Concerned over rising gas prices that has resulted in higher input cost, tiles and sanitary ware major Somany Ceramics Ltd (SCL) wants the government to take ceramic industry seriously and treat it as priority sector like the cement industry.
Chairman and Managing Director of SCL Shreekant Somany on Friday said that for the ceramic industry has to have double digit growth, the government need to view the industry in a different light. "Rising gas prices was a big concern for all the ceramic manufacturing units as their input costs have gone up by nearly 20 per cent," Somany said. The industry has huge potential in the domestic as well as global markets, he claimed. Explaining his claim Somany said that since Europe was reeling under slow down and countries like Spain and Italy nearly reducing their ceramic production to half India has become the third largest manufacture of ceramics after China and Brazil.
"I would like to appeal to the government to see the (ceramic) industry in a different perspective. They need to treat this sector as priority sector like the cement industry. Only then there could be good growth for this industry," Somany said. He was here to inaugurate third exclusive store of the company in Gujarat. SCL, a flagship company of the H L Somany group has 87 store across the country and plans to add another 20-25 stores by the end of this fiscal year. It has two manufacturing facility one in Kassar, Haryana and other in Kadi, Gujarat. It has also taken up stake in two companies based in Morbi, Rajkot.
