Sandip Somany, Joint Managing Director, HSIL Ltd Did you know that HSIL Ltd, the organisation behind iconic sanitaryware brand Hindware, turned 50 this year? Currently, the market for sanitaryware is Rs 1,300 crore, of which 60 per cent is organised; HSIL holds a 40 per cent market share in this organised sector. Little wonder then, that it has bagged the CW Annual Award for being the Largest Ceramic Tiles & Sanitaryware Company. Sandip Somany, Joint MD, HSIL Ltd, discusses the journey so far and future strategies with Jayanthi Narayan…. The voyage It started off in a small way with an investment of Rs 2.5 crore. The capacity of the plant was 600 tonne, i.e. 60,000 pieces a year. It has been 50 years and now it is 20 lakh pieces per year. In the next 30 months we will make 50 lakh pieces. This year we will generate a revenue of Rs 1,100 crore. It was not an easy journey as India was a completely different country to what it is today. There were many challenges in putting up the plant. Getting the technology, people and distribution rights took a few years of effort but everybody in the team was hard-working and committed. Innovative approach In our ceramic business, we are doing a lot of work nationally where we are reducing water consumption. We are now producing products with the lowest level of water consumption per flush. We have just introduced a product that flushes at just 1.5 litre. We have also introduced the water-less urinal, which is a patented technology. We were the first to introduce it in India. The tiles sector We have forayed into the tiles segment with high value-added tiles, addressing the upper end of the middle and the upper segment. It is a Rs 10,000 crore business nationally. We hope to be a significant player in the luxury end of the business. Currently, our plans are limited to the upper end of the tile business and not the mid and lower end. The tile sector is growing by 15-16 per cent a year. We don't have a tile plant yet but we are outsourcing the tiles from world-class manufacturers and, yes, they do have digitised printing. Reducing wastage It is a constant effort and we were the first in the country to adopt new technology. Our plants are very modern and efficient. So we use fewer raw materials for every product we make in terms of output. Secondly, we have been very good with our quality system and we were the first to get 9001, 14001, 18001 certifications. We recycle the entire process water, treat it and reuse it; thus we have zero discharge. Strong quarter In Q2, we posted a 52 per cent growth in profits. Our plant capacity was utilised well and we ran our plants efficiently. We sowed what we made and we continue to add value through innovations in our product mix. The combination of these factors ensured that we were able to post record profits. We hope to continue to do that in the quarters to come. Expansion plans We plan to invest Rs 350 crore in the next 30 months: Rs 200 crore will go into our ceramic business to increase capacity from 2.8 million to 5 million pieces; Rs 90 crore will go to our tap and faucets business to increase capacity from 3 lakh to 25 lakh pieces; and Rs 60 crore will go into our glass business to raise capacity from 1,000 tonne a day to about 1,100 tonne a day. India will witness unprecedented growth for the next 10 years. The market is growing at about 15-16 per cent and we are growing at over 30 per cent. Going ahead of the market is the objective.