Chennai CAI Expo 2017 opens for visitors

The CAI Expo 2017, which opened for visitors today, saw the participation of over 85 companies from construction and design sectors.

The 5th edition of Construction, Architecture and Interior Expo 2017 housed over 85 stalls. The event which is on till September 3 is expected to spread awareness and connect the participants with right business partners.

Dilip Kumbhat, President, Indian Society of Lighting Engineers and Chief Executive Officer, K-lite Industries, said the expo brought the entire construction industry on a single platform. According to him, it has helped companies penetrate the South Indian market, where there is hardly any platform for all players in the construction industry to get together.

Kumbhat said the industry is growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent. This is in part due to the push from the Centre to boost LEDs in municipalities and corporation and also the increasing environmental awareness of consumers. In case of lighting, the market grew after the introduction of LEDs that are more energy-efficient. The market size of the LED is around ₹20,000 crore. SM Balaji, Zonal Manager, Nippon Paints, said the consumers are more aware and willing to pay more for eco-friendly products. “Demand for such products is increasing,” he said. There is also a misconception that such products are expensive. “The costs of eco-friendly paints range from ₹100 to ₹700 a litre. This is not very different from regular paints,” he said.

“We want to use the platform to spread awareness,” he said.

For Rajkumar S from Mr Glass, a glass manufacturer for commercial and residential buildings, it is a perfect opportunity to forge connections with B2B partners. The company is fairly new. Rajkumar feels a platform like CAI Expo will connect him with more players and help him understand the trends.

“This is perfect because we are seeing the demand for glasses doubling in the last two years,” he said.

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