There was a time when imported or foreign brand water purifiers dominated the Indian market. Recognising the huge gap, Dr. Mahesh Gupta, Founder & Chairman, Kent RO Systems Ltd. forayed into this market with a home grown brand. "Today, our brand - Kent RO - enjoys a whopping 35 percent market share in the RO Space. In fact, last year, it sold one million water purifiers, clocking a revenue of Rs. 780 crore (FY16-17). The company is now hoping to close the current financial year (FY17-18) with a revenue of Rs.950 crore, a 22 percent growth over the previous year," Dr. Gupta says.
In recognition for his contribution to the industry, Dr. Gupta is today known as the ‘Pure Water Man' of India. And Dr. Gupta is now aggressively also venturing into other product segments. The company plans to take its number of products to 100 by 2018! Of course, the focus on water purifiers still remains. Considering the growing demand, Kent RO is now setting up of its new manufacturing facility in Noida. "We are preparing for future," says Dr. Gupta, the young at heart entrepreneur!
The company already has a facility in Roorkee to make 5,00,000 RO units annually and 5,00,000 gravity based water purifiers running on a single shift, yet it has chosen to invest in another Greenfield facility near Noida, when a scale up in production could have been affected by simply extending the shift at the existing plant. "It has taken us 18 years to grow the overall market to Rs. 3500 crore but
the penetration levels are still at 2-3 percent. Once we cross four percent, I believe the growth will be exponential. Investment in the new facility, which is expected to be operational by next year 2018, is expected to cost the company about Rs.100 crore," he shares.
Kent RO is also expanding its geographical horizons and has now
entered into the GCC market. The brand's wide range of household
appliances will be available at LuLu Hypermarkets.