by Suman Gupta
LIXIL Corporation (LIXIL), the maker of pioneering water and housing products, has inaugurated its first cistern assembly facility in the Asia Pacific region in Mumbai, India. Outside Japan, this is LIXIL’s second Cistern Assembly Plant globally after Poland.
Spread across 23,500 sq. ft., the Mumbai facility will serve as a central production base for the Indian market, bolstering its capacity to cater to increased demand not just in the country but also across other markets in the region. With this transformational step, LIXIL will not only be bringing many future-first innovations to the country but also reinforce its commitment to the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
This state-of-the-art facility will help localize three of the top-selling GROHE Flushing Cisterns. The facility will have a production capacity of 150,000 units in its first year and is designed to upscale annual production up to 300,000 units in the second year of its operation. Being situated in the same vicinity as LIXIL’s Mumbai Distribution Centre, the location of this plant will play a significant role in logistics optimization while ensuring uninterrupted service.
Amongst other members from the LIXIL leadership team; present during the inaugural ceremony were Bobby Joseph, Leader, LIXIL Water Technologies- India & Subcon; Jorg Vogeley, Leader, Plant Porta Westfalica, Manufacturing Fittings, LIXIL International.
Speaking on the occasion, Bijoy Mohan, Leader, LIXIL International said, “Asia continues to be a key growth driver for LIXIL globally and India is central to that endeavour. Bringing APAC’s first Cistern Assembly Facility to the country is a testimony of our strong commitment to the dynamic Indian market and the ‘Make in India’ initiative. With this new facility, we aim to make India pivotal to exports across emerging markets in APAC. We believe that this facility will lead the way in bringing the best innovations and world-class manufacturing practices while ensuring a stronger presence in the category worldwide.”
Adding further, Jens Harder, Leader, Manufacturing Fittings, LIXIL International said, “This new assembly plant is a further step towards accelerating LIXIL’s footprint in emerging markets and building capabilities to deliver quality products to our end users. The cistern assembly plant for our GROHE brand is one among many initiatives from LIXIL International and we are confident that this will enable us to be leaders in the cisterns category in India.”
Bobby Joseph, Leader, LIXIL Water Technology (LWT), India & Subcon also said, “We have a clear vision and strategy for the Indian market, and we will continue to deliver on that. The Flushing systems category is rapidly growing in India. We anticipate significant growth in the market and with this investment, we aim to be the category leader. This investment is a huge milestone in our journey as it will help us replicate our global leadership position and transform the industry in India by enabling exports across APAC.”
LIXIL has two manufacturing facilities in Vijayawada (ceramic, American Standard and GROHE) and Manesar (TOSTEM windows).
