Vikas Rastogi, President- Sales and Marketing at Choksey Chemicals in an interaction with the Industry Outlook, shares his insights on the factors of personalized waterproofing, sustainability, supply chain disruption and more.
The global waterproofing solution market is poised to reach $ 40.2 Billion by 2028. How do you see this market developing in our country? What are the major driving factors propelling the Growth?
When compared to the markets of other developed or emerging countries, the Indian
waterproofing market remains in its infancy. Although, an evolving consciousness for the waterproofing products is observed amidst the designers and real estate developers of Tier I metros. The mindset of the players in Tier II, III and beyond remains diluted, and reluctance for an advanced solution remains. This prevalent circumstance, on the flip side, will be the avenue to growth in the coming years.
With a thriving economy and swelling disposable income, the waterproofing market of India holds a stupendous potential. For example - If we look at the UK or France, the waterproofing industry of these economies is as big as India, with a population one twentieth that of ours. Hence, when calculated under the same yardstick, it leads to a figure of Five Billion USD market from the current 250 million USD.
However, to propel the growth, an increasing impetus needs to be delivered by all the industry players along with the government institutions and the designers. We at Choksey Chemicals are diligently playing our part. In a quest to chalk out the roadmap for developing this industry in India, I personally collaborated with the Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) in 2011. During this time we strived to upgrade the standards of waterproofing in India, and after almost six odd years, we were successful in underlining the first code for basement waterproofing, which is BIS 16471-2017.
Today, the waterproofing market of India is growing at a CAGR of 20%, and in this growth the basement waterproofing segment has evolved as a major contributor. Owing to the attempt of standardizing the basement waterproofing, a massive domain awareness has been generated amidst the real estate developers and waterproofing contractors. Moreover, this has also led to the acceptance of advanced waterproofing technologies.
Every civil structure demands personalized waterproofing solutions depending on the type, use, and environment. However, with 1000’s of solutions available in the market, this often becomes a challenging task to accomplish. How should the industry overcome this scenario? Choosing the proper waterproofing solution is often the most challenging task. Infact, this is where we have worked closely with the BIS. In the underlined code of the practice there are few ground rules that make the job easier for the industry. Starting design flowcharts to inclusion of the waterproofing expert right from the design stage and segregation of the waterproofing solution in the three types based on the type, use, and environment of the civil structure, the code contains all.
To be more specific, in the three broad categories, type A includes barrier protection, type B, which is a structural integral protection and type C, is a drain cavity and toxic chemicals. I feel that the industry must move to codification of the entire work environment and different standardization must be brought depending on the situation and design of the structure.
We are proud to disclose that, at Choksey Chemicals, we offer all three kinds of solutions. We are also more consultative to our customers rather than being biased towards one technology over another. We are now 37 years into this field having successfully been involved in some of the most prestigious projects across India.
A continuing trend to watch is the prevalent demand for environment-friendly products. For example - currently there is a growing demand for low-odor products, especially in sensitive areas like occupied schools, hospitals and restaurants. How is the industry reacting to this?
At Choksey Chemicals, we are working to establish sustainability from multiple dimensions. Firstly, as a responsible manufacturer, we are actively bringing in advanced technologies and as a matter of fact, we have taken a leap forward in introducing eco friendly, non tar and non bitumen, water based products. Secondly, we are also working to inculcate these ideas as part of our educational drive with government departments, institutions and designers.
A conventional form waterproofing that includes – stone waterproofing for basements or a brick bed Koba for terrace, creates a significant carbon footprint. However, we on the flip side are helping the departments and the designers reduce this carbon footprint by involving all the contemporary technologies, which are eco friendly and water based; thereby reducing the carbon footprint. Both our basement waterproofing which is currently being adopted by CPWD as well as state pwd is polyisoprene, that is user friendly & eco friendly.
The majority of the basic ingredients required to make waterproofing membranes come from crude oil. With the current pandemic and war conditions there is huge fluctuation of petroleum prices that directly affects the raw material prices. How is the industry tackling the ongoing situation?
Owing to multiple global events, the supply chain is now more distressed than ever. No only the waterproofing industry but all the other industries including the overall construction segment is now stretched. The rising price of petroleum is creating an additional burden on the waterproofing industry. However, it's not only India but the global market too is feeling the heat.
At the moment, it's very challenging for the companies and the margins are getting squeezed. To conclude, the overall supply chain is being very erratic right now. How do you see the future of the waterproofing solution market in India?
I'm very upbeat about the waterproofing industry in India. As waterproofing is one part that constitutes 1% of the total project cost, but protects the rest of the 99% of the assets. Secondly, if we look at the developed economies or the developing nations, our market size is significantly at a nascent position. This is so, because we're relying more on labor intensive cheaper technologies. However, with the nation harnessing the potential of globalization, today, more international designers are designing domestic projects and the local architects also are getting involved in global projects.
Moreover, we are also seeing domestic acceptance of cutting edge technologies, which are used globally. In the coming days, I expect the waterproofing industry to develop 5 times faster than the construction market.
