Growth has been driven by strong domestic demand in the Indian ceramic tiles and sanitaryware sector. Over the past few years, there has been a significant tilt towards branded products in the industry. This shift from unorganised local players to branded products has resulted in organised players and companies witnessing improvement in margins. The Indian sanitaryware market was valued at $665.36 million in 2020 andis expected to reach $1,074.71 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 7.38 per cent over the forecast period of 2021-2027. India ranks second in the world in the sanitaryware industry. With regard to growth prospects, the country is evolving as a sanitaryware industrial hub, with several domestic and overseas producers setting up manufacturing facilities across the country owing to the abundant availability of raw material and low labour cost. In recent years, with sustained public and private initiatives, coupled with improving standards of living, the level of sanitation in India has increased manifold. These factors have led to creating a huge market opportunity for sanitaryware tiles, bathroom fittings, washbasins and others, in both the residential and commercial sectors.Initiatives such as Housing for All, Smart Cities and, most important, the Jal Jeevan Mission are expected to drive growth for the ceramic, tiles and sanitaryware market. With government initiatives and rapid urbanisation, the Indian sanitaryware sector is likely to sustain its growth. The sanitaryware market also comprises faucets, whose market in India is valued at approximately `90-100 billion. The industry is scaling up and expected to outpace sanitaryware industry growth. Dynamism in home-buying patterns and rapid urbanisation, combined with an increasing number of nuclear families, paves the way for an evolving market.Though the sector size has remained flat for the past two years, the long-term prospects for the sector are in place. Factors like higher disposable incomes, better standards of living and increasing preference for premium products mean that, despite the slump, demand will revive for sanitaryware products. Apart from this, large sanitaryware producers are focused on young brand-conscious consumers, with an emphasis on design, quality and ease of use, leveraging innovation and technology. At the same time, the focus has sharpened on hygiene in both urban and rural areas. The trend of moving towards branded products is expected to pick up momentum, amid growing awareness for sanitation. Organised players that constitute over 50 per cent of the market tend to gain from this transition. Along with domestic growth, Indian companies are making a mark on the exports front as well. Tile exports from India have seen a healthy growth, with market share increasing to over 10 per cent in CY2020 from a meagre 1 per cent in CY2010. As for the performance of the sector for FY21 as a whole, it was a mixed year for the Indian tile industry with a seesaw in its fortunes. Tile offtake remained dismal in the initial months of the fiscal owing to the pandemic-mandated lockdown, shaken consumer confidence and logistic challenges. Tier-II and Tier-III towns and rural India witnessed the first uptick in demand owing to the relatively muted impact of the pandemic in these areas. Demand from urban areas and metros resurged in the second half of the fiscal as the adversities of the first wave of COVID-19 waned. As a result, while the first half of FY21 remained largely muted for national brands, the second half was significantly better. The going was relatively better for the Morbi cluster. Despite disruptions caused by the pandemic, India’s largest ceramic industry hub at Morbi enjoyed significant demand from international markets. This was owing to the anti-China policy adopted by some nations and the China+1 strategy adopted by other tile-consuming nations.This has helped open new markets. India’s tile exports increased significantly in FY21 compared to the previous year. This diversion mandated informal players to reduce supply to traditional domestic regions; it helped national brands make inroads into the domestic market. With regard to long-term growth factors, the Government’s steady efforts to set up clean drinking water systems and public sanitation facilities are important drivers for the growth and scalability of the sanitaryware industry.