As a result of urbanization, new buildings are being built in the big cities of the country. The remote areas are not far behind. Bricks, sand, cement stones are used in the construction of houses or buildings; Similarly, basins, kitchens and bathrooms need water faucets, which are known as water taps. Despite the demand, there was no big brand of water faucet in the country for so long.

Although there are some domestic companies in this market, most of the high-quality water faucets are imported from abroad. As a result, a large part of this market is dependent on imports. This market is constantly growing. And so the domestic company Akiz Bathware is going to join this market by setting up a factory for making water faucets. It is a company of Akiz Group.

The company has already invested 500 crore rupees in setting up a bathware manufacturing plant. The products produced in this new factory will be marketed tomorrow, Wednesday. This factory is being built in Trishal, Mymensingh.

Industry stakeholders say that the market for water taps (taps, washers, showers) and swimwear stands is around 1.5 billion rupees in the country every year. More than 51 percent of this market is occupied by imported bathware. The rest is in the hands of domestic institutions. However, there are only a handful of branded swimwear in the market.

Currently, the notable brands in this market include Sharif, Sattar, Tanveer, RFL and Raja. Pran-RFL Group was the first to enter this market among the major industrial groups established in the country. Now again Akiz Bathware is coming with big investment. The company said their initial investment in the new factory is Rs 500 crore. This investment will increase gradually.

Akiz officials said that 60,000 pieces of water taps, washers, showers and bathing stands will be made in their factory every month. Akiz Bathware factory will employ more than 500 workers.

When asked to know, the company’s director (business) Mohammad Khorshed Alam told Prothom Alo, “So far, the market is dominated by foreign products.” So we aim to establish ourselves as a strong brand in the water faucet market. We hope that our products can gain the trust of the people of the country.

The company-affiliates said that the latest technology of Germany and Japan will be used in the production of water faucets. The factory will be automated. Most of the equipment will be robotically controlled. Currently, the water faucets available in the country’s market do not have any color variety. So to bring variety of colors several colored water faucets will be made in Akiz factory.

The company will market these bathware under the Rosa brand name of Akiz Ceramics. Initially, the company is moving forward with the target of selling products worth 200 to 220 crores per year. They also plan to make water taps with sensors in the future. Although initiatives have been taken to start a new factory, yet the bidding of the bathware products made in the factory has not been finalised.

However, in the market of the country, the price of each water faucet of high quality is being sold for 1 to 5 thousand taka. And the faucets which have cold and hot water supply system are priced from 5 to 7 thousand taka. However, the price varies depending on the type and technology of the water faucet.

Golam Rabbani, brand head of Akiz Bathware, told Prothom Alo, ‘Tomorrow (Wednesday) we are going to start this new factory. We have seen this market grow by 10 to 15 percent every year due to urbanization. As the market grows, so does the demand for quality products. We have decided to invest in this sector to fulfill that goal. The success of the ceramic business has motivated us to make this new investment.

According to the needs of the customers, there are bahari design water faucets in the market. One of which looks like a long curved neck like a giraffe. Some are spherical. In recent times, due to various development projects including construction of buildings, the demand for water taps has increased rapidly. For use in modern apartments or expensive hotel-resorts, water faucets of sophisticated design are imported from China, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Korea, India and Thailand.