Earlier this year, when Ghanshyam Ghoghari turned 36, he gifted himself a Mercedes-Benz CLA 200; an expensive indulgence, one might argue, given that the beast cost him a cool ₹42 lakh. “I really like this car,” he says quite shyly as he poses for pictures with it. This new purchase joins a Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai Verna in his auto stable. In many ways, Ghoghari is a contrarian and has bet on textiles at a time when the industry is going through a challenging phase. His baby is Kimora, an ethnic Indian fashion brand targeted at women, whose products are manufactured out of his two factories in Surat. “In my opinion, textiles will be the next big story. I think there is a lot waiting to happen in the domestic consumption sphere and fashion trends are rapidly changing as well,” he says. 

It is this belief that has seen him invest as much as 95% of his wealth in the business, which he started from scratch. “Surat has a good work culture and there is a lot that we can do with textiles here,” he maintains. Today, the textile industry in Surat has a turnover of ₹175,000 crore and is growing by at least 20% each year. Ghoghari is very comfortable taking care of his own money and apart from his business, has invested in land. For now, this holding is restricted to in and around Surat, although he speaks of picking up residential property in Mumbai and Delhi soon. According to him, investment in land calls for a lot of patience. “You cannot view it as a business. When you hold out, it rewards you with great returns,” he explains. Ghoghari bases his logic on everyone needing a home at some point – a point that is very hard to argue with.