EKKI Group, which is into manufacture of pumps for agriculture and building services space is looking to focus on few product segments and strengthening its position in the select product range.

Kanishka Arumugam, Director, Special Project told BusinessLine that the company plans to focus on “few products for many markets rather than many products for one market.”

“The present day customer wants a German engineered product with Japanese quality and Italian finish at Chinese price. We therefore need to emerge globally competitive in terms of quality, research and development, supply chain and productivity to ensure that the “Made in India” pump is respected globally,” he explained.

Asserting the need for the Indian pump industry to be more vibrant to emerge stronger, Arumugam said that he foresaw more competition both — from the east and western pump makers in India. “Eventually, only the fittest will survive,” he added. Arumugam further claimed that the group is a market and technology leader in Deccan Openwell pumps and EKKI Borehole pumping systems.

Harjeet Singh Wahan, Member, Supervisory Board, EKKI Group said the strategy would be nothing but specialisation, going forward.

The group has strengthened its presence across six States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “We will have a pan India presence soon, although we are not pushing it aggressively at this juncture. GST implementation has been good for the organised pump manufacturers. We therefore feel that we will be able to make a dent in the central and northern parts of India,” Wahan said.

(EKKI Group includes EKKI Pumps and Deccan Pumps).

The organised pump market in India is estimated at ₹13,419 crore by 2018, he said, citing a report.

The group is quiet upbeat about its growth prospects in India, as there is increased demand for pumps due to rapid urbanisation and for irrigation in agriculture.

“Close to 85 per cent of the pumps are sold in the domestic market, leaving very little for exports. We are looking at newer geographies, particularly the Middle East and North Africa. We want to be present in 10 countries by 2020. The challenge at this juncture is cost,” Arumugam added.

comment COMMENT NOW