India is on the greatest toilet-building spree in human history, according to an article on the Bloomberg website, and it’s a windfall for suppliers. The $20 billion “Clean India” campaign aims to construct 111 million latrines in five years.
The national hygiene mission has created an 81 percent jump in sales of concrete building materials and 48 percent increase in bathroom and sanitaryware sales, according to Euromonitor International.
Almost 80 million household toilets are estimated to have been built since the 2014 pledge to ensure universal sanitation coverage by October 2019.
The building spree means the market for toilet-related products and services that’s predicted to double to $62 billion by 2021.
Bollywood celebrity Akshay Kumar — star of the sanitation-promoting movie “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” (or “Toilet: A Love Story”) — was appointed brand ambassador this month for Harpic, the bowl-cleaner made by Reckitt Benckiser.
The U.K.-based company, which also sells the disinfectant Dettol, is dominating the India toilet-care market, with sales climbing 11 percent to $105.7 million last year, according to Euromonitor data.
Companies are investing heavily on spreading awareness about better hygiene products, aiding the penetration of home care products in India, which is still low by global standards.
The “Clean India” mission has had a largely positive impact on suppliers of sanitaryware and tiles, sales of which are predicted to expand about 11 percent annually through 2022, according to Euromonitor.
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