ALL ABOUT IDENTITY / EDITION 11

December 2006 / Mitchell Smith

Riding The Elephant - Albert Smith India 

INDIA - A land with a population of 1.1 billion; with the world’s youngest people; where 17% of our earths inhabitants exist in 2.42% of the earths total land area; where incredible palaces once saw Maharaja’s with unbelievable wealth residing within; where mystique and legend is unparalleled; where the highest mountains on earth exist; where the highest average rainfall in the world is measured in Meghalaya at 10,900mm; where over 1,000 films are produced every year making it the largest film producing country globally; where 23,000,000 people watch movies in 13,000 theatres every day; where there is over 300 television channels and where 18 languages are specified in their constitution. 

The commercial growth in India right now is staggering and on an eye opening scale. To try and offer some sort of statistical analysis on what is happening there, just consider a few facts:

20 million new homes are being constructed within the next 3-5 years. 
Shopping malls will increase from the current 60 to 500+ by 2010 (that’s at least 110 new shopping centres per annum!) 
There are 142 new hotel projects currently in planning, offering 120,000 new rooms 
Real estate and construction is currently a A$16 Billion revenue industry 
There are 300 new commercial aircraft on order for the next 5 years, and over 1,000 new pilots licenses in progress 
The Commonwealth Games is being convened in New Delhi on 3-14 October 2010 

For the Albert Smith Group, our presence in India is a natural and logical addition to our network of offices and plants across the region. Our multi-national customers are there, or are going here, we regularly receive sales enquiries from there, and India provides another gateway for us into other regional markets. 

Based within the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India in Bangalore, our new purpose-built plant and office is coming out of the ground as you read this article. Once again, we have partnered with a family owned enterprise with a huge amount of experience in the challenges of manufacturing and, of course, running a business in India. On behalf of all the Albert Smith Group team, we extend a warm welcome to the Girdhar Family and the staff of Albert Smith India. 

There will be some exciting times ahead – stay tuned! 

Hint: Click on elephant to open full colour pdf file including photos.