Creating a Worldwide Presence

In this Readers’ Platform, your author discusses how “Made in India” has become a global brand.

India is developing fast in many fields, including manufacturing, services, technology, defense, aerospace, sea exploration, space activities, agriculture and others. Working hard to make its presence known, India is among the top few countries in almost all these fields.

Indians and Indian products are prominently visible all around the world. With the increase in communication and transportation facilities, the transfer of technology and material has become very easy, efficient and economical.

“Made in India” has become a global brand. Just think of India as the third-biggest economy with the fifth position in world GDP ranking, fourth-biggest share market in the world and a world leader in the digital economy.

The Indian elevator and escalator industry is also moving fast, creating its global presence and encouraging other world entrepreneurs to participate in the Indian market.

All the international elevator players are present in the Indian market. Most of them have set up manufacturing units in India, including KONE, Otis, Schindler, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., TK Elevator, Fujitec, Hitachi Ltd., Hyundai Elevator Co. Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and a few more.

India-based units of multinationals support their counterparts in other parts of the world in terms of skilled manpower and spares supply. KONE India is exporting finished material to its other units. Recently, KONE announced the start of its escalator manufacturing in India. In addition, KONE India is providing R&D support to its parent company.

Speedy technological developments, India’s entrepreneurial mindset, financial capabilities, skilled workforce strength and favorable government policies are all factors that are helping the Indian elevator industry play a great role in world elevator business and, on the other hand, attracting elevator people to enter the Indian elevator market.

The largest capacity passenger elevator installed by KONE India at Jio World, Mumbai, is a sign of global technological collaboration. It is the first of its kind, with a 200-passenger/16-t capacity, an inside floor area of 25.78 m2 and five stops. In terms of high-speed elevators, we now have elevators with a speed of 8 m/s, against the world’s fastest elevator speed of 21 m/s in China installed by Hitachi.

India is the second largest elevator exporter in the world after China. A number of Indian elevator companies are supplying their product and services to other parts of the world. The Indian elevator export business is approximately US$9.44 million with exports to nearly 97 countries.

The worldwide components business is very large. Indian elevator companies’ contribution to the world elevator components business is negligible. The world elevator components market is valued at approximately US$50 billion, and the Indian elevator industry’s participation in it is only around 0.3%.

This is one of the grey areas where we need to focus. We need to focus on quality, as well as price. We need to follow global quality standards to make our products acceptable in the world elevator market.

The Indian elevator and escalator industry is also moving fast, creating its global presence and encouraging other world entrepreneurs to participate in the Indian market.

We have the advantage of low production costs. If combined with international quality standards, we can play a great role in the elevator components business.

Governmental policies and the technical expertise of our industry members can help increase our contribution to the world elevator components business to a respectable level.

I am confident that Indian elevator manufacturers will take this seriously and work hard to meet international standards, so as to contribute — in a better and bigger way — to the world elevator component market.