| Kapil Agarwal, managing director, Haworth India told Business Standard that the company was gearing itself for a massive expansion to meet demand in both the Indian and international markets. |
| "India's strategic location is ideal to make it the manufacturing hub for SE Asia and Middle East. Moreover, the Indian market is expected to grow significantly," said Agarwal. Production at the Pune factory, which was recently commissioned, is expected to be trebled by 2007. |
| "We have invested around $10 million for our Pune factory. The production capacity of individual shifts will be doubled during 2006 and trebled in 2007," he added. |
| At the same time, the company was planning to set up a second manufacturing unit in any of the special economic zones (SEZ). |
| "The company will be making a major investment to set up the second manufacturing unit in an SEZ area. It is likely to come up within the next two-three years," he said. |
| The production from the second unit will not only cater to the international market in southeast Asia and Middle East, but also the company's domestic clients who are based in other SEZs, explained Agarwal. |
| Though Agarwal was unable to project any investment figures for the second unit, he confirmed that investment could be anywhere between $10 million and $20 million. |
| Meanwhile, the company was gearing itself up to record a 50 per cent growth in its Indian turnover. "We are expecting to record sales turnover of $30 million in 2006 in India, 50 per cent higher than last year's turnover of $20 million," said Agarwal. |
| Haworth India enjoys a market share of 15 per cent in the country, claimed Agarwal. |
| The share of organised players in the Rs 4,000 crore Indian office furniture market was gradually increasing from the current figure of 25 per cent. The domestic market was growing at an annual rate of 25-30 per cent, Agarwal noted. |
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