Wheelchair maker Vermeiren to expand sales in India

It is looking at selling around 40,000 wheelchair units in India by 2020

Belgium-based wheelchair maker, Vermeiren, is looking at selling around 40,000 wheelchair units in India by 2020.

The company — which is launching its manufacturing facility in the integrated business city called Sri City, located near Chennai — will offer its products to both India and overseas from the country, said Patrick Vermeiren, managing director and chief executive officer for Vermeiren Group NV. The first phase of facility has been completed with an investment of around Rs 40 crore to manufacture 30,000 wheel chairs, in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of the Sri City.

The company will invest an additional Rs 30 crore in a second phase expansion, to increase the capacity to One lakh units of wheel chairs and 25,000 hospital beds. The expansion is planned to be in 2018. The facility in India is expected to help the company in reducing costs, including the import tariff for finished goods and time taken for delivery.

"While the manufacturing facility in the SEZ would cater to Middle East, far east and European market, over a period of next five years, we plan to have around 40 per cent of the production to be sold in India itself," said vermeiren. The company will also open a research and development (R&D) centre in the facility, which would work with the global R&D team for both global products and also India specific projects.

He said that wheelchair demand in the country is around 1.2 million, of which only 10-15 per cent is addressed by various Indian and overseas companies at present. More than 50 per cent of this existing market is currently addressed by Chinese players. The company is looking at a market share in the existing market and also to increase its penetration to newer markets.

With around five to six dealers at present, of which majority are in South India, the company is looking at appointing at least one dealer in a state, who will also offer aftersales services, said Syed Riaz Qadri, managing director, Vermeiren India Rehab.

If it finds that the Indian market is growing faster, the company might also look at setting up a facility in the domestic tariff area in future, said Marcel Van Herck, global advisor of Vermeiren Group.

The company selected Sri City for manufacturing considering its accessibility to various ports, airports and national highways, apart from the proximity of the automobile hub in Chennai, which can offer components. The company already started manufacturing products in the facility and the localisation levels are around 50-60 per cent at present. The company plans to have entire production with vendor base in India, as it has worked out the model in China, said Herck.