Wienerberger inaugurates 1st Indian facility

CW India Staff , February 28th, 2010

Wienerberger Brick Industry Pvt Ltd has officially inaugurated its first Indian manufacturing unit at Kunigal, Kamataka, in the presence of distinguished dignitaries from Austria and India. The Austrian delegation was led by Deputy PM and Federal Minister of Finance, DI Josef Proll. Karnataka was represented by Shri. S. Suresh Kumar, Minister of Law & Parliamentary Affairs.

Wienerberger India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wienerberger AG, founded 1819 in Vienna and the world's largest producer of ceramic building products, with revenues of over Rs12,200 crore (EUR 1,815 million) in 2009. Wienerberger has leading market positions in building solutions for walls, facades, roofs and paving.
The Kunigal facility, 65km from Bangalore, is also Wienerberger's first Asian facility amongst currently 227 plants in 27 countries. This fully-automated and state-of-the-art-production facility manufactures Porotherm Clay Hollow Blocks. The company will also start with Terca Facing Bricks.With a capacity of 100,000 tons or 70 million brick units per annum it is the biggest unit of its kind in South-East Asia. The production is cost-efficient, environmental friendly and runs 365 days independent of weather conditions.
After receiving the authorization from the Karnataka State High Level Clearance Committee, Wienerberger took 14 months to complete the factory covering 30 acres of land in the Kunigal KIADB Industrial Area. In April 2009, commercial production started and since then the company has won several prestigious projects.
Porotherm Clay Hollow Blocks have been used in Hyderabad, all major cities / districts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and down to Thiruvanantbapuram. The projects comprise education institutions, hospitals, hotels and large apartment and villa projects. Savings from using the blocks are especially large in high rise construction with more than four to five stories, says the company.
The company has generated over 200 jobs. The Bangalore office on Richmond Road houses a 2,000 sq ft showroom and an open air roofing solution centre. At the Kunigal factory the company has set up a Masonry Training Centre and conducts training courses for contractors to improve construction practices and demonstrate the correct use of their products. "The demand for eco-friendly building materials is on the rise in India and the world over. We provide high-quality natural building materials which reduce construction costs and are available from a reliable supplier with a legacy of 190 years in Europe.
The demand for these materials will increase rapidly in India, which is our most important growth market globally. In India we work very closely with architects, provide them with solutions and listen to their valuable suggestions. We are an active member of Indian Green Building Council," said Ingo Hofmaier, Managing Director and Commercial Director.

Other product ranges, like Koramic Clay Roof Tiles and Argeton facade Tiles are imported from European plants. Ventilated facades using terracotta tiles are an intelligent solution to save energy used for cooling office space and look great. Argeton has become a very popular ventilated facade solution in only two years. Projects ranged from 200 sq m residential houses to 24,000 sq m hotels. Wienerberger is still today, the only importer of high quality ceramic building materials with a wholly owned representation in India. Wienerberger is represented in Bangalore and Mumbai with its own staff.
"We are excited about the opportunity to do business in India. Our raw materials are locally sourced in an environmental friendly manner. We do not touch agricultural land to excavate clay in India. This makes our products an excellent example of green building materials and allows us to keep with our tradition of environment friendly production practices. The plant is built with state-of-the -Art European machines and uses the same technology than our plants in, say France, Germany or UK. Integrated in our factory is a laboratory in which we continuously test all raw materials and finished products. In all regards, our production abides by European Standards in quality of output and process." commented Rudy Van Reith, Managing Director, Technical.
"Within not even a year of its completion, the company has bagged quite a few large scale prestigious projects all over South India" according to Sunil Valluri, General Manager Sales, India operations. The 21 storied Raheja Pebble Bay, Bangalore, ISB Business School, Hyderabad, Ramaniyam at Chennai etc. are some of the major on going projects for Porotherm Clay Hollow Blocks.