Chamba hosiery finds place in leading brand stores

Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chamba, January 20

An entrepreneur from Chamba district has shown that difficult area and circumstances cannot be a roadblock to success. Gaurav Khanna has set up a hosiery and knitting unit in a remote area located 10 km from Dalhousie. The woollens being produced at the unit find place in leading brand stores such as Fabindia and are also exported to the US and Canada.

Khanna, owner of Lall Ji Knitwares, said his father was a cloth merchant in Dalhousie. “Till 1997, we were selling uniforms at various schools of the region. I did MBA in 1998 and joined my father’s business. I found that we were not selling items at our shop that were in demand. People came to our shop and demanded capes, ponchos and other woollen products,” he added.

He said he bought land in a remote village on the Dalhouise-Chamba road and started a knitting unit. The first piece that he created at the unit was 1.5 kg heavy. It took him two years to learn to create the right product. “The biggest challenge was to find a market. Out marketing team visited 150 stores in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir before a retailer bought first three pieces created at out knitting unit. Now, we are vendors for Fabindia and many other leading retail stores of the country. Most of the products created by us are in demand and there is advance booking for these,” Gaurav claimed.

He said that he imported yarn and wool from China, Italy and Australia. “Occasions” and “Havick” from Scotland are two major brands created by Lall Ji Knitwares. The finished products, besides being sold in India are also exported to the US and Canada, he added.

The unit is producing about 30,000 woollen pieces a year and employs about 50 local persons. Gaurav said he intended to expand his unit but the plan was halted due to Covid-19 this year. “However, the pandemic has also brought a positive development. Many artisans working in the hosiery industry in Ludhiana are from Himachal and do not intend to go back. We are getting calls from skilled labour for employment,” he added.

Asked why he did not use wool produced in Himachal, Gaurav said the wool sold in Himachal was not washed and contains grease, which makes it difficult to be used in hosiery.