Bangalore

Wipro Consumer Care (WCCL), the fast-moving consumer goods and furniture and lighting arm of information technology major Wipro, is aiming to increase its presence in the premium branded office furniture market with new designer ranges.

Having established its presence in the basic office furniture segment, Wipro Consumer Care is now planning to launch several more ranges of premium office furniture. The company is also working on designing furniture to cater to the needs of education institutes.

According to Parag Kulkarni, vice-president-furniture and lighting business of Wipro, the total office furniture market in India is estimated at Rs 1,800 crore. WCCL entered this market five years back and has 1,000 customers, largely in the basic office furniture category. Since there is no independent agency monitoring the furniture market in India, the company didn’t have its market share figures. The premium branded office furniture market in India is estimated at Rs 400 crore.

WCCL is also tying up with New York-based designer Eric Chan to manufacture new range of premium chairs. In addition, the company also plans to manufacture niche products such a top-end executive cabins. WCCL already has a tie-up with London-based designer Tim Wallace. It has a manufacturing unit for chairs in Chennai and another manufacturing unit for entire range of office furniture in Aurangabad. Kulkarni said, “We have an edge over international players in the market because our range of office furniture is specifically designed for the Indian market and is competitively priced. Since our range is manufactured in India and not imported, our competitive prices allow consumers to shift from the mid segment of furniture to the high-end range.”

WCCL is also focusing on institutional segment to increase its presence in the branded furniture market. The company is working actively on designing furniture for education institutions. Kulkarni said, “Modern colleges and schools are using well-designed furniture, therefore we intend to cash-in on this need.”

urvashijha

@mydigitalfc.com