India to be export hub for Ardex products

Bal Endura, the Indian subsidiary of the German company Ardex which manufactures tile-fixing adhesives and grouts, will use India as its export hub for south Asian markets.

The Indian unit would be marketing a comprehensive range of tile-fixing adhesives and grouts throughout the SAARC region and it has already set up sales and marketing operations in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh for this purpose.

All products to be sold in the Saarc region will be manufactured at Bal Endura's Bangalore facility.

According to the managing director of Bal Endura, Mark Simm, "Bal Endura's international operations will be primarily focusing on the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation) countries and we have set up our sales and marketing base in these countries. The marketing team will be developing the distribution as well as sales channels for products here. The manufacturing unit in Bangalore would supply these markets."

Ardex has major plans for the Indian market, where it started operations under the Bal Endura name in 1997 through a joint venture with H&R Johnson.

With sales at present at around Rs 12 crore, Bal Endura has reported steady growth and is looking to become a market-leader in the approximately Rs 100 crore market.

Exports to Sri Lanka and the Maldives have been on for two years now.

Bal Endura is planning to increase the capacity of its Bangalore unit to 15,000 tonnes per annum, an increase of 50 per cent over existing capacity.

Simm said, "This increased capacity will be used to service the demands of international operations as well as to sustain the domestic growth in India."