Vitrified tiles players queue up at Morbi

With the demand growing by 30 per cent year-on-year, Morbi's vitrified tiles industry is witnessing a spurt of activities.

Around 20 more players are set to start operations over the next 12-18 months in the region, which is in near Rajkot, around 200 km from ahmedabad. Currently there are 12 companies operating from here.

According to the existing players, it is the growth in the market that has been attracting new players to Morbi, and it is learnt that companies like Ramoji Granite Limited, Intel Ceramics Private Limited and Oasis Vitrified Private Limited had already filed industrial entrepreneurs memoranda (IEMs) with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in December.

"Compared to the ceramic tiles market, which is growing at 15-17 per cent, vitrified tiles market is growing at 25-30 per cent. Moreover, the market has grown rapidly during the last four years. Even the prices have come down from Rs 100 per sft to Rs 40 per sft, which has increased the demand for these tiles. All this and more have been attracting lot many players to set up vitrified tiles business in the region," said Ashok Kajaria, managing director of Kajaria Ceramics Limited.

Currently, the vitrified tiles market is around 60 million square metre a year. Typically, it costs around Rs 30 crore to set up a 2.5-million sq mt a year vitrified tiles unit, he added.

Some players, however, caution that with more players coming up in the region, the margins could go down for both the new players and the existing ones, who are also expanding their capacities simultaneously.

"Although more players are attracted towards this business due to the real estate and construction boom, it is mostly the small players who are setting up their bases here. It might be difficult for them to survive among the relatively high-priced fuel and established players," said Girish Pethapara, chairman of Deco Group.

As against the natural gas available in regions like Mehsana and South Gujarat at Rs 4-5 per cubic metre, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is priced around Rs 17-18 per cubic metre in Morbi, which tends to be a costly affair, some say.

Yet, vitrified tiles market here forms one-third of the overall Rs 6,500-crore tiles market in the country, said Hashmukh Patel, managing director of 'Asian Tiles' manufacturer Asian Granito India Limited, adding that the growth in per capita consumption of vitrified tiles from 0.15 sq mt to 0.20 sq mt had been one of the other reasons behind the spurt.