POST-COVID BUSINESS
Post-covid, people have started spending more time at home. Hence, they have started looking for high-quality products. Previously also people were looking for quality, but now it’s at a different level. They were looking for the air quality temperatures inside the house. The market of Fenestration moved from an unorganised sector to an organised one. Products are available in different qualities and price ranges in the market – good and poor both. But, now the customers have started realizing that they need quality products that can be installed by a very good service team. Things are moving towards a more professional way, which is good for the market.
Earlier, the customers were cautious about the price, not the quality. But now they are demanding better quality. There was a big pricing issue during the Covid, but now, things have gone back to normal. I think it was 5-6% more than what they were before Covid. Pre-Covid, there were supply chain issues and pricing issues. But, the good thing is we have come out of it and were able to supply the materials on time. We had to stock more material than usual. The same happened with our fabricators, they also had to stock more material and the price of the material was going up, so they had to put more money into it. But now, they’re happy.
The market is slowly moving up. There’s a lot of talk about the recession, but I don’t think India is going to be affected as much. “In the first six months, there was a huge amount of growth. With the requirement of completion of delayed projects that were there before the pandemic, a lot of money was getting pumped into the market. In the next six months, I think we’ll see a lot of headwinds because of global issues and war. But, I think in the long-term prospects, people want good products and they’re seeking quality products.” Says Meela. Customers are conscious; the house owners choose each product to be used in their house.
THE GROWTH CURVE AND EXPECTATIONS FOR 2025
uPVC fenestration sector is targeted to do at least 25% growth on a year-on-year basis. We’ve been achieving it and hopefully, we can keep that momentum forward till 2025. We need to add more products, and more quality into it, and I think, we would be able to breach it and obviously add a lot more products along with it. The customer needs a one-stop solution for a lot of things.