Kajaria Ceramics Continues to Grow

Image: Amit Verma

Kajaria ceramics, India’s second-largest tiles manufacturer, will end FY14 with a Rs 2,000 crore revenue and a Rs 100 crore net profit, clocking a 24 percent growth in revenue.

Kajaria has enjoyed over 20 percent growth in revenue in the last three years because of its focus on tier II markets, where the company had a first-mover advantage. In 1999, when Chetan and Rishi Kajaria, sons of Ashok Kajaria, chairman and MD of Kajaria Ceramics, joined the company, they decided to shift focus to semi-urban markets and the fast growing vitrified tiles segment.

Kajaria, which until then had grown only through the organic route, went on an acquisition spree. In February 2011, Kajaria acquired Soriso, a ceramic company in Morbi, and followed it with four more acquisitions. Chetan says the acquisitions helped expand quickly into tier II markets. “Acquiring companies in local markets helped us cut the transit time in delivering to dealer showrooms.”

Brother Rishi agrees that the company has grown in the semi-urban markets due to its large dealer network. “We have dealers in every city and the company-owned showrooms in tier II cities. That helped us reach more people.”