Security and surveillance equipment maker Prama Hikvision will invest ₹500 crore in India over the next few years as it ramps up capacity in the country. The company, a Sino-Indo joint venture, has invested ₹100 crore towards a new 2.5 lakh sq ft facility outside Mumbai, which has just started producing security cameras. “Our current production capacity is five lakh cameras and one lakh beacon devices per month,” said Ashish Dhakan, MD at Prama Hikvision.
“We are currently selling about eight lakh cameras a month. In the second phase, which will be completed by end 2019, we will invest ₹300 cr to take the capacity to 10 lakh. Over time, we will look at exporting to the US and a few other markets where the duties or other factors make it tough for the Chinese company to directly supply.” he said. Set up in 2001, Prama is 42% owned by the Indian partner and the rest by Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, among the world’s largest suppliers of video surveillance and security systems with a 25% global market share. In India, the company competes with local players such as Timelon Systems and Zicom.
For Hikvision, the decision behind investing in manufacturing is two-fold. “This is a source of competitive advantage for us and we also want to take advantage of the benefits that we can get on duties on components under ‘Make in India’,” said Dhakan. The company employs over 750 people and will be adding another 350 by the end of the year. Once the plant expansion is completed, it will have added 1,000 people, taking the total headcount to 2,000 by the end of 2019. Dhakan said in India there is a growing demand from the government for its ‘smart cities’ initiative as well as for rail and airport security, besides from the hospitality and education verticals.
