has entered into a co-operation agreement with Cotton Egypt Association (CEA) to promote and market Egyptian cotton products worldwide. Under the agreement, the two organisations will work together to create programmes for promotion of Egyptian Cotton logo in the retail markets across the globe. The agreement will also help enhance the complete supply chain of the Egyptian Cotton starting from cultivation to the final product, which will also benefit the Egyptian farmer and the industry as a whole. WIL will invest a sum of $ 3 million in a stage wise manner over next few years to support the joint initiatives. The Cotton Egypt Association, post verifying Welspun's quality and supply chain reliability processes, has granted the company the right to use the Egyptian Cotton logo for five years until 2022. Notably, Welspun had undertaken stringent audit and traceability programme to ensure the best product quality that is certifiable, verifiable and auditable. Dipali Goenka, CEO and Jt. Managing Director of Welspun India Ltd. said, "The sheer nature of Egyptian Cotton makes it a luxury to be cherished by all. Welspun wants the world to know about Egyptian cotton and we want to help promote it among the consumers and the makers alike. Welspun will help create marketing programmes and execute them using its extensive global network. Welspun India is also exploring options for expansion of its Egypt operations to include a manufacturing facility for Egyptian Cotton home textile products. "We foresee an increase in demand for Egyptian Cotton and find an ideal condition for making Egypt one of our hubs for sourcing and manufacturing Egyptian Cotton products. We're looking at the best option to utilize this opportunity," added Goenka. Widely regarded as an innovations driven company, Welspun India Ltd has filed for 27 global patents of which nine have already been granted. Its best-selling innovation Hygrocotton has done well and the latest one Nanocore has received Asthma and Allergy Free Certification for bedding products in the US. A third innovation, Drylon, has achieved good traction with the launch of new varieties. Apart from revamping its Christy brand to make it youth-friendly, Welspun is also increasing its global footprint with new stores in the US, China, Middle East and in the UK and working on increasing its associations similar to Wimbledon and Rugby World Cup. Welspun has been optimistic about the Indian market. Its brands, Spaces – Home and Beyond and Welhome, have been well received in the market registering a growth rate of over 20% year on year. The company is increasing its focus on the hospitality industry with tie-ups already in place with prominent international hotel chains.
