BANGALORE, June 23: Kemwell International, a leading manufacturer of surgical and examination gloves in the country, has chalked out plans to enter the domestic market. The company is currently a 100 per cent export oriented unit.

Kemwell is presently in talks with a multi-national company for a possible joint venture, company sources said. "The talks are in final stages and an agreement will be signed very shortly", sources added.

Kemwell International managing director SN Bansal confirmed that the company is in final stages of signing the agreement. "A tie-up with a multinational will help us in building a good market in India", he said while refusing to divulge the name of the company.

A tie-up with a multinational which also has presence in Indian market will facilitate Kemwell in pricing its products competitively, he said. Being an 100 per cent export-oriented unit (EOU) Kemwell will have to shell out 50 per cent of the customs and excise duties before clearing the goods from the factory.

However, if Kemwell ties up with a firm it will just have to pay the usual sales tax. This will enable the company to offer its products to Indian customers at competitive rates.

Kemwell which is the single largest exporter of surgical gloves from India, is also set to launch new products shortly in the international market. To start with, the company will be launching powder free surgical gloves by mid-August in American and European markets.

Unlike the usual surgical gloves, the new gloves will not contain the powder inside them. "The powder prevents the sticking of gloves to the skin specially when the gloves are used for long surgical hours", he said. The company opted for producing powder free gloves as some surgeons have found to be allergic to the powder.

"We have to be innovative and constantly adding new product lines as the specialized gloves market is very competitive", Bansal said. Since the powder free surgical gloves will provide three times more realisation as against the normal surgical gloves, the company is also contemplating to convert its a part of its existing manufacturing facility of powdered surgical gloves into powder free gloves.

Initially, the company will manufacture five lakh pieces per month. At present, Kemwell produces 144 million pieces of gloves annually. The powder free gloves will be test-marketed for six months and once we get a good response the production of these gloves will be enhanced at our Bangalore unit, Bansal added.

In addition to this, Kemwell is also in talks with a US-based company for carrying out modernisation of the existing plant. "The slight modernisation will facilitate in producing latex free or nitrile gloves", he said.

The company is also set to introduce special gynecological gloves. The 45 cm, elbow length gloves are scheduled to be launched by the year-end. The company is in talks with few companies for marketing the product overseas.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.