Andreas Hartleif, chairman of VEKA AG, the $ 1.2 billion German major that is into manufacturing of products made from uPVC such as windows, is upbeat about the new plant in the Medak district of Telangana. uPVC is a specialized rigid PVC material.
The plant is set for commissioning next month in September and has been set up by the joint venture company formed between VEKA and Hyderabad-based NCL group. Hartleif wants the JV to cater to not just the growing Indian market, but also some of the emerging markets globally, such as in Africa and Middle East. So far Rs 50 crore has been jointly invested by the two parties in the JV.
According to Ashven Datla, managing director, NCL VEKA Limited, the partnership with VEKA will give the joint venture an edge in the Indian and other markets, as it can leverage the huge range of products that VEKA can offer and an ability to procure raw material from international suppliers at competitive prices. "VEKA has the branding edge in some of the markets outside India in the emerging economies," he says.
NCL VEKA, a 50:50 JV, is now making fresh investments to the tune of Rs 25 crore in machinery, product enhancements, new show-rooms and marketing outlay. This is in addition to the Rs 50 crore invested so far. India has Rs 13,000 crore window market, of which, 52 per cent is aluminium windows, 22 per cent wood, 15 per cent steel and uPVC is just 12 per cent. It is, however, growing at over 20 per cent per annum.
NCL VEKA, which before the JV was NCL WINTECH, is a 10 year old company and today has a 15 per cent market share in the Indian uPVC market. Datla says a JV with VEKA should propel the company to reach a marketshare of at least around 20 per cent in two years. It closed last year (2017-18) with a turnover of Rs 163 crore and hopes to grow by 30 per cent in revenue terms in the current year.
"India is a key focus area for us, the growth potential for uPVC windows in this region is expected to far out-perform any region in the globe. We are making the required investments in this region to capitalise on this opportunity," says Hartleif while speaking to reporters in Hyderabad on Thursday.
VEKA calls itself the world's largest producer of uPVC profiles with operations in manufacturing units in 18 countries, operations in 40 countries and total employees of 5,500. NCL is part of the Rs 1500 crore building materials manufacturer based out of Hyderabad with products ranging from Cement, Boards, windows, doors, paints & plasters and AAC blocks.