Riju Jhunjhunwala, the Chairman and Managing Director of RSWM Ltd, LNJ Bhilwara’s textile vertical needs no introduction as LNJ Bhilwara is one of the country’s oldest and most diverse business conglomerates. Riju began his career in 1999 with RSWM Limited at the age of 21. The company has quadrupled in size under Riju’s leadership, reaching a top line of ₹2000 crore.
Riju is also the Vice Chairman of HEG Limited and the Managing Director of Bhilwara Energy Ltd. (BEL), in addition to his leadership at RSWM. BEL owns and operates a hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 300 megawatts and a wind farm with a capacity of over 34 megawatts. He oversees the group’s service businesses, such as Bhilwara Infotech Limited and LNJ Skills, which provide skilling solutions around the globe.
In the year 2007, under Riju’s exemplary leadership, RSWM Limited established LNJ Denim with a manufacturing capacity of 25 million meters annually; obtained its first organic certification. Then a few years later, in 2011, he was responsible for establishing India’s most sophisticated automated spinning plant in Kharigram and marketed the product under the name ‘Ultima®’.
RSWM also started producing recycled polyester fibre (called FibreGreen) concept in 2015, and a year later, he launched a premium brand of value-added yarns naming it RSWM Edge. In his latest business achievements, he announced RSWM Limited’s award for highest exports in the year 2020 by Rajasthan Government.
The Grandest Legend of Mr L.N. Jhunjhunwala
The legendary saga of LNJ Bhilwara Group was incepted before independence. Recollecting his inspiring story of the family legacy of three generations, Riju says that the Indian textile industry started booming in the 1950s. The demand for yarns and fabrics in India and abroad started rising during this time.
Riju’s visionary grandfather, Mr L.N. Jhunjhunwala–the group’s Founder–saw the industry as a profitable business opportunity with the potential to pave the way for sustainable development of the country and create new job opportunities and started his journey in this industry as an exporter of jute goods in Calcutta in 1947. By 1951, he had become one of India’s top ten jute goods exporters. Despite numerous obstacles, he established the first textile plant in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district. Today, RSWM Ltd, the group’s textile arm, has eleven manufacturing facilities spread across the state.
Riju shares, “With this foresight, we started operating our textile unit in 1961 in Bhilwara as Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving Mills Private Limited. Later the name was changed to RSWM Limited, and it was listed on the Indian stock exchanges.” Over the years, RSWM has collaborated with several international companies and expanded its facilities to cater to the evolving needs of the market. It started with 12,000 spindles and currently has 478,000 spindles, and 136 looms, producing high-quality cotton, mélange, synthetic, greige, and novelty yarns, along with denim and knitted fabrics.
Raju states, “We are now one of India’s largest textile manufacturers, exporting to over 78 countries worldwide, establishing ourselves as a market leader in both domestic and international textile industries, and transforming Bhilwara into one of India’s most important textile hubs.”
Following RSWM, Riju’s grandfather diversified his business into iron ore exports. He established Belgo Indian Mineral Corporation in Antwerp and sold iron ore for the first time to Italy as the State Trading Corporation sought to break the cartel of Japanese Steel Mills for its purchase. Later, he was appointed State Trading Corporation’s sole selling agent for Western Europe.
Riju reveals, “My grandfather’s tenacious efforts also resulted in establishing the graphite electrodes business, HEG Limited, which is listed on national stock exchanges. He beat Modis, Tatas, and Birlas to get an Industrial License and then get Pechiney, an $8 billion French conglomerate in the mid-seventies, as a technology provider. He convinced them to become a financial partner in India after two years of persistent efforts.”
HEG now owns the world’s largest single-site plant, with an annual production capacity of 80,000 MT. It exports approximately 80% of its output to over 30 nations, including the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, and South Korea.
The LNJ Bhilwara Group later diversified into hydroelectric power, setting a record in India by constructing the first 86 MW merchant hydel power plant in the private sector in Himachal Pradesh in a record time of two-and-a-half years. In 2012, another 192 MW of the Hydel Project was completed, and both are running successfully to date.
Expressing his eternal source of inspiration, Riju says, “My grandfather’s bold business advancements were rooted in a strong value system that has kept the group and the companies thriving to date. For me, it was an obvious decision to join the legacy and create new milestones taking inspiration from my grandfather’s successful journey.”
Continuing the Visionary Legacy of Ages
Speaking about the challenges, Riju says that when his grandfather Mr L.N. Jhunjhunwala established the first textile mill in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan in the 1960s, the greatest and foremost challenge was to achieve global standards in terms of product quality and acceptance in the overseas markets. Riju states that with his sheer determination and knack for business, his grandfather took the company to great heights and made it the leading exporter of yarns and denim fabrics in India.
Riju adds, “We wanted to continue his legacy and live true to our group’s vision – ‘Proud to be Indian, Privileged to be Global’. To stay on track, we continuously upgrade our manufacturing units to produce fine quality products as per domestic and global standards.”
Value Integrated Passionate Commitment
Regarding the professional values and qualities clients value in him and the entire LNJ Bhilwara Group, Riju says that at RSWM, Values guide their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour. Values help them make the right decisions and increase their chances of success. They at RSWM Ltd. understand their importance and are committed to following them. Some of their values and qualities are:
Giving Back to Society
- Help communities wherever we are present
- Promote education, health, and women’s empowerment
- Protect the environment beyond the requirements of the law
- Preserve and perpetuate the best of Indian culture
Respect for Individual
- Respect and trust all our stakeholders
- Receptive to ideas and criticism, regardless of where they come from
- Stand by the stakeholders in times of need
Integrity
- Always fulfil our commitments
- Practice honesty and transparency in all activities
- Put collective interest before self-interest
- Discourage organisation politics and rumour-mongering
Passion
- Pursue aggressive growth
- Achieve excellence in all we do
- Strive to learn and innovate continuously
- Create a lively and fun workplace
An Admirable Leadership Stalwart
Riju is passionate about community development and participates in activities through his organization, namely, Jawahar Foundation. Jawahar Foundation was launched in October 2019 and plays a key role in literacy, environmental, women empowerment, healthcare, and sanitation campaigns in Ajmer and Bhilwara.
He served as the President of the Entrepreneurs Organization in the past (Delhi Chapter). At the age of 30, he was one of EO’s youngest presidents. Riju has always performed admirably at work and has established himself as a prosperous businessman. He is open-minded and opinionated. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management Studies from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.
Riju loves cricket and tennis, in addition to being passionate and straightforward about his ambitions and ideologies.
Internationally Certified Benchmark of Excellence
As per Riju, their Brand’s USPs are that they at RSWM Ltd believe in providing the best possible products to their clients and customers as per the evolving global trend. They have even provided them facilities to customise their high-quality yarns and fabrics as per their needs for high-end fashion apparel and activewear.
As a domestic and international textile industry leader, they constantly execute strategies to produce high-quality yarns and reduce our carbon footprint. Their Recycled Polyester Staple Fibre (RPSF Div.) facility in Ringas (Rajasthan) produces 122 MT of recycled fibre per day using PET bottles.
Around 98% of this fibre is consumed within their other manufacturing facilities located in different parts of Rajasthan. If not recycled, PET bottles usually end up in landfills, where they would pollute the soil and water and may take up to 500 years to decompose.
Riju adds, “We place a high value on quality, as evidenced by the following certifications from international organisations:”
- ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems
- ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management Systems
- OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Class I Protection of Harmful Substances
- SA 8000:2008 Social Accountability Certification
- Global Recycle Standard (GRS)
- Fairtrade by FLO-Cert
- OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational, Health & Safety Assessment Series
- EnMS 50001:2011 Energy Management System
- GOTS-IN Global Organic Textile Standard
- OCS-IN Organic Content Standard
Riju’s Vital Wisdom
As an experienced professional, Riju’s advice to budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is very significant. He says that a business concept or invention may seem like a great idea, but to succeed as an entrepreneur, one must ascertain whether the offering is something the target market wants and needs.
For any new business, one should always do complete due diligence about the overall market or industry they are entering. In today’s competitive world, a few key areas need to be adequately examined before entering any new venture, such as product segmentation, market capitalization, product and category mix, customer footprint, consumer engagement, import and export opportunities, a solid business plan to sustain, financial needs and assessments, cash flow management and others.
With crucial knowledge and understanding of the market, young budding aspirants will have a lesser chance of failing in their business endeavours.
Constant Research and Product Innovation
Revealing his future plans, Riju says that they prioritize providing superior quality yarns and fabrics to their customers, which is why they have New Product Development departments in all of their plants that constantly monitor and develop new research and product innovation.
In response to global demand, they focus on product diversification, the modernization of existing plants, and capacity expansion. They are also seeking investment opportunities in new-age technologies. Alongside this, they are gradually moving towards becoming a carbon-neutral group.
Futuristic Foray of LNJ Knits
Aside from the above, they intend to make significant structural changes to increase the manufacturing capacity in the existing facilities. Finally, Riju says, “We have a highly advanced product range, Ultima®, produced using advanced and fully automated technologies that ensure extremely limited human intervention from the processing stage to the final packaging stage. Recently, we forayed into the knitted fabric manufacturing division with the launch of LNJ Knits and set up a facility using the latest Corizon technology.”
