Well, the unabated construction activities coupled with the burgeoning demand of residential and

commercial complexes are bound to pull the demand of elevators in the country to monumental
levels. According to experts, the elevator market in India is expanding day-by-day. Mr.
Gurumoorthy informs, "India has the world's second largest Elevator & Escalator (E&E) market
today with the current market size at more than 50,000 units per year. Due to increasing
urbanisation, highrise office buildings and apartments, as well as multi-storey shopping and
entertainment centres are rapidly springing up in overcrowding cities. As a result, the elevator
market is expected to grow by about 10% per year in the next few years."
He is of the view that the major drivers for the growth of the elevator and escalators market are
increase in construction of commercial buildings for office, retail, and hospitality use, demand from
new housing units, and new cluster development projects. "In addition, the Government's push to
improve public transport infrastructure in the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) has also been a major
boost to the elevator and escalator market."
And according to Mr. Sharma, "Four megatrends that drive the growth of our industry are
urbanization, demographic change, safety, and environment. Urbanization means that cities will
increasingly grow upwards, driving the demand for elevators and escalators. There are two types
of demographic changes that especially drive our business. First and foremost is the growing
number of middle-income people, and secondly, the aging population."
Nonetheless there are some impediments as well. As Mr. Gurumoorthy points out, "The major
impediment in the Indian elevator market is that despite being the second largest, it isn't the most
high-tech in the world. The number of high rise towers being built is still relatively small, which
means the elevators supplied have generally lower speeds and less sophisticated control systems.
The recent slowdown in the residential real estate market has had a negative impact on the
elevator industry, resulting in delays in order finalisation and project completion."
Another trend that has been observed is that most of the mid and small size projects are generally
taken over by low cost countries' products. In such a scenario, what business strategies are being
adopted to capture this share of small and mid size projects by tackling price sensitiveness of the
buyers? Talking of ThyssenKrupp's strategy, he says, "ThyssenKrupp Elevator is a global company
and essentially operates in all market segments by providing products and services which are fitfor-purpose to the respective customers. However, we do not compromise on safety and quality.
Within these safety and quality guidelines we offer competitive and economical solutions for a wide
variety of applications and requirements through efficient manufacturing and supply-chain
management, and by sourcing from our own factories and approved suppliers in different
countries."
And Mr. Sharma adds that Kone is concentrating on in house engineering, factory expansion,
innovations, and quality products to provide solution for the ever increasing, demanding market.
Considering the growing acceptance of innovation amongst the masses coupled with relentless
growth of construction activities, it's ascertained that Smart Elevators will continue to witness a
fillip in the country. And they will continue to grow smarter in the years to come!