RAK Ceramics 'all set' for pan-India expansion

RAK Ceramics, a leading player in the ceramic industry in the global market, has aggressive plans to expand its footprint in India, said a senior company executive. The UAE-based player has its manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh at Samalkot (near Rajmundari) and is scouting for manufacturing partners in Gujarat, the executive added.

Talking to Business Standard, Rajeev Ranjan Singh, president, India operations, said: "The company has plans to consolidate its presence in the north and east of India. The growth in the budget housing space has triggered the demand for ceramics and the additional output will help the company to venture into the relatively less-explored parts of the country."

Singh said within eight years of commencing operations in India, the company clocked a turnover of Rs 800 in 2013. This is projected to go up to Rs 1,100 crore by end of 2014 and Rs 2000 crore by end of 2015, he added.

According to Singh, despite the slowdown in the real estate sector, the demand for housing is robust in India. "We could register 50 per cent growth in sales as compared to industry average of 15 per cent in the last two years because we focused on the Tier-III and -IV towns."

He added that the flow of funds for the big projects may have been affected but the demand from end users did not dwindle.

In order to cater to the demand of low-end segment, the company has decided to have joint venture partnerships with the small and medium scale ceramic units located at Morbi in Gujarat.

The ceramics for the high-end users would be made in Andhra Pradesh unit and low-end users in Gujarat because of competitive cost in ceramic cluster of Gujarat.

Even the thrust of the Ministry of Urban development leaves a big room for the industry and RAK, he added, was gearing up to match needs of price conscious buyers.

The company has earmarked Rs 50 cr for expansion.

In order to spread brand awareness in the existing and unexplored market, the company would spearhead an aggressive branding campaign this year.

The company plans to add four company owned orientation showrooms to its existing network of 10 showrooms. It has 25 franchise stores and 800 dealers across India.