NITCO expects Rs 150 cr revenue from new brand

Tile manufacturing major, NITCO Limited is expecting its new brand, Naturoc, to yield an additional turnover of Rs 150 crore for the financial year 2009-10. The company recently launched its new wall tile brand in the Indian market and has tied up with design studios in Italy for the same.

"The new brand, Naturoc, basically derives its inspiration from the nature around us and will be a successful product in the wall tiles segment. We expect the brand to yield Rs 150 crore additional revenue for the new fiscal," said Vivek Talwar, managing director of the company.

NITCO has set up a new plant in Alibaug, Maharashtra for manufacturing the 'Naturoc' brand of wall tiles at a capacity of 23,000 sq ft per day at an investment of Rs 100 crore. While so far the company had been outsourcing to units in Gujarat, NITCO is now mulling to set up its own plant for vitrified tiles in the state. Moreover, the company is also planning to diversify into other segments like sanitaryware and fittings, said Talwar.

The company will soon be exporting the new brand to countries in Middle East, Europe and the west.

In the domestic market, however, NITCO plans to set up exclusive franchisee outlets of 'Naturoc' across the country. According to Talwar, while the tiles industry had been witnessing a steady growth of 40 per cent per annum since last five years, the fiscal 2008-09 has seen a dip in growth to 15 per cent due to slowdown in the real estate market.