Germany-based Fischer aims to treble India catch in next 5-7 years

Germany-based Fischer group, which makes components for the construction and automobile sector, expects to treble the size of its India business to over Rs 600 crore in 5-7 years. The company, which has a portfolio of over 15,000 articles, including anchors for earthquake zones or severely stressed buildings, fire protection fixings, and façade systems, is also in the process of establishing its IT hub in Bengaluru.

In the last three years, its India business had clocked a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 41 per cent, nearly trebling its business size to over Rs 200 crore.
 

"We see a very strong growth of about 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in the next 5-7 years," said Mayank Kalra, managing director, Fischer India.
 

The company is also looking to increase its employees in the country to over 400 from the current 139 over the same time.

About 80 per cent of the company's turnover comes from manufacturing fixing systems for the construction sector while about 10 per cent of the revenue come from the auto sector.  Oliver Geibig, managing director of business units and engineering at the group,  indicated the company's focus in India will remain on the construction business.

"The automotive industry has been struggling a lot in the last few years. At the moment, what we see is that the construction industry still has a lot to invest. A lot of investment in infrastructure was delayed in the past. Housing is needed; the existing structures need to be renovated. We see much bigger potential there...I don't want to exclude the automotive industry or consulting business (from bringing them to India). At the moment, we are strongly focused on the construction industry," he added.

  

The company imports more than 80 per cent of its products, mainly from its multiple plants in central Europe. "We are sourcing 5-7 per cent of our products locally. We have plans to take it to 20 per cent in 5-7 years," he noted. Fischer India is among the top 10 markets for the Fischer group and Kalra said they "would like to be among the top six Fischer group of companies".

Geibig added that the company is also increasing its recruitment from Indian universities, given the abundance of high-quality post-graduates in the region.
 

He mentioned that the question is whether to relocate individuals from India to the headquarters in Germany or explore remote working options. 
 

The group reported an annual turnover of €1.14 billion in 2022 and operates in 39 countries with 51 subsidiaries, including India. However, the company does not have any production facility in India and has no plans to open one currently.