A new green apparel factory at Agalawatte

The new green apparel factory at Agalawatte set up by Ceylon Knit Trend (CKT) Pvt. Ltd. a fully owned subsidiary of Hirdaramani Group will start operations within the next few months. The new USD 6 million facility named Mihila will be the third factory to be set up in Sri Lanka falling in line with the new trend in Europe to go for eco- friendly products.

"The investment for the new factory is a mix of internal funds and bank borrowings and the project enjoys BoI concessions" Hirdaramani’s Group Finance Director Ranil Pathirana said.

According to him the decision to construct a green factory was taken almost a year ago. "The factory has a land area of 6 to 7 acres and expects to employ 1000 to 1500 workers. It will mainly manufacture knit products such as t-shirts and pants entirely for foreign markets"

Explaining the rationale to move into a green factory, Pathirana said that presently the whole world is moving towards green products and being green will provide Hirdaramani a cutting edge in the present intensified competitive environment. The UK garments retail giant Marks & Spencer recently announced that after the next five years every piece of garment they will be selling should contain the green tag.

Commenting on the green features of the new factory he said that use of solar power, rain water harvesting, recycling of emissions and planting of trees at key locations play a major role in making the factory truly green.

"Being green is not very easy. It is a very expensive process. But within a year we were able to complete it and commence operations. In my view it is quite an achievement for Hirdaramani" Pathirana added.

During the last few months the Sri Lankan apparel industry witnessed another two giants in the industry going green, namely Brandix and MAS. Brandix recently announced that their 30 year old factory in Seeduwa will be converted to a green plant at a cost of USD 2.5 and MAS last week opened their new green factory located at MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya.

Consumers in the west are increasingly demanding environmentally friendly goods. This has pushed large retailers and big brand names in the west, to look for eco-friendly products. This trend has resulted in three of Sri Lanka’s biggest garment manufacturers putting money into setting up ‘green’ factories.