- Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE Elevator India India is the second largest market for elevators in the world, with the market estimated at 50,000 units a year. KONE India holds over 20 per cent of the market share. Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE Elevator India, shares more... What is driving demand in India? Commercial realty, especially the office space and rental market, is going well. Residential sector is currently slow. However, owing to initiatives taken by the government to ease liquidity issues in the market and urbanisation that is bound to happen, this segment will also grow in the future. The current ratio of equipment sold in residential market is close to 65-70 per cent while the rest is commercial, retail and infrastructure. Any recent launches from the company, along with its USP? Our innovative KONE UltraRope® elevator hoisting technology eliminates disadvantages of much heavier traditional steel ropes, and enables elevator travel heights of up to 1,000 m. Another innovation is KONE People Flow Intelligence solutions, which makes navigation through buildings ever smoother and smarter. KONE CareTM 24/7 IoT Connected Services uses cutting edge technologies to bring safety, transparency and predictability to services for elevators and escalators, preventing faults before they happen and monitoring equipment in real-time. Our recent U series elevator is designed to make the vertical journeys of mid-range urban buildings more convenient with an increased travel speed of 2.5 m per second while delivering excellent ride comfort, maximum smoothness and utmost safety making every ride uplifting and memorable. The offering is available in nine precious themes in 26 car designs that radiate timeless appeal and endless fascination offering you freedom of choice. High-rise buildings have a unique set of requirements, when it comes to vertical transportation. KONE takes its technology to new heights with innovative solutions and 6 m per second is the highest speed we have achieved. What is the emphasis laid on safety? At KONE, we put safety first as safety for us means more than just conforming to the local laws and norms. KONE Care Maintenance is designed to detect issues before problems arise, reduce hazards, and prevent accidents. We use the KONE Modular Based Maintenance (MBM), the most advanced preventive Maintenance method in the industry. Every KONE Service Technician takes ownership of quality and is driven by continuous quality initiatives and training. Our elevators are designed to both maximise passenger safety and enable easy inspection of the equipment. What are the challenges faced by the company? Contradictory applicability of safety codes across India is the primary challenge being faced by the industry. Over time, the organised players in the industry have defined and implemented stringent codes to help ensure the safety of their products, and to ensure that equipment is maintained and inspected according to the respective codes. It is time the government brings uniform guidelines across the country for safety norms to be followed by the elevators and escalators manufacturers. Global companies and many Indian companies follow strict safety norms as per a country’s cultural sensitivity. However, there are unorganised players that do not necessarily fulfil this criterion as there are no specified norms to follow. At KONE, we have global policies, processes, and guidelines in place to enable that our business activities, including subcontractor operations, are organised and conducted in a structured and globally harmonised way.