EASTERN SILK INDUSTRIES LTD.

Eastern Silk Industries Limited was incorporated on April 9, 1946 with the name 'Eastern Silk Manufacturing Company Limited' . The Company was converted into a Private Limited Company with the name 'Eastern Silk Manufacturing Company Pvt Ltd' on June 12, 1956. Thereafter was again converted into a Public Limited Company and the name was changed to 'Eastern Silk Manufacturing Company Limited' on July 26, 1975. On August 12, 1975, the Company changed the name to 'Eastern Silk Industries Limited' . Eastern Silk Industries Limited, a Kolkata based company is the leading exporter of silk fabrics. The company is presently engaged in the manufacture of silk yarn, fabrics and made-ups, home furnishings, fashion fabrics, handloom fabrics, double width fabrics, scarves, laces and belts, and embroidered fabrics. They manufacture silk yarns of various counts (20's to 240's) and fabrics in a variety of weaves, textures and surface-effects. The company's operations include manufacturing of silk yarn; fabrics and made-ups; home furnishings; fashion fabrics; handloom fabrics; double width fabrics; scarves, laces and belts, and embroidered fabrics. They offer products in two groups: furnishing fabrics and fashion accessories. The furnishing fabrics include plain, embroidery, patch, weaves, embossing, jacquards, dobbies and emboss. The fashion accessories include fashion fabrics, readymade furnishings and scarves. The company is headquartered in Kolkata. They export their products to United Kingdom, United States, Japan, EFFTA countries, Canada, European Union, New Zealand, Australia, and Scandinavia. The Government of India recognized the company as a Golden Star Trading House. During the year 1990-91, Eastern Enterprises Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. They also diversified into export of leather goods. In November 1992, the company came out with the public issue at a premium of Rs 10, aggregating Rs 4.02 crore, to part-finance the expansion of processing facilities and the upgradation of the looms. During the year 1995-96, the company's overseas subsidiary, Mayur International Corporation, New York was liquidated and the entire capital was transferred to the company. During the year 1996-97, they set up a modern weaving mill and a process house at Gurgaon in Haryana. During the year 1998-99, the company completed the expansion of the Noida unit by increasing the capacity from 40.5 lakh meters to 60 lakh meters per annum. They set up a 100% Export Oriented Unit for the manufacture of dyed and printed silk, cotton and synthetic fabrics and made-ups at Falta Export Processing Zone in West Bengal. In addition, they set up a private bonded warehouse in the Export Processing zone for trading including re-export. During the year, the company sold their holding of 1,500,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each in Eastern Enterprises Ltd. As a result, Eastern Enterprises Ltd ceased to be a subsidiary company. In addition, the company changed their name from Eastern Silk Industries Ltd to ESI Ltd with effect from November 25, 1998. During the year 2001-02, the company further changed their name from ESI Ltd to Eastern Silk Industries Ltd with effect from June 3, 2002. In February 2004, the company commenced commercial production at their plant at Anekal in Bangalore. The required machineries imported as well as indigenous were installed and commissioned successfully. During the year 2004-05, Eastern Jingying Ltd and Sstella Silks Ltd merged with the company. The company received the ISO 9001: 2000 quality accreditation for their Unit 2 at Anekal and the yarn manufacturing Unit 3 at Nanjangud. They commissioned best-in-practice testing facility at an investment of Rs 50 lakh. During the year, the company introduced embroidered fabric, large width fabrics and the commercialization of 25 new designs. They entered into four new geographies and the addition of 25 new clients. The company increased three lakh meters in installed capacity through the replacement of eight power looms with auto and introduced four jacquard machines. During the year 2005-06, the company launched a new product line, namely 'Rustle' in the segment of home furnishing. In June 2005, they set up on a temporary basis a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore in the name of Trade International (S) Pte Ltd to undertake trading activities in fast moving consumer items. However, the said company was disposed of during the next financial year. During the year 2006-07, the company completed the expansion of the fabric capacity at the Anekal plant. In addition, they set up a plant at Bommasundra in Hosur Road for the manufacture of made-ups. During the year, P K Textiles Ltd, Ethics Commercials Ltd and Lucky Goldstar Co Ltd became the subsidiaries of the company. During the year 2007-08, the company expanded the production capacity of Silk Weaving/ Embrodiery from 13.90 lakh meters to 18.40 lakh meters per annum. In addition, P K Textiles Ltd, Ethics Commercials Ltd and Lucky Goldstar Co Ltd ceased to be the subsidiaries of the company. The company is undertaken an expansion project at Anekal in Bangalore for the manufacture of velvet fabrics at an estimated capital outlay of Rs 80 crore. The commercial production is expected to start during the financial year 2009-10. The Company has not been able to increase its customer base. Due to high production cost the margins are under pressure. To strengthen the Company's drive on cost optimization, the Company is aggressively working with various international suppliers and co-operating on technical know-how exchange to strengthen its contacts for a long term and continued supply of raw material.