Reliance was adjudged as India’s finest composite textile mill by developed country standards by a visiting team from the World Bank. Japan Textile News reported independently, 'Such a scene is hardly seen even in the highly advanced textile-producing countries like Japan.'
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Jamanbhai Mehta, a friend and colleague of Shri Dhirubhai Ambani from Aden, displays Vimal fabric for Shri Bose Mullick, the Commerce Secretary, at the first exclusive Vimal showroom that opened in 1972 near Opera House, Bombay.
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Photo from the early 1980s shows Shri Dhirubhai Ambani and Smt. Kokilaben Ambani with their children, Shri Anil Ambani, Shri Mukesh Ambani, Smt. Dipti Ambani and Smt. Nina Ambani, all are wearing clothes made from Vimal fabric. The family had by then shifted to the 22nd floor of Usha Kiran on Carmichael Road which offered a breathtaking view of Bombay.
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Shri Dhirubhai Ambani always wore trousers made from Vimal fabric and insisted that his children wear Vimal too. A photograph of his two daughters, Dipti and Nina, wearing Vimal dresses held pride of place on his table.
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Initially, Vimal was not readily accepted by traders in Ahmedabad and Bombay who were controlled by long-established textile tycoons. Shri Dhirubhai Ambani decided to bypass the wholesaler and take Vimal directly to the customer. In 1972, Vimal opened its first exclusive showroom at Roxy Theatre, near the Opera House, Bombay.
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Due to lack of space in Bombay, Shri Dhirubhai Ambani scouted in Gujarat, his home state, to find a suitable land for a textile mill. In February 1966, he bought a 10,000 sq. yard plot at Naroda. He also bought the plots of factories around it that were facing business losses. Soon, the textile mill at Naroda spread over 125 acres.
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Printing master Shanbaug, who joined Reliance in its early days and helped set up Reliance Textiles, looks on as Shri Dhirubhai Ambani explains to foreign exporters the mill’s 12-colour automatic roller printing plant, imported from Switzerland.
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Reliance Naroda began with four German wrap knitting machines and a processing house. The design team was soon churning out 2,200 designs every month. Reliance Naroda mill would lead a textile revolution in India and become the birthplace of 'Vimal'—the most iconic brand in the history of textile manufacturing in India.
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The establishment of the Reliance textile mill at Naroda marked Shri Dhirubhai Ambani's move from yarn trading to fabric manufacturing. Reliance Commercial Corporation now became Reliance Textile Industries Private Limited. Here, Shri Dhirubhai Ambani is displaying the German warp knitting machinery at Reliance Naroda.
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In the 60s, the Ambani family and business both grew steadily and had to find new addresses. In 1962, Shri Dhirubhai Ambani shifted his family from Bhuleshwar to a flat in Alt View on Altamount Road. Their youngest child, Smt. Nina Ambani was born during their stay here. In 1965, Shri Dhirubhai Ambani moved Reliance into a sprawling new office at Court House, Dhobi Talao.
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