PGC also plans to increase its production capacity shortly where the announcement will be made in the coming month .
Monday, September 10, 2012
PGC increases stake in Switcher from 51% to 86%
PGC also plans to increase its production capacity shortly where the announcement will be made in the coming month .
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Switcher re-launches its online shop !!!
Switcher.com / Switcher.com today delivers only in Switzerland but due to the customer requests flowing more and more recently , Switcher announced that Switcher.com will be able to deliver across Europe shortly before the end of this calendar year .
Switcher also has Swiss Olympics collection and 100% Swiss in its online store .
PGC Corporation !!!
PGC been having a constant growth over 50% for the past 5 years , announced its name change of the company . Being vertically integrated , it has plans to increase its internal capacity to optimise its production this year .
PGC also subsequently acquired more shares in Switcher and increased its holding on Switcher from 51% share holding to 86% shareholding now .
PGC also launched Whale (Switcher's brand) in the USA recently and has said it has shown good response in the year .
PGC also announced that its Undergarment range of Switcher will shortly be launched in India as the pilot project became a success after trailing in 200 pilot POS (point of sales) done in early 2012 in India .It said that the production is on now and PGC will enable Switcher products to be available in more than 2000 counters before the end of this financial year .
Friday, October 7, 2011
Switcher Turns 30 !!!

Friday, November 5, 2010
Robin talks on Ted - Know the Source !!!!
Robin Cornelius talks on Ted about how products are made . He emphasizes on the most important topics that knowledge is wisdom . Should people know what they consume / use . ?????
See it yourself ++++
( CLICK HERE -----
http://tedxzurich.com/2010/10/18/robin-cornelius-wants-to-make-clothing-traceable/ )
Robin Cornelius is founder and chairman of Switcher, a Swiss textile company. Today, he co-owns the company with PGC (Prem Group), Switcher’s Indian partner for almost three decades. Switcher cooperates with Fair Wear Foundation, Max Havelaar, myclimate, Öko-Tex and other standard setting organisations. As an industry pioneer, the company has developed CO2 and H2O indexes for textile products. The online transparency service respect-code.org was launched in 2006.
Tell us the story of your latest project. What has been occupying you in the last 6 months?
After 30 years in textile business analyzing the development of the global economy, the appearance of new concern about the planet will require a new ethic of the end consumer. This led me to write about that on a book that will go out next spring. The idea we would like to bring to TEDxZurich is about traceability. It is important because with the renewal of technology information there is no reason that the end consumers have no access to any kind of info regarding consumer goods or services.
It’s important for me that bringing total information to end consumers through DNA code will allow him to decide with his own consciousness if the act of purchasing this product is in accordance with his values (social and environmental conditions for instance).
The impact will be global and huge. In the next generations we will not be able to afford any waste of resources nor tolerate any kind of lack of respect in terms of workers’ social conditions. I strongly believe that this is my mission for the second part of my life.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
PGC Acquires Substantial Stake in European Retailer Switcher Holdings SA (Global)
Tirupur (Tamil Nadu ,India) based PremDurai Exports Private Limited (Garment Export wing of 400 Cr PGC Industries & Group ) acquires controlling interest strategic stake in Switcher Holdings SA (Owner and Retailer of Brands : Switcher , Respect , Whale ) .PGC was founded in Nov 11th 1983 by S.Duraiswamy . today the company is lead by two brothers D.Prem the Chairman (CMD) and Aadith.D.Vikram the Vice Chairman(VCMD) . PGC is vertically integrated from Cotton Spinning to garment Exports employing nearly 8400 people across its group companies .The group has been achieving an
average growth of 60% in the last four years. Back to the Roots :
PGC has always been a manufacturer for Switcher for nearly 3 decades and the founder of PGC Mr.S.Duraiswmay and the Founder of Switcher Mr.Robin Cornelius have always been close friends too since the 80’s . PGC has for more than a decade had the retail license for Switcher in India . Towards the end of last year (2009) PGC explored the
possibility to acquire stake in Switcher Global Retail Operation (Switcher Holdings SA) and in July 2010 , PGC closed the deal .Now a “C2C” Group :
PGC retails has been started aggressively looking on retail only for the past year and in one of expansion has opened 75 T-Mart Super Stores and has launched a new brands for the Indian market “Respect India” for mens , “Babyloons” for Infants wear apart from its Switcher Indian Retail Operation .
Talking to the Chairman Mr.Prem he said,“PGC has been supplying to Switcher for nearly 25 years now and we felt it was the right time for us to make a move to acquire stakes in Switcher Global". Post acquisition we project group topline to hit 640 cr (aprox 150 million usd) for year ending 2010-2011. The acquisition the stakes in Switcher Group would benefit Switcher Global as costs can be bought down across various cost centres like warehousing , IT, logistics , product design and development etc.” Mr.Prem also added that Mr.Aadith.D.Vikram (the Vice Chairman) of PGC Industries & Group is now appointed also as the Vice Chairman of Switcher Group along with Mr.Robin Cornelius as the Executive Chairman of the Switcher
Financials of the Deal :
The Management of PGC did not disclose the financials nor the percentage of shares acquired of the deal but thanked its bankers , lawyers , auditors & m&a consultants for helping to close the dea successfully .The only disclosed information on the new ownership & management was that now the 100% share of the company was held jointly by PGC & Mr.Robin Cornelius held together and that the stake from the other past equity investors where bough over too from the past financial investors in Switcher Group as a portion of the deal . PGC now is said to hold substantial Stake in Switcher Group .
About Switcher :
“Swi
tcher has its presences in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria and in other European countries. Being a Swiss based brand , Switcher sells approximately 7 Million garments in Switzerland alone and has a brand recall of 92% population of Switzerland and more than 360 Stores , Corners & Point of Sales in Retail and half the business comes from corporate textile solution where the brand is said to have a strong hold ,” said the Vice Chairman Mr.Aadith.D.Vikram .- Over 300 Point of Sale & 60 Exclusive Stores in Switzerland .
- Over 1150 Corporate Clients in Switzerland , France , Spain , Netherlands , Denmark , Sweden , Norway , Finland , Italy , Dubai and other parts of Europe ) .
- Supplies from Over 30 Suppliers & 8 Counties where manufacturing takes place ( Portugal , Slovakia , Turkey , Romania , India , Bangladesh , China and Taiwan ) and some sourcing directly or indirectly also from (N.Zealand , Mali , Indonesia , Korea & Pakistan ) .
Expansion of Switcher :
Mr.Aadith.D.Vikram added “ We are in the process of drafting a plan for expansion of Switcher India retail expansion which will be implemented soon in the coming months in 2011. A total revamp will be made to Switcher in India with a new look and feel like our Swiss exclusive stores and Store in Store Concept. We are also planning to expand Switcher in more European countries to increase our presence and network and specifically looking to expand in Germany , Norway & Sweden in the coming years“.
For more information http://www.pgcindustries.org/ & http://www.switcher.com/
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Durai Charitable Trust - PGC

Durai Charitable Trust founded by S.Duraiswamy (Founder of PGC Industries and a Member & Award winner of Social Accountability International) & Trustees D.Prem & Aadith.D.Vikram is focused on the upliftment of the deprived by enabling and empowering them. The trust is a Not-For-Profit organization. Guided by basic principles of promoting sustainable development, the Trust focuses on improving the Human Development Index through initiatives in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The trust aims at poverty alleviation through empowerment of rural and semi-urban youth by creating capacities and empowering the youth by facilitating job oriented skills. It believes that harnessing the untapped potential of this sizable section of the society can bring about the socio-economic transformation in the country.
The trust understands the need of consortium approach for faster, better results and is already in partnership with Prem Durai Exports, Switcher, T-Mart, Respect India, Beausoleil for project implementations.
The successful projects at Tirupur include
Free Water Supply for Poor every day,
YES (Youngster Education Support) program imparting vocational skills of Textile Industry like Tailoring. Also facilitates Computer Skills and library for rural and semi-urban youths.
Other projects are Universal education mission - Free schools for poor and Free Mobile schools for deprived
Health Camps and Clinique across Tirupur for all mission which conducts eye camps, free dispensaries, AIDS awareness project - distribution of free condoms and campaigns,
Environment sustainability mission of Green energy by wind mills and solar cooker for rural villages of TN, 25000 Tree Planting, VelaiSMS project to facilitate empowerment of digitally challenged communities by "Information empowerment".
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Patriotic Brand by PGC -Respect India
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
PGC SWITCHER - Water & Social - Ethical Company News in German TV
See the news below which was on the 24th in 10vov10 German New about how Switcher is made in a cleaner way at PGC Industries , India .
http://videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=5d52a152-2c68-45ef-8c4c-0214e8c76f35
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Velaisms.in - Empowering Rural Employment (True India)
VelaiSMS is chartered with a social mission to change lives of rural under-privileged, by information empowerment through digital revolution. We believe through VelaiSMS, Digital divide can be addressed and the channelized approach will lead to Inclusive growth of India.
VelaiSMS is for Government, Enterprises and also partners with employability skill reformers and employment reformers. VelaiSMS leverages technology to
1. Enable Planning for employability and employment reformers.
2. Identifies and creates profiles as per the criterion (e.g.) identifying, verifying and digitizing the Below Poverty Line (BPL) unskilled/skilled rural mass in the preferred rural location.
3. Engage and empower the rural under privileged during and post training period.
4. Employ by accurately matching the requirements of employment reformers with the trained workforce from employability reformers.
5. Redeploy same resource to another company when he or she quits the current job due to personal or social compulsion or is asked to leave. This way our approach is to build a sustainable platform for transformation.
http://velaisms.in/velaisms/whyvsms.php
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Respect India - Edition3
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Pride of India !

-India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
-When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
-The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
-The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
Chess was invented in India.
-Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.
The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.
-The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
-India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
-The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
-The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
-The largest employer in the world is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
-The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
-Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
-India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
-The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
-Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
-The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
-Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).
Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world
(Source: Gemological Institute of America).
-The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
-Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.
Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.
-India exports software to 90 countries.
-The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.
-Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.
Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.
-There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.
-The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.
-Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively
-The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.
-The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.
-Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
-Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
-India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.
-His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.
Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
-Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Culture & People - Respect India

With nearly 1 billion citizens, India is the second most populous nation in the world. It is impossible to speak of any one Indian culture, although there are deep cultural continuities that tie its people together. English is the major language of trade and politics, but there are fourteen official languages in all. There are twenty-four languages that are spoken by a million people or more, and countless other dialects. India has seven major religions and many minor ones, six main ethnic groups, and countless holidays.
Religion is central to Indian culture, and its practice can be seen in virtually every aspect of life in the country. Hinduism is the dominant faith of India, serving about 80 percent of the population. Ten percent worship Islam, and 5 perscent are Sikhs and Christians; the rest (a good 45 million) are Buddhists, Jains, Bahai, and more.

