KONE Corporation CEO Sees Huge Potential for the India Market

As the global population continues to grow, particularly in India, people continue to move to cities. A large proportion of the world’s urban population growth will take place in developing countries, with India taking a significant share. This creates the need for innovative and eco efficient people flow solutions and in many cases, the need to create taller buildings, which is gaining significant grounds across the country.

The Indian Elevator and Escalator market is presently the second largest new equipment market in the world, representing approximately 5% of the world’s new elevator and escalators. Despite recent market uncertainty, the increasing rate of urbanization is expected to support the growth of the elevator and escalator market in the coming years.

“While the market declined slightly last year and the beginning of this year, mainly due to demonetization, we are confident in the long-term outlook for the industry. Several steps taken by the Government in recent times—from the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, to the changes in the Goods and Services Tax system, and the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts—will further improve transparency and increase confidence in the Real Estate market. Looking at the increasing need for infrastructure and tall building developments, we see good growth prospects over the next few years” says Amit Gossain, Managing Director, KONE India.

With the affordable housing segment being given infrastructure status, which will provide more flexibility for developers, there is potential for growth in the residential sector. Trends in the building industry and the elevator & escalator industries continues to be driven by urbanization and other needs, such as providing reliable, efficient infrastructure and improving living standards and convenience. Above all, technology will enable new products and services which benefit customers, and it is this is one of the areas where KONE is leading the industry.

KONE’s NEW Plant at Sriperumbudur will be a state-of-the-art facility that is expected to be fully operational by 2019. The company’s India Technology & Engineering Centre (ITEC), based in Chennai, will continue to provide a boost to innovation, bringing further value to customers in line with the market trends. With stronger R&D and engineering collaboration in India, KONE will be able to serve the growing Indian market with even more innovative People Flow® solutions.

New types of innovations include bringing connectivity and Internet of Things technologies to elevators and escalators, which provide totally new types of services to KONE’s customers.

“There is a lot of potential in the Indian market and Amit’s team in India has the ability to identify and develop opportunities in a fast changing environment. There is a wealth of talent across the country and I was greatly impressed with the wide range of capabilities and skills on show at KONE India Hackathon, held earlier this year”, says Henrik Ehrnrooth, President and CEO, KONE Corporation.

As buildings get taller and taller with the capacity to serve tens of thousands of users simultaneously, there is increased pressure on elevators and escalators to keep people moving smoothly. KONE is leading the way in bringing together technology and innovation to meet the requirements of some of the world’s most ambitious and iconic buildings.