Swarovski of Austria, the leading manufacturer of cut crystal in the world, is going to set up a new production unit in India.
The company is looking at developing forward integrated products as embellishment for garments, jewellery and lighting. Swarovski has already taken a plot of land in Pune to set up the base.
Sanjay Sharma, country manager for crystal component business of Swarovski, said the unit would come up as 100 per cent export oriented unit.
"India will be the global sourcing base for such items which will be sold under Swarovsky brand," Sharma said.
The new manufacturing base will come adjacent to the artificial pearl unit that Swarovski had built in Pune four years ago. The unit, a 100 per cent EOU again, is a global sourcing centre for artificial pearl for the company. Sharma could not give exact timeframe for starting the operation at the new unit.
Cut crystals for such forward integrated items will be sourced from Austria and after the embellishment, re-exported to Austria again.
Even India will get these items from Austria. Company said heavy duty has forced such an arrangement for the Swarovski India here.
"The combined duty on cut crystals is as high as 55 per cent. We want to be in the EOU category so that there is some breather on the duty. The extra freight cost of bringing back the product produced here again from Austria is negligible to what we save on account of being in EOU," he noted.
The company is of the view that crystal business could explode had the duty been lower. Swarovski has seen over 80 per cent growth in last two years.
Swarovski is working closely with leading Indian fashion designers J J Valaya, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal, Satya Paul among others. The lighting items are made available through Jaquar, Golden Locks, Mars Industries who have used crystal components in bath and décor products.
The company is also planning to launch LED (light emitting diode) with crystal component shortly.
"The market for home décor is set to explode in India. We are also expecting strong demand in accessories as crystals could be fitted with virtually everything from shoes, bags, belts, hand bags. The list can go on," Sharma pointed out.