PM Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Spurs 81% Jump in Concrete Sales, 48% Increase in Toilet, Sanitaryware Items: Euromonitor International

New Delhi, Aug 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' or the clean India campaign has given a fresh impetus to businesses involved in toilet production and santiware products. According to a report by the Euromonitor International, the concrete and tiles sales have jumped by 81 per cent, whereas, the sale of toilet-ware products is up by 48 per cent in the last four years.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, one of the pet projects of PM Modi, was launched on October 2, 2014 - on the 145th birth anniversary of independence era leader Mahatma Gandhi. Dubbed as the world's biggest toilet-building project, it aims to ensure universal sanitation coverage by October 2019, which would mark the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi.

To make the campaign a success, the government had allocated Rs 13,948 crores for building more than 11 crores toilets in the nation by 2019. Government records claim that so far nearly 8 crores toilets have been built, including in the remotest parts of the nation.

As per the assessment of the Euromonitor International, the toilet-ware and sanitary products sector will grow at a whopping 11 per cent per annum from 2021, when it predicts universal sanitary coverage across India. The market size is predicted to expand upto 62 billion US dollar.

The biggest beneficiaries of the windfall gain so far are firms like Tata Group, the nation's largest conglomerate, which manufactures and tiles and other toilet-making products. Sanitary-ware manufacturers viz. Reckitt Benckiser, which produces the widely known hand-wash Dettol, have also seen an unprecedented surge over the past four years.

Reckitt-Benckiser, whose net sale of products in India jumped to $105.7 million last year, has roped in groups working to promote open-defecation-free campaign for the penetration of its products in the remotest parts of the nation.

"We are one of the most trusted brands in India, and we've always managed to outperform the market with Dettol," Rakesh Kapoor, Reckitt Benckiser's India-born chief executive officer, had said in April.

Similarly, the Tata Group has stressed on the involvement of private sector by the government to make the clean India campaign effective. Prabhat Pani, who heads the partnerships and technology wing of Tata Trusts, said it is necessary for the private sector to pitch to make the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan successful.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 01, 2018 04:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).