HYDERABAD: With health consciousness rising and awareness on the importance of safe drinking water rising, the water purifiers market is growing at a healthy pace. The steadily growing market is also witnessing strong competition in both the organised and unorganised segment. According to industry insiders, the organised water purifiers market alone is pegged at `5,000 crore, with brands like Aquaguard and Kent dominating. A substantial chunk of the market is also held by a plethora of products from unorganised players.
“The market for water purifiers is growing at about 15 per cent year-on-year. Rapid urbanisation is leading to further ground water depletion and contamination, increasing demand for water purifiers. This will allow the industry to grow at an even better pace,” said Marzin Shroff, MD and CEO of Eureka Forbes, which operates the Aquaguard brand.
Right now Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Ultra Violet (UV)
water purifiers have a large share the in Indian market. However, with demand for products on the cutting-edge increasing, companies have begun introducing new technologies to grab hold of new customers. Besides sales, the after sales service offerings are also major revenue earners for companies.
“With demand and consumer preferences evolving, we are investing in new facilities and research. However, a large part of the water purifiers market is as yet unorganized. The task that we face is that consumers are unaware of the right technology and the right product for different water conditions. As awareness rises, we see organised players share increasing,” pointed out Mahesh Gupta, Chairman, KENT RO Systems.
According to industry reports, while unorganised players have a considerable market share in the industry currently, they are expected to decline as they stop being able to compete with organised players investing in research and innovation. Nevertheless, for now new players from the unorganised sector keep entering the market across India, raring to compete.
“The market is huge and there is space for small players to play an important role, if they have the right products with quality and service. Our brand ‘Vepo’ that provides potable water with alkaline, has been accepted in the North India and we are looking for distributors and retailers to expand in South and West,” stressed Pramod Singh, CEO of Prudence Marketing Pvt Ltd.