Sanitary Ware Business Generating Employment

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--By Suraksha Adhikari 
 
While families spend huge part of their income to furnish and decorate bedrooms and living rooms, bathrooms were usually an afterthought, tucked away in a dark aloof corner of the house. Urban Nepali have been realizing the importance of hygienic and airy bathrooms. People have started prioritizing bathroom locations and installing modern hygienic bathroom accessories. This trend has increased sanitary ware business in Nepal especially in urban areas. 
 
Bathrooms reflect an owner’s lifestyle. Having a luxurious, professionally designed living room can’t create a good impression if your guest can follow his/her nose to the bathroom. “Architects and home-owners are slowly beginning to give priority to bathrooms,” Yogendra Bajracharya of Nepal Marble Bath House, which has been in sanitary ware business for the last 16 years, said. He adds, “Urban Nepali are becoming increasingly conscious about design and use of space and are even willing to spend big bucks.”
 
Variety of Stores in the Market
With the awareness about hygienic bathrooms raising in the people, sanitary ware stores are also mushrooming in the market. Sanitary wares business is booming and some of these stores are making good profit. 
 
Home Furnishers Pvt Ltd at Tripureshwor has all kind of branded fixtures and fittings products such as commode, wash basin, faucets, bathroom accessories, shower curtains and curtain rods, bathtubs, wall and floor tiles, electric water heaters and many more. The company imports brands like Mogen, Hansa, Ridder, Kaldewi, Justime, Navarti, Ariston and Dia Safe from Thailand, Germany, Taiwan, Spain, Italy and Korea respectively. 
 
Rajendra Shrestha, Manager Director of the company informed that sales increased by 20 per cent as compared to same period of last year. Targeted at high-end and middle high class customers, Home Furnishers provides warranty of 10 to 30 years. Corresponding to higher cost prices of the product, he says the high cost is justified by quality of the product. 
 
Somany — an Indian brand for faucets, sanitary wares and tiles offers economic and luxurious range of products. Tiles are their most popular product in their portfolio and are sold mostly in September, Samish Maskey, director  of Somany Studio at Koteshworsaid. Faucets, commodes, wash basin, Jacuzzi, among others are available at the store. The company provides 10 years of warranty on every product. Maskey informed that the company regularly updates their product range to ensure that their customers get to choose from the trendiest designs in the market. 
 
Bajra and Bajracharya Enterprises (BBE) at Lagankhel trades in a variety range of products of Kohler, Leno, Porcelanosa, CRW, Nova, Halcon, Kludi, Yojo and others in fixtures and fittings. Anuj Maskey, marketing officer at BBE, says that they have a wide range of products that can suit the needs of people from all walks of life. The merchandises at the store are imported from India, China, US, Germany and Spain.
 
With a diverse range of innovative products, clients don’t have to compromise on design and even smaller bathrooms can be cleverly utilised. “Products like shower enclosures have revolutionised bathing and added elegance to bathrooms,” Rajesh Budhiya of Rukmani International, said. 
 
Slippery tiles and sharp edges make bathrooms accident-prone spaces, especially for the elderly. Now new designs can be incorporated to improve safety. “Coarse bathroom tiles made of non-glazed ceramics can be used to minimise slipperiness of bathroom tiles,” Birbal Dugar of Dugar Iron and Steels, explained. “We offer innovative taps which automatically set the water temperature below 400 degree Celcius,” Budhiya added. 
 
Hygienic and easy–to-clean facilities are also widely available. “Rust proof PVC pipes which donot allow bacteria to breed inside their inner surfaces are very popular these days,” BijayaRai of Mangalam industries, says. 
 
Price of Sanitary ware
Sanitary ware stores in the capital offer an extensive range of products in contemporary designs with high safety features, catering to the demands of urban homes. While durability is still the most important factor, store owners say customers now think about aesthetics as well. “Most of our customers’ still look for the mid ranged sanitary products and prefer durability over style,” Sanjay Kedia of Rajesh Sanitary Ware said. However there is gradual rise in the demand for high end goods like Jacuzzis, steam cabin and shower enclosures.”
 
The product range of sanitary wares varies from company to company according to quality and preferences of the customers. Sanitary stores in Kathmandu mostly target high and middle class people as their customers.
 
The price of sanitary wares at Home Furnishers Pvt Ltd ranges from Rs 23,500 to Rs 85,000, while faucets are priced at Rs 12,700 to Rs 53,000. Their anti-bacteria and machine washable shower curtains and curtain rods from Ridder brands are priced between Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,700. The steel ceramic enamel bathtub cost between Rs 35,000 to Rs 38,000.
 
The faucets at Somany Studio are priced between Rs 2,000 to Rs 60,000 while commodes are cost Rs 8,000 to Rs 150,000. The price of wash basins available at the store range from Rs 2,100 up to Rs 50,000 while that of Jacuzzi range from Rs 165,000 to Rs 250,000.
 
 
Employment Generation
With the surge in construction of modern buildings, employment opportunities related to sanitary wares have been also increasing. According to the statistics of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), around 40,000 houses are being constructed in Kathmandu valley annually. Similarly, construction of houses task outside valley has also been increasing in same pace. This has been contributing to employment and income generation activities in this sector. 
 
Indrakumar Nakarmi, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation officer at Skill Nepal, said that the internal re-structuring of houses also have supported to the growth of this business. “An old-design house consisted only of a single bathroom but modern-design houses these days have bathroom in each flat and some even have bathroom attached to bedroom,” he added. This has also contributed to the increase in employment generation activities. 
 
Increasing Sales
The real estate business had slowed down some years earlier due to various reasons. But it is recovering gradually nowdays. A corresponding effect of this business is also seen in sanitary ware business. Komal Mainali, Managing Director of Business Concerns Pvt Ltd, said that the sales of sanitary ware products have increased at the rate of 10 to 12 per cent annually in last few years. 
 
Nepal’s sanitary ware industry relies heavily on imports from China, India, Spain and Italy. While custom duty on bathroom installations is low, duty on tiles can reach up to 70 per cent.
 
Problems and Challenges
Lack of awareness of the people outside the valley has been hindering expansion of the business outside valley, traders in the niche say. Along with that it has been hard for any brand to maintain its reputation in the market due to the unequal and unhealthy competition primarily triggered due to the mushrooming of sanitary ware companies in the market. 
 
Rajendra Shrestha, Managing Director of Home Furnishers, says, “Political instability, weak economy, stagnancy in real estate industry and decreasing purchasing power of the customers are factors affecting the sanitary ware business.”However, traders are still doing good business due to apartment and hotel construction. Renovation of older houses that look for accommodating better furnished modern bathrooms is another major factor that keeps the trading graph up the hill.

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