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How do you view the current market for elevators and escalators in India?

India is the second-largest elevator market in the world after China, with more than 52,000 elevators being sold every year. With rapid urbanization, the current growth rate of the Indian elevator & escalator market is estimated to be about 7-8%. The urbanization level is expected to rise from 32% to about 40% by 2030. The growth of the market is largely driven by the residential segment and also by activity and initiatives in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. It is likely to get even stronger in the near future, with the focus on initiatives like ?housing for all?, development of smart cities & new infrastructure projects. This creates a need for taller buildings with even more efficient and innovative mobility solutions. Schindler is responding to this opportunity with targeted investments & strategic expansion of our Indian business. Our new manufacturing facility, located at Chakan near Pune, has been fully functional since the beginning of 2014. This sprawling, world-class campus houses the elevator factory, a 70-meter tall elevator test tower, the global R&D centre and an upcoming escalator plant. All this is a testimony to the Schindler Group?s commitment to the Indian Market and our endeavor to be closer to our customers and offer them innovative mobility solutions.

As for elevator design, what are the ongoing trends? How do these differ for different type of projects?

Our product offering ranges from cost-effective solutions for low-rise residential buildings to sophisticated access and destination control for multifunctional high-rise buildings. Real estate developers increasingly prefer gearless & machine-room-less (MRL) elevators over the traditional elevators which require machine room on top of the building. This offers them more flexibility to design the building, and ensures an overall saving in cost and time for our customers. A very significant and positive change is that the manual door elevators, which once formed a major part of the elevator market in India, is on decline, thanks to the growing awareness among customer and end-users, about safety and energy-efficiency. Schindler has consciously stayed away from offering manual door elevator products, and is playing a major role in this positive shift by offering our range of auto-door elevators with standard safety features such as infra-red door protection, automatic rescue device and 2Hrs fire rated doors. In large metros, buildings continue to grow taller. The taller the building, the more challenging it is to design and install the elevators. Our expertise in high-rise projects is evident from the landmark high rise buildings such as Shreepati Arcade, Antilia, Imperial Towers. We are also proud to be associated with the tallest residential building in the world ? The World Towers, which will be equipped with high speed Schindler elevators (S7000), some of them running at a speed of 8 m/sec, the fastest in India.

How project planning & execution are important and what are Schindler?s Expertise in it ?

Elevator is literally the lifeline of a building and the breakthroughs in elevator technology have made it possible for the buildings to grow tall. The important part here is to plan for the correct number and specifications of elevators, considering the type of building, it?s tenancy, population etc. Professional project management is the key to timely completion of project with proper coordination with all concerned agencies. Here Schindler employs dedicated project managers as single point of contact for our customers to ensure that the projects are well planned & executed on time with highest quality & safety standards. Schindler India has over the years, gained the trust of leading builders & developers across the country. The reason they have chosen Schindler as their partners in large and high-rise projects is because of the organization?s expertise in managing such projects, through dedicated project management teams. Our four state-of-the-art training centres, in Noida, Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai respectively, ensure that every Schindler fitter and service technician is trained and certified to work on our equipment. Schindler customers are aware that their elevators are in safe and capable hands. Schindler has been a partner in several prestigious infrastructure projects in India, like the new Mumbai International Airport, Terminal -2, the Chennai International Airport, the Delhi Metro, the Delhi Airport Metro, the Mumbai Monorail, the Kolkata International Airport, as well as the Mumbai and Bengaluru metros. ?Leadership through customer service? is cornerstone of Schindler India?s growth strategy. Schindler has achieved its objective by understanding the needs of the customers and being responsive to them. Our service technicians are equipped with iPhones, which act as hand-held, ?Field-Link? devices, and enable them to identify and prioritize the service needs of our customers, and resolve them promptly.

Finally, please share your outlook on the Indian elevator industry in terms of market size and new markets

Rising urbanization, a relatively young population and increasing educational opportunities will sustain the Indian growth story for years to come. Large metro cities will continue to rise higher, while rapid growth in smaller towns would transform them into new large cities of tomorrow. We are very optimistic about the long term growth of the domestic elevator and escalator market. Overall, with our growing team of highly skilled and motivated employees, Schindler is truly poised to further strengthen its leadership in the market. Inspired by the vision of being the best service provider in the industry for its customers, we will continue to develop highly innovative and user-friendly mobility solutions, and will make Schindler the first choice of customers.