Japan’s Lixil Corporation eyes ₹1,000 cr. in India sales over three years

Japan-based building materials and housing equipment maker Lixil Corporation is aiming for ₹1,000 crore worth sales in India in the next three years, a company official said on Saturday.

Lixil operates in India through its brands Grohe and American Standard.

For Lixil, India is one of the fastest-growing markets following Japan, the U.S. and China and it would continue to invest here for expansion, said Lixil Water Technology – India & Subcontinent Leader Bobby Joseph.

“A lot of investment is coming, what we believe is for next 5 years and 10 years, ahead of time. It (India) is among the top four markets where Lixil is investing,” Mr. Joseph told PTI.

India has the potential to be one of the largest markets, he added.

Lixil is working on a long-term strategy for the Indian market, where it operates with brands Grohe in the luxury and premium bathroom fitting segment and American Standard in the comparatively smaller side, Mr. Joseph said.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2022, Lixil had recorded about 50% growth. For the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal, it registered about 20% growth quarter-on-quarter, he added.

“Our investment and focus in building our distribution and retail have paid off. There was also pent-up demand in the sector,,” he said, adding in terms of projects the company has to build a robust pipeline for the future.

When asked about the expected growth this fiscal, Mr. Joseph said the demand was “sustainable” looking at the retail demand and project pipelines. In both of them, Lixil is expecting growth quarter-on-quarter.

“We hope to achieve a thousand crore [rupees] over the next three years,” said Mr. Joseph.

As to where the investment would be used, Mr. Joseph said Lixil has a ceramic plant in Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), which has a capacity of one million units and this could be expanded to two million units.

“We are also investing in cistern manufacturing which will go live later this year,” he said.

However, Mr. Joseph did not share any numbers regarding Lixil’s investment in the Indian market.

The company is also expanding the retail footprints of both brands. Currently, Grohe is available at 500 retail outlets, while American Standard at over 3,000 outlets.

Currently, Grohe has a larger share of business for Lixil in the Indian market, he added.

Lixil on Saturday introduced the Grohe Spa Rainshower Aqua range, featuring showering innovations, which promise to transform the bathroom into a personal home spa.