BM Desk: PRAN-RFL Group has been assembling and manufacturing elevators in its own factory in the country since 2018. The company is marketing these elevators under the brand name ‘Property Lifts’. With the increase in the number of multi-storey buildings in the country, the demand for these locally manufactured elevators is also increasing. As a result, the sales of Property Lifts’ elevators have increased almost six times in the last seven years.
According to information from companies involved in elevator manufacturing and import, 4,500 to 5,000 elevators are sold in the country every year. In terms of taka, this market is worth about 1,300 crore taka. In the last few years, the elevator market has grown at an annual rate of 5 to 10 percent. However, a large part of the elevator market in the country is still dependent on imports. Two domestic companies, Walton and PRAN-RFL Group, are now manufacturing and marketing elevators locally. These two companies currently produce 20-25 percent of the elevator demand in the country. Domestic companies have been able to create this position in just seven years. As a result, import dependence is decreasing.
PRAN-RFL’s elevator factory is located in Danga Industrial Park in Palash Upazila of Narsingdi. The factory, located on the banks of the Shitalakshya River, has an area of ​​about one lakh square feet. A group of journalists from Dhaka visited the PRAN-RFL factory on Saturday. During this, RFL Group Managing Director RN Paul and Property Lifts Chief Operating Officer (COO) Moinul Islam shared various information about the various stages of elevator manufacturing, technology and marketing.
Investment of 200 crore taka
PRAN-RFL Group has been importing elevators for more than three decades. The group joined this business in 1988 by importing elevators. Later, in 2018, it started manufacturing elevators itself in Danga, Narsingdi. Currently, seven types of elevators are manufactured in the Property Elevators factory. These are passenger, cargo, hospital, home, capsule, hydraulic and Scissor elevators.
RFL officials said that they import some basic raw materials including motors, ropes, and controllers to manufacture elevators. Apart from this, 80 percent of the elevator manufacturing work, including most of the components, is done in the factory here. In addition, Property Lifts is working as the Bangladeshi distributor of elevators of Finland’s Kone, Spain’s Macpursa, and Germany’s and China’s SRH brands.
PRAN-RFL officials said that Property Lifts is currently adding more than 40 percent value to the local production of lifts. In addition, they are manufacturing lifts with advanced technology along with world-class safety features as per the customer’s needs. The group has invested about Tk 200 crore in this sector in the last seven years. 210 employees are working in the lift factory. In addition, more than 1,000 people are employed across the country for installing and servicing lifts.
Property Lifts COO Moinul Islam said, “Safety is the most important issue in elevators. Property Lifts ensures international standards in safety. For this, our elevators have two types of safety systems – electrical and mechanical. For example, if the elevator rope breaks, an auto rescue device (ARD) has been added to the elevator to control it immediately. Apart from this, the latest technology motors are used in our elevators to save electricity.
Plans to start exporting
PRAN-RFL officials said that the number of multi-storey buildings in the country’s big cities, including Dhaka, is increasing rapidly. Due to this, the demand for their elevators is also increasing. Property Elevators sold 55 elevators in the beginning of 2018. Last year, this number increased to 329. Currently, property elevators are being used in multinational companies and government and private institutions, including Payra Thermal Power Plant, Korean EPZ, Bay Economic Zone.
Property Lifts’ lifts usually have a capacity of 300 kg to 10,000 kg. However, the design and features of the lifts are added according to the customer’s needs. RFL’s factory has the capacity to manufacture 270 lifts per month. However, currently an average of 100 lifts are being manufactured per month. Depending on the capacity and features, the prices of these lifts range from 1.5 million taka to 1 crore taka. There is a duty of about 46 percent on the import of lifts in the country. As a result, domestically made lifts are being sold at a price of 5-7 lakh taka less than equivalent imported lifts.
Apart from the domestic market, Property Lifts is also looking at exports. Officials of the company said that they have plans to export elevators to several countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia from next year. RFL Group Managing Director RN Paul said that if elevators can be manufactured in the country with increased value addition, the price will come down. This will also increase the use of elevators to a large extent. However, the government’s policy support is needed to increase the use of domestically made elevators. In this case, if the use of domestically made elevators is encouraged in various government projects, the share of local companies in the elevator market will increase.