Constructed at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore and spread over 430 acres, the complex encompasses plants for manufacturing shirting and knit fabrics and garments apart from design reproduction and creation cells. The company's top executives along with a majority of employees have been shifted to the new place.

A top executive of the company, Vikram D Rao, told reporters during a plant visit that the Santej facility is the largest integrated textile plant in Asia with its labs certified by Ecotex, Marks & Spencer and other international brands.

The facilities herald a shift towards shirtings and bottomweight fabrics with the capacities going up to 34 million metre per annum and 18 million metre per annumrespectively. A plant with a capacity to produce 16 tonnes per day of knit fabrics is also in place at the complex.

The facility will produce a range of dyed and yarn dyed fabrics contributing around 40 per cent of the company's turnover.

"Global demand for bottom weight fabrics is picking up and is estimated at 4 billion metres per annum. There has been a major tilt towards such fabrics in Srilanka, Pakistan, the US and European countries which in all probability will remain for many years," says a top executive of the company while explaining the rationale behind its major foray into bottom weight fabrics.

However, industry observers question the claims by saying that the company has been completely proved wrong in the estimation of demand for denim in the world market. Demand for denim has dropped by as much as 10 per cent against the company's expectations of a buoyant growth.

An attractive feature of the complex is the product development wing which determines the quality specifications ofproducts with the help of computer data. Quality requirements of its clients like Marks & Spencer, Calvin Klien, Polo and Espirit are programmed to immediately determine whether the company's products are suiting the specifications of a particular customer.

The facility has a captive 265mw power set up at a cost of Rs 130 crore which will ensure an uninterrupted supply of power resulting in better fabric quality and lower costs. It also has an effluent plant that ensure zero liquid discharge and the raw water intake is only 2 per cent and balance is from the recycled discharge.