“We majorly produce furniture ourselves in our Sri Lankan factories. Partly from east Asia countries and 30 per cent make in India as a statutory norm,” reveals Amal Priyantha, Operation Manger – AP & TS, Daxer Trading Pvt Ltd
Off late, there are many brands that have arrived in India following rising demand for branded furniture. Although demand for local artisan furniture still exists, but the growth is in imports as consumers seek contemporary designs. All these have made India a net importer of furniture and furnishing products. India majorly imports furniture from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Italy and Thailand.
Despite of make in India initiative, nothing big has turned in furniture making segment so far. Though the data underline the same, where furniture imports have noted an increase of 2.5 per cent during FY 17-18. With a value increase of `11.5 crore the total furniture import has touched `473.10 crore in FY 2018 from `461.63 crore in its previous year. According to the Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL) recent report, India is the 4th furniture consuming country and the 5th largest furniture producers at a global level.
Amal Priyantha, Operations Manager – AP & TS, Daxer Trading Pvt Ltd, which is one of the major furniture importers in the country said, “We majorly produce furniture ourselves in our Sri Lankan factories. Partly from east Asia countries and 30 per cent make in India as a statutory norm.”
Amal said Daxer Trading is a customer centric organization with more focus on acquiring customers rather than Profit and Loss (P & L). The company has acquired 30 per cent more customers, and has achieved 20 per cent growth in business in 2018.
According to Amal, there is still a huge untapped domestic market for imported furniture in India. But there are certain bottlenecks in the form of government policies and unprofessional trucking and freight forwarding companies which are negating the massive growth of the market for imported furniture in the country.
Elaborating on how government can support furniture import in India Amal says implementation of single window system with lesser procedures can really help in the expansion of the business.
Amal feels that Customs documentation is one of the main obstructions they are currently facing on the way towards establishing a good furniture import business in the country. He further says that Cost and Freight (C&F) delays is a principal impediment for the growth of their business and it’s mainly caused due to statutory and procedural delays, and he also says that trucks are not available as and when they are required, moreover the trucking companies are also not very professional in their approach.
In order to cope with the persisting logistics problems associated with the furniture business the company has introduced its own fleet of trucks and uses an outsourced fleet for last mile delivery. Amal said that their company uses all major ports in India including Cochin, Coimbatore, Nellore, and Kolkata for their furniture import based on foot print and proximity.
