TechnoNICOL India to roll out Production Unit in India

"In just over 2 years, India has become one of the core markets for TechnoNICOL which is a highly competitive one and is growing significantly by the year. We find this market very prospective, so we will keep developing new products, solutions, and services. We believe that our experience, strong R&D, modern factories, and a great team of professionals will enable us to meet every customer's expectations and needs and achieve excellent results together. Apart from making price competitive materials, we are going to set up a manufacturing facility in India in the near future," says Mr. Masood Abbas, Director, TechnoNICOL India, in an interview with Maria R.

Please introduce your parent company 'TechnoNICOL – Construc- tion System' to our readers, its Indian operation, important business areas, and product range for the construction industry?
TechnoNICOL Corporation is the largest Russian and European manufacturer and supplier of roofing, waterproofing, and thermal insulation materials. The company was founded in 1992 and since then, has accumulated considerable experience in the building materials market. We are proud to offer up-to-date materials and technologies that combine global expertise and collaboration of 5 in-house R&D centers. Our wide range of high-quality materials and reliable solutions allow customers to make the right choice that meets their requirements of price and quality.

TechnoNICOL Corporation at present owns 51 production sites in Europe and Asia, retail network of 140 branches and representative offices in 21 countries. Company materials have been used in more than 1,80,000 sites in 82 countries around the world. It is an honor for us to be a partner to more than 500 independent distributors offering our 30 brands. We are glad to know that our materials are used in the construction of houses, plants, bridges, social infrastructure facilities and other structures, which improve the level and quality of life of the end-users.

Our product range combines bitumen waterproofing membranes (APP and SBS), bitumen shingles, single-ply synthetic membranes (PVC and TPO), profiled HDPE membranes, liquid bitumen waterproofing, polyurethane foam and thermal insulation: XPS, stone wool, glass mineral wool and PIR – everything needed for a reliable waterproofing and thermal insulation from the foundation to the roof of any type of structure.

A head office in India was set up more than 2 years ago and now this market has become one of the core markets for the company. We have plans for significant increase of our business in the country including construction of several plants. We are happy to serve the Indian construction industry with our experience, solutions and products, and we are looking forward for mutually beneficial cooperation with Indian businesses.

TechnoNICOL has around 3000 products in its portfolio, which provide comprehensive protection to the structure from the foundation to the roof. What are the products available in the country and do they match to the European standards?
Our product range in every country is different and is based on local norms and regulations as well as on different needs and preferences of our partners. That is why we carefully adapt it to every country.

We believe that the key to the successful activity of TechnoNICOL is in the high quality of research and control before, during, and after production processes. Our product range in every country is different and is based on local norms and regulations as well as on different needs and preferences of our partners."

In India, we have a privilege to offer products of several divisions:

• Top-quality APP (ULTRAPLAST) and SBS (ULTRAFLEX) modified bitumen membranes, which were specially adapted for tough Indian weather conditions and have increased physical and mechanical properties.
• Bitumen roofing shingles (SHINGLAS) including multilayer premium collections with an official warranty of upto 50 years as well as specially designed collection of single layer APP modified roofing shingles with enhanced heat resistance and additional algae resistance.
• Single-ply PVC membranes designed for waterproofing of roofs (LOGICROOF) and underground structures (LOGICBASE), which were already used in construction of several tunnels in the country.
• Range of bitumen primers and mastics (solvent or water based) intended for prime coating of the surface and for waterproofing of roofs, underground structures, and foundations.
• Special self-adhesive sealant tapes (NICOBAND), which is an ideal solution for sealing cracks and joints and for roofing repair.
• Stone mineral wool for thermal insulation of roofs (TECHNOROOF) and facades (TECHNOFACADE and TECHNOVENT) produced from basalt rocks on advanced high tech equipment of leading European manufacturers.
• Extruded polystyrene (TECHNONI- COL CARBON), which is one of the most efficient thermal insulation materials and is widely used for thermal insulation of foundations, roofs, floors, pipelines, roads, and railways.

All our products offered in India, as well as in any other region of the world, are subject to strict quality control according to EN norms. We believe that the key to the successful activity of TechnoNICOL is in the high quality of research and control before, during and after production processes. All export plants of TechnoNICOL have passed UNI EN ISO 9001 and UNI EN ISO 14001 certification and strictly comply with the quality standards determined by these international requirements. Quality of TechnoNICOL products is proved by a great number of certificates and test reports released by many leading institutes and science centers around the world.

Tell us about the USPs of your products in terms of sustainability, energy-efficiency, environment, and user-friendly, and so forth.
The company develops and promotes materials and systems that minimize energy-loss in the industrial sector and public utilities. Latest technologies used in TechnoNICOL products allow achieving a significant reduction of costs for conditioning of buildings. We introduce construction systems, aimed at the creation of comprehensive protection of the structure from foundation to the roof.

Products offered by TechnoNICOL Corporation — high-quality waterproofing and thermal insulation materials — are fully compatible and can be used in proposed systems. Material compatibility with each other is one of the basic conditions to obtain a reliable complete insulation system. That is why our experts have developed a number of professional technical solutions for different types of projects. Here we follow three main principles: the compatibility of components, durability, and reasonable price. We can assure that our clients get the best complete solution and professional help during the design phase.

All products developed and manufactured by TechnoNICOL meet environmental standards and are safe for human health and the environment. All plants are subjected to state environmental appraisal at their design stage. The environment at our industrial sites is monitored daily. TechnoNICOL invests in waste-free production, advanced equipment and environmental protection technologies.

What's more, all materials produced at our plants and solutions offered by our experts are developed according to the wasteless principle, while most of products are recyclable.

We have entered into the Indian market some time back, and our products are already supplied to local objects. After the Memorandum was signed, we can develop the production site in the country. We hope to establish a productive dialogue with authorities of Andhra Pradesh that support the industrial development of the region", states Sergey Kolesnikov.

How do you view the developments in roofing, waterproofing, and insulation industry in India? How sustainable do you find this market for your products & solutions?
The Indian market is highly competitive, but it grows significantly from year-to-year. It is unique as India takes its own path in designing national norms and regulations. Standard construction solutions and methods of application are completely different from what is usually used in Europe. Climate factors influence construction requirements as well. That is why we adapt our solutions and carefully modify product properties to ensure only the best result in roofing, waterproofing, and thermal insulation.

Our partners tend to require not the cheapest products, which would bring problems in the near future, but up-to-date materials and solutions, which will serve through the decades without any need of renovation. That is beneficial for us, as it allows us to offer our top-quality products that will stand any challenges for a very long time. That is also good for the industry as increased standards help to clean the market from materials of bad quality.

We find the Indian market very prospective, so we will continue to develop new products, solutions, and services. We believe that our experience, strong R&D division, modern factories and great team of professionals will enable us to meet every customer's expectations and needs and we can achieve excellent results together.

India is a price competitive market; how you are maintaining price sensitivity and competing with local manufacturers? Are you looking to set up a manufacturing facility here in the near future?
This is not a simple question. However, low price of components in Russia, high quality of our production and logistics processes as well as economy of scale allows us to give a competitive price even in comparison to local manufacturers. While being able to support our partners with ready construction solution so they can get everything from waterproofing and thermal insulation to our expertise and help in one place makes the offer even more attractive.

In addition, to make the price of our materials more competitive, we are going to set up a manufacturing facility in India in the near future. Actually, it is going to be a manufacturing cluster of several plants.

On October 12, 2016, during the visit of Denis Manturov, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, to India, a Memorandum of Understanding between TechnoNICOL, SUN Group and Andhra Pradesh economic authorities was signed. The document regards possible investment in the new TechnoNICOL manufacturing cluster for the production of waterproofing and thermal insulation materials near Visakhapatnam. The total investment in the project amounts to $60 million.

Is the company directly rendering after-sales support services to its clients or looking for dealers/distributors in India?
TechnoNICOL is looking for dealers and distributors. We have more than 500 independent partners all over the globe. The same way we do in India.

We have dealers for different types of products and solutions, as well as authorized applicators. They represent us in various projects while getting our full support. Thanks to having a head office in India, we can build strong, long-standing relationships with our partners and operatively react to their needs.

We are very glad that Russian companies keep coming to the Indian market. The economic growth rate of Andhra Pradesh is among the highest as compared to other states of India. We hope that projects realized in collaboration with TechnoNICOL will help the company significantly to amplify its presence in the Indian market. We are convinced that the common effort of all the counterparts will contribute to economically efficient projects in the Andhra Pradesh and beyond its boundaries", comments Shiv Khemka, Vice Chairman at SUN Group.

Please brief us on the applicators' training being imparted by your company.
As already mentioned, improved customer service is also one of our priority principles. Leadership of TechnoNICOL products in roofing, waterproofing, and thermal insulation markets is achieved not only due to the quality of products we produce, but also due to a high level of technical support.

For now, we have 18 training centers around the world, which are always open for our partners. In addition, our product experts provide regular support by organizing workshops and seminars at partner's place. Our technical engineers visit construction sites and give their recommendations to applicators directly during the installation of the material. We prepare special manuals aimed at helping applicator to get the reliable waterproofing and insulation and prevent any possible problems. We have a strong team and a clear aim of building the best together with our partners.