Water purifier industry thrives to the apathy of civic authorities

Thanks to the erratic and poor quality of water supplied to the masses by the civic authorities, water purifier market in India has seen a good growth, which is likely to touch Rs 7,000 crore by 2015 from the current level of about Rs 3,200 crore.

Water purifier segment in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25 per cent and is largely driven by rising sales of low-cost variants triggered by extreme shortage of drinking-water and dwindling water table which has created huge gap in demand-supply of clean water jeopardizing the normal life, said The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Besides, the sales of water purifiers across India are likely to cross 1.5 crore units by 2015 from the current level of over 78 lakh units, according to the ASSOCHAM study titled, “Water-Purifier Industry in India: An Overview”.

Growing at about eight per cent annually, the global water purifier industry is currently poised at about Rs 4.96 lakh crore and is likely to reach Rs 6.25 lakh crore by 2015, according to the ASSOCHAM study.

“Growing awareness amid consumers vis-à-vis health hazards of consuming unsafe and untreated water together with local and international companies jumping on the water-purifier bandwagon, the sector is likely to witness huge surge, more so as an expeditious growth in population is aiding lack of access to safe drinking water together with inadequate sanitation and hygine,” said DS Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the study.

Over 85 per cent of fresh water resources in India are used for irrigation purposes, about 10 per cent is used by the industrial units, municipal use and in construction projects and a meager five per cent is available in terms of drinking water, highlights the ASSOCHAM study.

“Acute shortage, salinity of water, depleting groundwater levels and low market- penetration together have led to an upsurge in demand for water treatment products across India,” said Rawat. According to the ASSOCHAM study, a whopping 70 per cent of maladies in India are waterborne owing to poor water quality in most parts of the country.

Water purifier industry in India is broadly divided into two major categories – low cost water treatment products and high-end water purifiers. Low-cost water purifiers cater to the majority of the market as they do not require electricity and running water and are generally gravity based, chemical based water purifing systems available in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

Majority of leading water purifier manufacturers in India have launched high-end water purification devices which use electricity and running water for purification process and are using reverse osmosis (RO) technology, ultraviolet based filters and microbiological treatment. These premium water treatment products are available in the range of over Rs 5,000 and Rs 40,000 and above. Kent RO, Eureka Forbes, LG, Whirlpool, Panasonic, Philips, Usha, Bajaj Electricals, Okaya Power Group (Nasaka brand), Hindustan Unilever amid others are certain leading brands in this category.

Companies in the high-end segment are spending a major chunk of their revenues on marketing their products and providing quality after-sales services to stay ahead of their peers.

Many companies are also conducting surveys to ascertain the quality of drinking water in localities in terms of its taste, odor and hardness to educate the masses and create awareness amid consumers about harmful consequences of consuming contaminated water.

As per an estimate, Gujarat alone accounts for about 32 per cent of the overall water purifier market in India owing to the state government’s emphasis on supply of water via significant investments in industrial estates and special economic zones (SEZs) together with government’s support to set up manufacturing and water treatment plants, designing and engineering units, according to the ASSOCHAM study.

Delhi-NCR alone accounts for sales of about 42,000 units of water purifiers annually with over 130 local companies operating in this domain selling products laden with local and imported components.