Walton sets up Bangladesh’s first lift manufacturing plant

Local electronics giant Walton is set to flag off the country's first lift manufacturing plant, in a display of Bangladesh's growing industrial prowess.

The plant established at a cost of Tk 50 crore at the Walton Hi-Tech Industries (WHIL) at Chandra, Gazipur has begun test production.

"We are expecting to cater 50 per cent of the market share by a year by beating the importers both in terms of quality and price," said Sohel Rana, chief executive officer of Walton Elevator.

Every year, Bangladesh needs more than 5,000 units of lifts and most of them are imported from China.

The market size is not less than Tk 1,200 crore and it is growing at about 20 per cent per year, helped by widening urbanisation.

Walton is manufacturing all three kinds of lifts -- passenger, cargo and capsule lifts -- that are popular in Bangladesh.

Its passenger lift can carry a load of 300 kilogram to 3,000kg, meaning four people to 40 people at a time, while cargo elevators, which are mostly used in firms and factories, can move 800kg to 4,500kg in weight. 

"We are quite happy with our own production quality," Rana said.

So confident is Walton that it will offer five-year instalment facility to customers from the beginning.

"It's not a joke. Five years is a quite long time and we are taking that much risk as we are very confident about our products."

Rana expects the overall lift price will go down once the factory begins full-fledged operation.

"Importers are making huge margins and definitely this market will be corrected when our product comes."

Currently, a passenger lift costs Tk 20 lakh but it will be slashed by a few lakhs within a year because of Walton's production, he said.

Cargo lifts are much more expensive.

In 2014, Walton took the initiative to set up the plant with the view to assembling heavy technology products.

About 150 local and a good number of foreign engineers are working in the plant, which has a capacity to manufacture 1,000 units a year. The company aims to expand the capacity based on the market response.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is due to inaugurate the plant at a programme today in presence of Posts and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar and State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Rana also sought policy reforms from the government so that a local lift assembling industry develops.

Currently, local producers have to pay 10 per cent customs duty for equipment and raw materials needed to manufacture lifts, whereas finished products carry only 1 per cent duty.

"This needs to be revised to help the industry to grow," Rana said. 

In line with the fast-growing economy, lift consumption in Bangladesh is increasing steadily.

"New players will join the race to manufacture lifts locally in the near future."

With the plant, Walton added another feather in its cap. It manufactures refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, LED/LCD televisions, motorcycles, smart phones and home appliances.

Walton is the biggest exporter in the field of electronics, with presence in more than 20 countries, according to the company's website.