Good quality tiles at a lower cost

01 Mar 2019 Editorial Team

Government initiatives have created additional demand for the building materials sector.

Atul Sanghvi, Executive Director, CERA Sanitaryware, confirms, “CERA has been able to benefit from affordable housing and has brought out an exclusive range under the brand name Jeet, aiming at this segment.”

Dinesh Vyas, Senior Vice-President and Head - Marketing, H & R Johnson (India), Division of Prism Johnson, believes the expectation of low-cost tiles has brought in the perception of low quality tiles. “The interesting thing is that some part of these perceived lowest cost products get converted to reasonably good quality products at a lower cost and we could exploit this new segment by making a budget category,” he says.

The tiles, sanitaryware and bath fittings industry appears to be over its slump following issues such as GST, RERA Act, demonetisation, and has witnessed good performance in the past year. As Sanghvi says, “CERA is growing, despite the not-so-buoyant market scenario.” In his view, the market growth for sanitaryware and tiles has not met expectations on account of slow-paced housing construction.

For his part, Vyas says, “The trend is positive and improvement on many parameters is encouraging. The continued thrust on housing and infrastructure will benefit the whole industry and us.” He believes the Indian ceramic industry has evolved in the past two decades. “Tiles made of ceramic are wonderful materials for wall and floor covering, superior on many counts than alternative materials. Tiles that are stronger, larger in size and in a range of aesthetic options using the latest technology have become much more affordable and a preferred choice in all types of construction—housing, commercial, industrial and infrastructure.” He is confident that, overall, the Indian tiles and sanitaryware industry will continue to do well and brands with superior products and service levels who connect with end-users as well as influencers will continue to grow. Part of their growth could also be at the expense of marginal players, who are slow to respond to changing consumer expectations, product quality and service levels.

DIKSHA JAWLE

Government initiatives have created additional demand for the building materials sector. Atul Sanghvi, Executive Director, CERA Sanitaryware, confirms, “CERA has been able to benefit from affordable housing and has brought out an exclusive range under the brand name Jeet, aiming at this segment.” Dinesh Vyas, Senior Vice-President and Head - Marketing, H & R Johnson (India), Division of Prism Johnson, believes the expectation of low-cost tiles has brought in the perception of low quality tiles. “The interesting thing is that some part of these perceived lowest cost products get converted to reasonably good quality products at a lower cost and we could exploit this new segment by making a budget category,” he says.The tiles, sanitaryware and bath fittings industry appears to be over its slump following issues such as GST, RERA Act, demonetisation, and has witnessed good performance in the past year. As Sanghvi says, “CERA is growing, despite the not-so-buoyant market scenario.” In his view, the market growth for sanitaryware and tiles has not met expectations on account of slow-paced housing construction.For his part, Vyas says, “The trend is positive and improvement on many parameters is encouraging. The continued thrust on housing and infrastructure will benefit the whole industry and us.” He believes the Indian ceramic industry has evolved in the past two decades. “Tiles made of ceramic are wonderful materials for wall and floor covering, superior on many counts than alternative materials. Tiles that are stronger, larger in size and in a range of aesthetic options using the latest technology have become much more affordable and a preferred choice in all types of construction—housing, commercial, industrial and infrastructure.” He is confident that, overall, the Indian tiles and sanitaryware industry will continue to do well and brands with superior products and service levels who connect with end-users as well as influencers will continue to grow. Part of their growth could also be at the expense of marginal players, who are slow to respond to changing consumer expectations, product quality and service levels.DIKSHA JAWLE

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Infrastructure Urban

12 Mar 2026

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..