Swachh Bharat campaign!
05/12/2019
Swachh Bharat campaign efforts, India is now on an aggressive toilet building exercise and sanitaryware brands are going all out to market their product range. Indian sanitaryware industry's current market size is estimated at Rs 4,800 crore, and it is growing at a steady pace of CAGR 8-10% over FY 2018-21. During the recession, the growth of sanitaryware industry has been muted but the segment is estimated to post favourable growth backed by proactive government policies for higher sanitation levels, favourable demographic and economic trends, and development of urban infrastructure. Brands are investing in advertising to bounce back.
Sanjay Kalra, President and Chief, Bath Products & Tiles, Brilloca Limited told exchange4media that the current market for Indian sanitaryware is growing at a steady pace of CAGR 8-10% over FY 2018-21.
"The key reason for this growth of the sanitaryware industry in India is the rising awareness surrounding sanitation and proactive government missions such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Housing for All (60-million new houses by 2022) and Smart City Mission (development of 100 smart cities) projects," highlighted Kalra.
According to Kalra, this growth is propelled by various other reasons too such as improved living standards, evolving consumer preferences, increasing disposable incomes, etc.
"Around 60% of sanitaryware manufacturers are in the organized sector and these players leverage best-in-class technologies and differentiated designs to address the varied needs of the market," he added.
Talking about the growth expectations of sanitaryware industry in 2020, Kalra said, "The sectoral outlook for FY20 looks positive with a revival in new construction activity, plus the segment will also benefit from Housing for All scheme and Smart City Mission project by the government."
The Indian sanitaryware market is broadly divided into the organized and unorganised market, in terms of value and volume and the segment is further categorised based on prices into the low-end, mass market, premium, super-premium, and luxury.
When asked which market is performing better, Kalra said, "We see that the low-end market demand will pick up, as around 69% households in rural areas and about 19% households in urban areas in India don’t have access to safe sanitation. This indicates the latent opportunity in the country’s sanitaryware market. Also, the emergence of concept bathrooms will supplement the premium, super-premium and luxury segments."
Interestingly, knowing that mass movement initiatives like Swachh Bharat have the potential of getting consumers to buy more products, Reckitt Benckiser initiated a 100-crore Banage Swachh program for their products portfolio comprising Dettol, Lizol, and Harpic.
KE Ranganathan, Managing Director, Roca Bathroom Products Pvt. Limited also thinks that " With government's recent move to set up a realty AIF of ₹25,000 crores for completion of stalled projects, we are hopeful it will give a new lease of life to the real estate sector."
When asked how the recession is affecting the sanitaryware industry, Ranganathan said, "We are quite optimistic about the future and not perturbed with current slowdown. It is a short- term disruption and this phase shall pass soon."
According to him, the company currently holds a 36 per cent share of the Rs 4800 crore organized sanitaryware market in India. He hopes that the economic situation in the country would be stabilized soon.
While sharing the growth parameters of their business, Ranganathan said that the business witnessed the usual growth in 2019 too.
"In 2018, Parryware products recorded a growth of 18 per cent year-on-year; for the first half of 2019, the growth recorded was 20 per cent," shared Ranganathan. "While the realty market is facing difficult times, retail sales have been robust. The government’s thrust on the Make-In-India program and smart cities project has helped drive demand for Roca bathroom products in India."
Furthermore, Ranganathan explained, "Parryware boasts of a network of 10,000+ retailers across the country. On average, the brand sees the acquisition of about 100 new customers every hour."
"Even in FY 2020, we will be committed to continuing our upward growth trajectory in India by launching many display studios and investing in manufacturing facilities to increase the exports in terms of volume," he further added.
Anup Sharma, an independent political campaign strategist, and mentor at The Lentils Institute, also shared some insights about how such government policies are greasing the business of the sanitaryware industry in India. He said, "Swachh Bharat campaign is a movement for behaviour change. One of the key goals for the initiative is aimed at making the country, open defecation-free with lower pollution levels in rivers and other water bodies. By branding the initiative "Swachh Bharat" the movement got a different momentum and activities were planned accordingly. Besides the civil society bodies, the corporates also got involved and many of them integrated it into their business. Some direct businesses like sanitaryware or hygiene industry were the key beneficiaries."
According to Sharma, sanitation and housing policies by the government aren't just boosting the business of the sanitaryware industry. "Many of the corporates have also used their CSR funds towards the initiative to bring positive behavioural change in people and to make the country open defecation free," he concluded.
Source (Wxchange4media)
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