‘Instead of competing with MSMEs, we chose to partner with them’

NCE a dominant household name in the country’s textile landscape, Mafatlal Industries went through one of the harshest business cycles — from the Datta Samant-led mill strike and post-liberalisation shocks to being declared a ‘sick company’ under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

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Few expected a revival. Yet today, the 120-year-old legacy business is growing at 30-50% annually. In an interaction with Dipak Mondal, Priyavrata Mafatlal, vice chairman, Arvind Mafatlal Group & managing director, Mafatlal Industries, recounts the company’s fall, its deep introspection phase, the COVID-era rethink, and the mindset shift that rebuilt the organisation. Excerpts:

Mafatlal was a household name in the 80s-90s. Over time it seemed to fade away. What happened during those 10-15 years, and how did the revival begin?

You're right — the 80s and 90s were when Mafatlal became a household name. But multiple factors affected us. The 1982 Datta Samant strike shut down 62-63 textile mills in Mumbai almost overnight. That was a massive setback. Then came liberalisation era of the 90s, when imports opened up and new players arrived. We were playing catch-up.