Ahmedabad: Varmora Granito Pvt Ltd. today announced that it has completed its expansion at Morbi. The company has invested over Rs 400 crore in the two high-tech plants with a combined capacity of 17 msm annually. With this expansion, the company has also launched the Integrated Stone Technology (IST) for the first time in Asia.

Sharing more details of the expansion, Mr. Bhavesh Varmora, Chairman, Varmora Group, said, “Varmora is setting a new standard in Asia by introducing IST, which would produce stone-like tiles. Our expansion has been completed ahead of schedule, with both plants now fully operational. This strategic growth allows us to meet the increasing demands of the export market while enhancing our service to domestic customers. We remain committed to introducing innovative products that align with the evolving needs of our valued architects, interior designers, builders, and consumers.”

Varmora informed us that the stone-like tiles produced through IST will be costlier than routine tiles but cheaper than actual stone. He recalled how the company was the first to bring in the digital printing technology way back in 2007. He added that while digital printing offers surface printing of tiles, the IST will produce full-body stone-like tiles with veins. He said the IST-produced product will solve the issue of stains that affect the look of surfaces in the case of conventional products. Also, the IST surface product has strength matching that of stone. Varmora said this technology will also help in creating surface products such as Brazilian stone that are currently imported from abroad. The Italian technology is supplied to Varmora on an exclusive basis for two years. IST will be manufactured with high-end ceramic, for which some of the raw materials will come from Europe.

He further informed that while the IST production using Italian machines has started, the formal launch in the market will take place in the presence of over 200 dealers on October 19 nationwide.

“These plants have also created more than 600 new direct and indirect jobs,” he said.

Varmora also stated that it is currently exporting to over 100 countries and plans to grow its global business network to over 125 countries in the near future. However, Varmora added that the company’s focus remains on the domestic market, which covers 80% of the company’s total sales, while 20% is addressed to the markets abroad currently.

“We are expecting healthy double-digit growth in sales in the next 2-3 years with robust demand from the domestic and export markets. Our current focus is on expanding our operations while delivering high-quality, innovative products to our customers. We are thankful to every stakeholder of the company for their continued support throughout the successful journey of the company for the last 30 years,” said Mr. Bhavesh Varmora.

“The Indian tile industry (including exports) was estimated at Rs. 62,000 crore in FY 2024. Gujarat is the hub of the tile industry in India, accounting for 90–95% of the total production. Exports in FY24 were around Rs. 20,000 crore,” Varmora, whose company had a topline of Rs. 1490 crore last year, said.

When asked about the ongoing logistical issues that have impacted the ceramic tile industries in Morbi, Varmora said, ‘As our 80 percent sales are domestic, we are not much impacted by shipping line issues. It’s true that freight costs have rocketed to five times at present due to a lack of availability of ships. However, there’s no slowdown in demand for ceramic surface products. It’s just a shipping issue, which is temporary. It happened previously too. The issue this year started at the end of May, but it will resolve next month onward, and the situation will normalize in two to three months. The shipping issue is associated with anti-dumping duty on China and related piling up of stocks in China. Out of total 800 units, some 200 who were purely dependent on the export market are impacted largely, and some of them are closed even. But as soon as the shipping line issue is resolved, the stock will clear because demand is even increasing.’ DeshGujarat