A core team of seven scientists have been working on the project for the last one year. The tentative date for the launch is January 1999, around the time when the company plans to host the Grasim Mr India contest in Calcutta. A name has already been chosen for the product, Joshi said. "We have already shown the fabric to our dealers and retailers and the response is encouraging," Joshi said. The price range will be similar to that of cotton fabrics, but the longevity will be almost threetimes that of cotton, he said.

Explaining the procedures involved in developing the fabric, Joshi said: "We have our team of scientists working constantly on the suggestions that we get from the market. It is a mechanism that works backwards and is driven by the requirements of the market."