Fabindia charts out expansion plan

Handloom retail chain Fabindia plans to take the number of its community-owned supplier firms to over 50 from 17 in the next two to three years, according to MD William Bissell. Often called the company’s inclusive capitalism model, these community-owned companies are Fabindia’s initiative to transform its rural suppliers into corporates. Fabindia provides the working capital through its wholly-owned subsidiary Artisans Micro Finance and holds minority stake in these companies. The balance is held by the suppliers and other financial investors, like social venture funds. “Within the next few years, we expect these companies to grow and become larger than mere suppliers to Fabindia,” said Mr Bissell. This is FabIndia’s initiative to empower the artisans from the grassroot levels. “Artisians are seeing a benefit apart from their regular wages due to the dividends paid by these community-owned companies,” he said. Of the 17 existing community-owned companies, 14 have already turned profitable and paid dividends so far. Fabindia is planning to create employment opportunity to 100,000 artisans from the present 30,000 in the next two to three years. The company works with artisans across the country for products like home furnishings and apparel.