TOTO plans India unit on touching $40mn biz

Japanese sanitaryware major TOTO, which has a revenue of $4.34 billion outside Japan, is looking forward to setting up a manufacturing facility in India once its sales revenues in the country touch the $40-million mark.

Speaking to the media in connection with the launch of India's second exclusive showroom for TOTO products in Hyderabad on Friday, Koji Nakano, general manager, international business division of the company, said they would want to see the establishment of basic infrastructure including more number of showrooms and servicing facilities before considering investments in India. However, he refused to divulge the current sales figure of their products in India.

The company proposes to set up 10 more exclusive showrooms across the country through local franchisees in a year, according to Hidekazu Hata, general manager, TOTO's India operations. "The current global revenues form only 10 per cent of TOTO's total revenues and we now want to increase global sales," he said.

Value Line Trade, which set up the showroom spread over 15,000 square feet, is planning to set up two more showrooms for TOTO products in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, according to Narinder Anand, managing director of the company.