Mumbai : Hettich, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and a leading brand of furniture fittings with a turnover in excess US$ 1.2 billion and a global presence in 110 countries, announced plans to invest Rs. 500 Crore in India over the next five years. The company established operations in India by setting up a 50:50 JV with Adventz, the Saroj Poddar Group in the year 2000.

Hettich India is the 2nd largest subsidiary outside of Germany and plans are afoot to make India a manufacturing hub as well considering the market potential and technical/managerial skills available for producing certain select products for its global consumption. Hettich India plans to invest significantly on training and R&D to deliver value to its customers. It aims to combine performance, aesthetics and efficient use of space.

Announcing on the company’s decision to invest significantly in India, Dr. Andreas Hettich, Global CEO of Hettich, said, “We are fairly satisfied with our business in Asia. In fact, India is now one of our largest subsidiaries in terms of sales and will soon become a manufacturing hub as well in the near future.

Dr. Hettich also said, ”India is a growing market and per capita consumption of furniture in the country is expected to increase in line with the western world. We see a very bright future here and are investing substantially to develop the market. He further stated “We are looking at India not only as a growing market, but also as a manufacturing destination offering the advantages of sound legal system and well entrenched democratic political setup besides a huge talent pool to manage complex engineering and production processes. Besides this, India has the potential to become a very efficient base for servicing our nearby growing markets in South Asia and Middle East,” added Dr. Hettich.

The market size in this segment is about Rs. 3,500 Crores and is growing at a rate of around 15% p.a. Considering the potential that India and the aforementioned regions hold, the company has set up a manufacturing plant in Vadodara, which will not only serve customers in South Asia and Middle East but also its subsidiaries in other geographies. Hettich India has already invested Rs. 100 crores in the Vadodara plant which will manufacture certain select products, starting with wire baskets as its first manufacturing plant.

Source : Lokesh Shastri