This has been a constant headache for manufacturers around the world and mainly for India, which has several huge textile manufacturing centres. Ashish Jain, founder of Mahavir Print, said in an interview with Fibre2Fashion that order volumes have been a bit subdued, driven mainly by the global situation and the uncertainty caused by the war, which has had a domino effect on buyer confidence.
“So, we are not seeing the kind of growth we would like right now,” Jain added. He highlighted during the interview that it has been really hard. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Input costs have increased, orders across the industry have been reduced and margins have been under pressure,” Jain stressed.
Surat-based Mahavir Print reported that rising crude-related input costs and global uncertainty have softened textile order volumes and pressured margins. Founder Ashish Jain said the company is expanding its product range and strengthening digital printing capabilities rather than reducing them. Mahavir is also targeting growth in Europe and the US while using AI tools to improve tissue development.
Mahavir Print is an artificial fabric manufacturer from Surat and has more than 250 varieties of fabrics in polyester based cotton feel items to offer. Over the years, the company has reinvested and attempted to continue building with new machinery, new design capabilities and its own factory.
“Today, we are not just a printing house. We are a full-fledged fabric manufacturer with in-house fabric development, a digital printing arm and a growing export presence,” shared Jain. The company works with some of the biggest names in Indian retail including Westside, Yousta, Reliance, Zudio and Aditya Birla, among others.
What is Mahavir Print doing to defend itself from the attack?
Jain mentioned that the company made a conscious decision from the beginning and that was that “we are not going back on this.” He added that Mahavir Print has instead expanded its product portfolio so that there are more options to offer to customers at different price points.
“We have also used this slower period to double down on investment in R&D and new product development. When the market recovers, and it will, we want to have something new and relevant to bring to the table. So while the headwinds are real, we are treating this as a construction phase,” Jain said.
He also added that the company’s polyline tactile fabric remains its most durable product. “Brands love it and it continues to appear every season. It has become a fundamental part of what they rely on us for. So, while volumes may remain stable in the short term, the relationship and relevance of the product has not diminished at all,” Jain acknowledged.
Mahavir Print has worked to ensure that buyers get the look and feel of cotton or linen, but at the price of polyester. “From a brand’s perspective, it can offer its customer a premium and comfortable wearing experience without increasing the cost of the products. From the end consumer’s side, the fabric really feels good, breathes, drapes well and doesn’t feel synthetic,” said the founder.
He added that many polyester fabrics look good on a hanger, but disappoint the moment someone wears them. “We’ve worked hard to close that gap, and the market response has shown that buyers are actively seeking exactly this,” he said.
Growth and international expansion
Mahavir Print already works with clients in the Middle East, Iran and Iraq. Jain added that the Middle East has been a consistent market for the company and it understands the needs well.
In the interview, Jain highlighted that customers in these regions are sending their suppliers to their stores and now Mahavir Print is looking to expand to Europe and the United States. “Europe and the United States are very much on our radar. In fact, we have already executed some orders in the EU, so we are not starting from scratch,” he said.
Jain mentioned that the plan is to take advantage of that, understand the specific quality and compliance benchmarks those markets demand and steadily grow our presence there, adding, “it won’t happen overnight, but it’s a serious goal for us.”
Digital printing and the way forward
For Mahavir Print, digital printing has been one of the biggest changes in the business. “We make fabrics specifically for digital printers across India – in fact, they are among our biggest customers. In the last three to four years, there has been a real and accelerated shift towards digitally printed designs on garments,” Jain said.
He highlighted that consumers love the result, mainly the colors, details and variety. “And from a production standpoint, digital printing allows for smaller runs with faster turnaround times, which aligns perfectly with how fast fashion operates,” Jain mentioned.
He further noted that the company has worked to ensure that the quality of its fabric supports the digital printing process well, so that the final garments have an elegant appearance. And with India’s recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the United Kingdom and the European Union, for fabric manufacturers like Mahavir, Jain said the opportunity is not just in volume but in moving up the value chain by offering more finished and value-added fabrics rather than competing solely on the price of raw materials.
Well, in recent times, the expansion has not only come from changes in the fabric, but also from the technology that companies are using. AI is the topic of conversation and everyone is trying to use it better. At Mahavir Print, Jain explained that something as routine as calculating GSM from a fabric sample used to involve manual measurement and a calculator, but is now done through AI, which does it in seconds.
“We use it every day. That alone has improved accuracy and saved time on the shop floor. Beyond that, we use digital tools to analyze market trends and plan our fabric development roadmap about six months in advance,” he said.
Jain added that in the company’s digital printing department, AI is used to generate realistic visualizations of garments from fabric samples so that buyers can see what the final garment will look like before placing an order. “It has made conversations faster, more visual and more decisive,” he concluded.
Fibre2Fashion (AMR) News Desk
