Japan firm opens ceramic plant in West Godavari

Vijayawada: Efforts being made by the state government to attract investment is giving fruitful results. LIXIL Asia Pacific, a division of LIXIL, maker of pioneering water and housing products, inaugurated its first ceramicware facility in India, at Bhimadole, West Godavari district in the state on Wednesday. 

LIXIL India Sanitaryware Pvt. Ltd’. The plant was established in 45 acre land with state-of-the-art facility at Bhimadole and will serve as a central production base for the Indian market. The Iixil India invested Rs.400 crore for the plant. The plant will produce select ranges of GROHE and ceramic ware. 

Nimmakayala Chinarajappa, Home minister of Andhra Pradesh, has inaugurated the plant in the presence of, Amarnath Reddy, minister for industries, H E Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, Ryoji Furui, Counsellor Embassy of Japan in India, Yasujiro Miyake, Executive Director, Southwest Asia Office, Trade Policy Bureau, METI, along with Kinya Seto, President and CEO, LIXIL, Bijoy Mohan, CEO, LIXIL Asia Pacific and Shinji Ito, Chief Supply Chain Officer, LIXIL Water Technologies Asia Pacific.

N Chinarajappa said Andhra Pradesh state has attracted 16 lakh crores as an investment through partnership summits conducted in the state. He informed the gathering after the bifurcation of the State, the LIXIL Corporation has decided to set up industry in Andhra Pradesh following the request of the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during the Industrialists meeting held in Davos.

He stated that about 400 unemployed would be provided employment through this industry. He said that the Government has decided to make the state as industrial Hub and provide jobs to 20,000 youth this year and congratulated the company for setting up of the plant in Andhra Pradesh. 

The plant with state of art facility with the current production capacity of over 1 million units per annum, scalable to 2mn pieces annually. The plant will manufacture select range of ceramicware products for LIXIL’s major power brands in the Indian market including GROHE, American Standard. While 80 percent of the production will cater to the Indian market, LIXIL plans to export 20 percent to its global markets.

With an investment of INR 400 crores in this facility, LIXIL aims to support Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and generate employment opportunities for more than 400 individuals in the state. It will induct 150 ITI student trainees under National Employability Enhancement Mission (NEEM) Scheme.

 Mr. Krishna Kishore, Chief Executive Office, Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board said, LIXIL’s investment in AP by way of manufacturing unlocks new growth opportunities, markets and sets alternative development pathways for human health and hygiene. 

H E Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India said, “Last September, the Japan-India relationship entered a new era: the bilateral relations have never been as strong as today, he added.

He further said the Government of Japan is fully supportive of ‘Swachh Bharat’ for improving sanitation and hygiene conditions through its ODF projects. LIXIL Group corporation President and CEO, Kinya Seto, LIXIL Asia Pacific CEO, Bijoy Mohan and others spoke on the occasion.