JOIN USOtis aims to increase localisation content
In a bid to increase its localisation content, Otis Elevator Company India is investing in a production facility in Bengaluru to ramp up the manufacturing capacity, a top company executive said.
According to Otis India Managing Director Sebi Joseph, “Otis India’s production facility more than tripled the size of the factory footprint and doubled its manufacturing capacity with recent enhancements. Co-located with the factory is Otis’ R&D centre in India that has also significantly expanded its engineering capacity in recent years. Till date, we have invested Rs 100 crore in setting up the facility and in expansion.”
In support of the country’s new ‘Make in India’ initiative, the factory will exclusively manufacture the new product at the expanded Bengaluru facility. We have achieved the target of 70 per cent localisation content in India. We look forward to increase it in the coming years, Joseph said.
To cater to the needs of the infrastructure sector, the company has opened a new infrastructure sector division. “We cannot ignore this sector...as more investment is happening in this sector.”
India’s elevator and escalator market is estimated at around 45,000 units as compared with China’s 4 lakh units annually. China is the world leader in elevator and escalator sales, followed by India.
In India, most sales come from elevators. Around 70 per cent of elevator sales come from the residential segment. Urbanisation and growth in Tier-II and Tier-III cities is a big driver for the elevator and escalator industry. Infrastructure is another big growth area.
The Indian elevator and escalator market is expected to grow at a double-digit rate of 12-15 per cent, he said.
Recently, the company won the largest elevator contract in Indian history from Hyderabad Metro to provide 670 elevators and escalators. The company has the largest service portfolio of 60,000 elevators and service network with 88 centres covering all of India. The company has annual elevator production capacity of 10,000, and aims to sell 8,000 elevators per year.
On Tuesday, the company inaugurated its elevator test tower stand which stands tall at 51.2 metres and has the ability to test up to six elevators at a time. The expanded factory’s latest product offering is the new Gen2 Infinity elevator product line.
Designed to meet the needs of the Indian market, the elevator operates at a speed of 1.75 metres per second and features a compact machine room, making it ideal for mid-rise residential buildings of up to 30 floors.
In 2013, Otis India launched the Gen2 Switch elevator in India which is imported. The Gen2 Switch elevator uses battery technology, so it continues to run even when power goes out.
This elevator eliminates the need for three-phase power and plugs into a standard single-phase outlet. It can be connected directly to renewable energy sources like solar, etc.
Otis, the worlds’ largest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products, inluding elevator and escalators, is a part of UTC Building and Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corporation.
UTC spends $4.9 billion on research and development (R&D) globally and has 49 R&D centres across the globe.
Founded 161 years ago, Otis has presence in more than 200 countries and territories, and maintains more than 1.8 million elevators and escalators worldwide.