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PLUMBING CONNECTION
WINTER 2015 89
India today lacks infrastructure and
has serious internal transport issues.
Just getting its trading goods from
the likes of Delhi to a port is relatively
difficult and there are no internal
shipping canals like the Chinese have
had for hundreds of years. The new
Government of Narendra Modi is
acutely aware of the infrastructure
issue though and as part of its new
mantra ‘Make in India’, is setting out
to do something about it; against
incredible odds.
The ride forward isn’t going to be
easy but it certainly will be exciting
for India and the rest of the world,
as India’s growing economy aims to
outstrip China.
At the invitation of Rajendra Somany
I took up the opportunity to view first
hand Hindware’s major manufacturing
facilities as well as talk to him about
the rapidly developing plumbing sector.
Hindware first came about 55
years ago when the Somany family
collaborated with Twyfords of the UK
to introduce vitreous china sanitary
ware production to India.
I visited the Bahadurgarh sanitary
ware plant, a decent drive into the
suburbs from the centre of Dehli. Set
on some 50 acres of land, this plant
has been in operation for more than
50 years and produces close to two
million pieces of sanitary ware a year.
By its very nature, china production
involves a lot of manual finishing and
while there is plenty of labour on hand,
it obviously relies on good training and
supervision.
A job at a factory like this is a
privileged positon. The quality of
product produced is excellent with
quality checking at every stage of
process. Virtually all production is
sold locally but the Indian consumer
is fussy about quality and also desires
the latest designs coming out of
Europe. One of the great benefits the
plant offers is the ability to produce
small-runs of a product and move
quickly onto the next order. They have
a massive amount of range options at
hand.
The 50 acres is not all plant and it
is shared with peacocks that roam
the gardens as well as housing for
staff (around 60 managers and
families) that live onsite. There also
worship facilities too, as well as a
medical centre (the doctor is available
all six days of the week) and a
LEFT:
L to R:
Mr. R P Srivastava - Vice President, Quality Assurance; Jeff Patchell -
Publisher Connection Magazines; Mr. T K Raha-Senior General Manager, Research
and Development; Mr. R B Kabra- President, Building Product Division.
RIGHT:
Jeff
Patchell with Rajendra Somany, chairman and managing director of HSIL.
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