‘Water purifier business is undergoing consolidation’

As access to safe drinking water is still a big challenge for many in the country, the water purifier market has tremendous potential to grow. Sensing this, many domestic and international companies are turning their focus on the Indian market. However, water purifier usage remains predominantly urban-centric. “Informing and educating consumers that boiling does not remove dissolved impurities in water is a challenging task,” says Mahesh Gupta, Founder Chairman, Kent RO, in an e-mail interview to BusinessLine. Edited Excerpts:

Where does the water purification systems market, pegged at ₹3,500 crore, head to? Are you happy with the present demand growth?

Today, the penetration of RO water purifiers is hardly 1.5 per cent of the total households. The demand will rise steeply because of the deteriorating water quality, increasing awareness of health hazards related to impure water and also a good feedback from users of RO purifiers.

What are the major challenges you face in expanding the market footprint?

One of the major challenges is to educate the consumers about the need for RO purification. Even today, boiling is considered the best method for purifying water, but consumers should understand that boiling does not remove dissolved impurities.

RO is essential to remove dissolved impurities. Moreover the consumer mindset has largely been reactive rather than proactive. People usually look for water purifiers only when they encounter waterborne diseases.

It is a challenge to create awareness that it is a must to purify their water using RO purifiers to prevent the onset of waterborne diseases.

Is the industry capable of addressing issues in different geographies?

R&D is a must to keep evolving with time and a basic ingredient of sustainability.

The TDS (total dissolved salts) in water varies with the local geographic conditions. There is option for TDS control coupled with mineral retention to ensure that whatever be the inlet quality of water, consumer gets the most purified and healthy drinking water that is fortified with essential minerals.

RO can totally remove the contamination due to arsenic, fluoride and heavy metals. However, we are working on low-cost solutions so that such devices can be offered at a very affordable price.

The market is now fragmented. Are you able to consolidate your business?

The present market share of the small and unorganised companies in this industry is 46 per cent and most of the independent researches indicate that this share is going down to less than 30 per cent by 2018. This clearly indicates that the industry is undergoing consolidation, and soon the unorganised sector will pave the way for expansion of big brands.

How do you find the going while early movers and multinational brands are getting more and more aggressive at marketing?

Every brand speaks high of itself, but trust develops when an accredited certification body endorses the product/brand.

In the case of water purification industry, laboratories of international repute, like NSF, WQA and more recently ISI, have certified our products for its quality and efficacy.

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