India's basic building materials market has huge demand, and there is great potential for cooperation between China and India!

India is located in the center of the South Asian subcontinent, bordered by the Himalayas to the north, the Indian Ocean to the south, the Bay of Bengal to the east, and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is the largest country in the South Asian subcontinent. Its unique geographical location, vast territory, huge population, abundant natural resources, and long history and brilliant civilization have given India the foundation of a great power. Especially since 1991, when the Rao government implemented economic reforms, India's domestic economic development has achieved remarkable results. India has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and along with China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, is known as one of the "BRICS" nations. India's accelerated economic growth and increased comprehensive economic strength, coupled with strong population growth and rapid economic development, have created a huge demand for public infrastructure construction.

The Indian government has ambitious urban development plans. Over the next ten years, it will implement a housing construction plan to ensure everyone has a home, including government-subsidized housing and commercial development of market-rate housing, as well as large-scale smart city construction—new cities with comprehensive three-dimensional transportation and information networks. India plans to build 100 such smart cities, investing 24 billion RMB in related construction. This will involve large-scale urban ring road facilities, subway facilities, and public transportation facilities, creating a huge demand for building materials. Simultaneously, India will undertake large-scale infrastructure construction, expanding 10,000 kilometers of national highways and 150,000 kilometers of provincial highways, with a total investment of 80 billion RMB. There are also new and renovated airport projects across India, as well as the construction of broad-gauge and high-speed rail projects. The total investment in railway projects will reach 100 billion RMB.

These will bring unprecedented opportunities to the building materials industry!

Driving forces for growth in the Indian building materials market:

The Indian government launched a "Key Infrastructure Investment Project" in 2015-2016 with a huge budget. The government also plans to invest US$1.6 billion in railway construction and US$1 trillion in road construction between 2012 and 2017. Simultaneously, it will expand airports, ports, and schools to enhance India's international market competitiveness.

Interest rates: India has maintained a stable exchange rate of 6.75%, providing a guarantee for steady economic growth.

Make in India: Since taking office in May 2014, Indian Prime Minister Modi has strongly advocated for developing India into a huge industrial manufacturing base. To date, India has developed many heavy industrial bases, involving construction machinery, automobiles, steel, textiles, clothing, and chemicals.

Indirect tax reform: India is implementing tax reforms, and in 2017 will draft a new "Goods and Services Tax", which will essentially replace India's existing tax system and be used nationwide.

Internet: In India, with the continuous growth of its middle class, more and more high-income families will access private networks. This has stimulated the continuous development of network technology and e-commerce, and the need for e-commerce warehousing facilities and distribution network construction.

It all comes down to investment: Foreign investment is an important driving force for accelerating India's economic development. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in 2015, foreign investment in India increased by 75%, reaching US$59 billion. The new "Goods and Services Tax" legislation will bring even greater growth.

Future development trends in the Indian building materials market: Completely resolving India's housing problem by 2022

India is currently facing a huge housing shortage, especially for low-income families. In June 2015, the government proposed investing billions of dollars in housing construction, planning to completely solve India's domestic housing problem by 2022. The plan is to build 20 million affordable homes by 2022, which will be a very attractive and huge market for numerous construction and building materials companies!

According to Rajesh Krishnan, CEO of an Indian equity investment company, "Some well-known real estate developers have clearly stated that they have sufficient confidence in building ordinary residential buildings. At the same time, developers have begun to change traditional building concepts; they tend to build new transparent and simple buildings and are willing to adopt new technologies. This is an important sign of the development of the construction industry."

After the government proposed the "2022 Housing Plan", many housing construction projects in Maharashtra, India, began construction in 2016. MCHI-CREDAI initially planned to build 596,000 affordable housing units in the region. In November 2015, the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation approved the construction of approximately 228,000 ordinary residential units in five states: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. In March 2016, the Indian government announced an investment of US$3.7 billion to build 425,000 ordinary residential units. Subsequently, Supertech Developers launched the "Basera" apartment construction project in Haryana, planning to invest US$84.8 billion in affordable housing. Agrassin Spaces LLP also proposed a plan to purchase 5.35 acres of land in Faridabad to build 720 ordinary residential units."

In the next 6 years, India will successively launch a large number of construction projects: affordable housing, apartment buildings, ordinary residential buildings, etc. This will be a great opportunity for building materials and interior decoration companies to enter the Indian market!

Information on strategies for the Indian building materials market
1. Categories:

As the world's second-largest developing country, India's building materials and furniture manufacturing industries are on the rise. The acceleration of urbanization and residential construction has led to an expansion of construction projects and increased demand for timber; India's middle class is quite mature, currently reaching 400 million people, and the housing renovation and furniture manufacturing industries are developing rapidly among India's more affluent classes; on the other hand, India has a large rural population, resulting in huge demand for rural timber. In summary, India has a huge demand for timber and timber products, and wood door and furniture companies from various countries are targeting the Indian market.
2. Architectural ceramics:

In recent years, a large number of Chinese ceramic products have flooded the Indian market, causing a major impact on the domestic Indian ceramic industry. Under the competition from inexpensive and high-quality Chinese ceramic products, Indian ceramic companies cannot pass on rising costs to consumers, and many small ceramic companies face the risk of bankruptcy. It is reported that the volume of Chinese ceramic imports into India has increased from 8% several years ago to 42% today.

3. Plywood:

India is becoming one of the fastest-growing panel markets in Asia. To protect India's deteriorating forest environment, the Indian Supreme Court has implemented a logging ban, and the Indian government has recently restricted The harvesting of 250 tree species, however, India's timber consumption continues to grow rapidly, meaning that India will become a net importer of timber and wood products. In the past two years, timber has become the main unloading cargo in India's six major ports, and the growth in its demand for timber has reached 25%.
5, Door and window materials:

The sales forecast for windows in new residential buildings is a year-on-year increase this year 18.8%, looking ahead, vinyl window sales are expected to reach the 400,000 mark, and aluminum products have increased demand in the new building market.
6, Pipe fittings and piping systems:

India generally lacks sanitary sewer pipes, and the demand for water pipe repairs and replacements and new building pipes is huge, PVC water pipes have great potential in India's hardware and building materials industry due to their advantages such as light weight, durability, corrosion resistance, and easy joining and replacement, which meet the current market demand in India.