Elevator major to invest Rs 200 crore in Oragadam unit

As India is looking at growth in public infrastructure development, Johnson Lifts expects to grow in the elevator manufacturing facilities and in the escalator business. The manufacturing unit is about 3 lakh sq feet and has over 300 employees. 

Despite the presence of MNCs in the industry, Johnson Lifts continues to dominate the scene in India. It has two full-fledged elevator factories in Chennai and Nagpur with a combined manufacturing capacity of 12000 units annually, keeping them with a lead market share of 20 pc in the elevator business. 

Noting that Johnson is the only domestic company that has been manufacturing commercial escalators since 2009, John K John, CMD said, “In 2003, there was a big boom in the commercial segment in India. The number of malls and utility services increased rapidly so as the requirement for escalators. We are the no 1 in the industry because we are a customer-oriented company. Our USP has always been quality products with an extremely responsive after sales service team which tries to attend to any requirement within the hour.” 

“In the new facility, we get to test every escalator in-house before shipping it. This enables the customer to inspect their product before it leaves the factory which isn’t possible otherwise. Maximum customisation is possible based on customer requirement with lesser delivery time. It also  allows us to improve our service quality, since all the parts are manufactured in-house,” John said, highlighting the big push from the government to provide services to the public, that includes elevators and escalators at railway platforms. 

Besides this, there is also a large requirement for outdoor escalators at foot over bridges. 

The announcement of Metro Rail projects across the country over the next decade will also see a huge leap in the demand for heavy duty escalators due to growth of public services, he added. Johnson Lifts pegs its share in the domestic escalator business to be 36 per cent.