GEL director Dinesh J Hinduja said by September the company would put up a manufacturing facility for suits, blazers, ties and other accessories in Bangalore at an investment of Rs 7 crore. The new products would be aimed at both domestic and overseas markets.

The facility for ski-wear-gear products - exclusively for export markets - was expected to come up by the end of the calendar, he said.

GEL owns the US-based Camel brand in India while it exports over 90 per cent of its products to the US and European markets to sell under Nike, Adidas, GAP, Old Navy and other labels. "We are on the verge of finalising on six new brands from Europe and the US," he said.

Since its inception in 1971, the US and Europe have been the largest markets for the company. Post disintegration, CIS countries have stopped importing garments and started putting up their own production facilities. China was the largest competition with a 35 per cent share in the total ready-to-wear global market while India had a meagre share of 3 per cent, he said.

He said the company was also in the process of getting ready to stand up to the competition and market pressures that the WTO would throw up. Currently the company is working towards increasing its production capacity to handle large orders, installing new machinery to cope with efficiency and cost effectiveness, introducing better quality standards and to meet tight delivery schedules, Mr Hinduja said.

GEL employs over 15,000 people - of which over 80 per cent are women - in its 35 factories spread in and around Bangalore. The company manufactures over 100,000 units of garments a month for the domestic market while its export production is over 1 million a month. The company has in-house designers and also has tie-ups with designers and stylists in Europe.During fiscal 2000-01, the group - comprising Wearhouse, Unique Creation and other divisions - posted Rs 400 crore in sales and was targeting a 15 per cent growth during the current fiscal, he said. The domestic market contributed around 10 per cent of the company's total business.

Currently, the company has 65 Wearhouse outlets across the country which sell the US-based Camel brand outfits. The company has plans to open 10 additional outlets a year. The group is planning an IPO within a year.