Kajaria Ceramics looks ahead after the long Indian lockdown

The Indian group is confident and determined to surge ahead in the post pandemic phase, thanks to its financial solidity and recent production investments.

Kajaria Ceramics, India’s top tile manufacturer and one of the largest global groups in the sector with a yearly capacity of 73 million sqm, closed the fiscal year to 31 March 2020 with revenue of 28.08 billion rupees (around US $373 million), a decline of 5% compared to the previous year.

This fall was attributable to a steep decline in sales volume in March 2020 coinciding with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

With the end of the long Indian lockdown, Kajaria Ceramics’ plants are now operating almost at full capacity, all dealers are at work, consumption has been picking up, as well as commercial activity and services.

“The external environment remains uncertain and challenging – admits the Chairman Ashok Kajaria – but we are closely monitoring the evolving pandemic situation and adjusting to the circumstances. While we have absorbed the reality that the company’s financial performance in 2020-2021 will be a shade lower than what it was in 2019-2020, our determination to surge ahead will be in overdrive. We have sufficient financial solidity and liquidity to carry on with complete peace of mind. Moreover, our recent investments in new capacities in both vitrified tiles and sanitaryware should drive business prospects a few notches higher when our ecosystem comes back to normal”.

Read the complete interview with Ashok Kajaria on Ceramic World Review 138