Seeking Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother

Two fairytale references apply perfectly to the scenario currently prevailing in the vertical-transportation (VT) industry across India. The first is about a princess with very large feet who wanted shoes that were small on the outside but large on the inside. The second is about Cinderella, whose glass slippers (custom-created by her fairy godmother) would fit only on her feet.

Both instances are also in sync with ELEVATOR WORLD India’s 2nd Quarter 2022 issue editorial theme, “Focus on Cost and Quality.” While we appear to have hopefully seen the last of the ongoing pandemic’s lockdown phases and made the transition from survival to revival, the next step — resurgence — is the crucial one. Every industry is trying to catch-up on the missed revenue and profits of the past two years.

Therein lies the challenge. The term “win-win scenario” sounds good, but how does it work in a cutthroat, competitive, post-COVID world? Quality matters in each and every aspect of a real estate project, given that it is a long-term asset. So, we have a situation where higher-quality VT is being demanded by real estate developers at reduced rates in a scenario where input costs have continued to rise significantly.

This is the paradox we face today. Like the first princess, developers want top-notch, modern elevators with all the latest technology, but provided at low prices to keep their project costs under control. Alternatively, like Cinderella, they want smartly conceptualized, customized solutions that will make the price-quality proposition work only in their project(s), regardless of the amount being officially quoted for a similar project coming up on an adjacent plot of land.

In order to triumph over this turbulent phase, VT industry stakeholders — including real estate developers, financiers and policy makers — need to combine forces and negotiate these tough times together. Ensuring a few basics, such as staying connected to explore collaboration, having access to counsel with expertise for regular consultation, plus, most importantly, using common sense (and to some extent, compromise) so that it leads to consensus, is critical.

The growing demand witnessed from hitherto niche sectors like infrastructure and personal VT in low-rise structures/within multiple story units provides a much-needed ray of hope. Let’s seize these opportunities and rise up together!