Otis Elevator Company plans to double manufacturing capacity at its Bangalore plant by end-December.

“The annual production at the Bangalore plant is 5,000 units now. We plan to increase it to 10,000 units by end-December this year,” Mr Patrick Blethon, President – Asia-Pacific, Otis Elevator Company, told Business Line . The elevators market in India was estimated at 40,000 units last year. It is expected to touch 70,000 units in the next three years, he said.

There has been increased investments in the real estate and infrastructure sectors in the past years in India, he pointed out. With the rate of urbanisation touching 30 per cent, India is the second biggest market for Otis after China.

About 70 per cent of Otis' market in India is from the residential segment. Mr Blethon said that the trend towards greener projects was catching up, especially in the high-end segment.

The company also wants to expand its services base in the country. Currently, it services 50,000 units, and wants to increase this to one lakh units in the next couple of years.

Besides, the company, which sources only 50 per cent of the components locally for its Bangalore plant now, plans to increase this in the next two years. “The Bangalore factory is a green factory, and so we want to increase our localisation to 80-85 per cent in two years,” said Mr Blethon.

It also plans to expand its product portfolio in India, and launch its Gen2 Nova, a green elevator for low and mid-rise buildings, in India. The company also plans to globally launch a green elevator for sky-rises by this year end, he added.

> anju@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW