GETTING FUTURE-READY

As the piping and plumbing needs are changing with growing complexities in design and size of projects, pipes and fittings players are bringing in new innovations in designs and materials to meet the new requirements.

Pipes and fittings are widely used in irrigation, sewerage, water supply, plumbing, and borewell applications. Civil infrastructure and real estate markets are gaining momentum after the pandemic impact slowed down the market in the past two years. This has poised the growth prospects of pipes and fittings for plumbing and sanitation markets. The vertically developing real estate market is also driving the growth of pipes and pipe fittings market with changing approach towards materials and aesthetics. Major players in the industry have greater focus on solutions for plumbing and sanitation applications, among others, to build a sustainable environment.

Market trend

According to market reports, the Indian PVC pipes market size is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 10.2% to reach $6,224 million by 2023. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third-largest selling plastic commodity after polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). PVC offers many benefits over other materials, owing to its chemical resistance, durability, low cost, recyclability, and others. It can replace wood, metal, concrete, and clay in different applications. PVC pipes are manufactured by extrusion methods in a variety of dimensions such as a solid wall or cellular core construction. They are corrosion-resistant, cost-effective, flame resistant, and easy to install and handle, and environmentally sound, with long service life.

Advantage pipes & fittings

The plastic pipes and fitting material have a smooth pipe wall, low resistance, and large water flow amount. To adjust gradient terrain, the aperture of plastic pipe fittings can be reduced in a smaller construction capacity.

As compared to cement pipe, plastic pipe fitting's service life is longer. Cement pipes have a low sealing property and are rigid, slight movement may damage the connecting part. Moreover, the cement pipe is sealed by a vulcanised rubber ring, while plastic pipe fitting is sealed by the TPE sealing ring.

The durability of cement pipe is only 15 years while in plastic pipe fitting it is 50-100 years, and plastic pipe fittings have better corrosion resistance than cement pipes.

Plastic pipe fittings have properties of lightweight, longer, fewer pipe joints, easy to connect and construct and lower construction cost.

Trend in materials

Currently, Chlorinated PVC (CPVC) pipes are projected to be the dominant segment during the forecast period, owing to their superior properties such as usefulness in handling corrosive fluids at temperature range up to 210°F and low thermal conductivity. While they serve the same application as other PVC pipes, CPVC pipes are majorly preferred for high-temperature applications. These pipes can be joined using solvent welding, threading, or flanging.

A pipe system not only involves pipes but also other components such as pipe fittings, expansion, and flexible joints, strainers, valves, bolts, flanges, gaskets and supports. Pipe fittings serve several purposes that mainly involve joining two pipes through appropriate fittings to alter the flow of the fluids or distribute them to other pipes.

However, there are new trends emerging. “The shift to PP pipes from PVC is a big change and Huliot has created a category in the Indian plumbing market when it introduced PP Acoustic Triple Layered Pipe. Also, adoption of Multi Layer Pipe over CPVC is driving demand steadily,” says Shailesh Khamar, VP - Sales & Marketing, Huliot Pipes & Fittings.

Growth trends

Irrigation projects are driving demand for PVC pipes and fittings in India. Rising investment in real estate in India contributing to the growth in PVC pipes and fittings market. Government is currently focusing more on water management leading to rise in demand for PVC pipes and fittings.

Innovations

According to Khamar, Sustainable drainageand water supply productsare in great demand asthe developer fraternity is moving to sustainable products for making their projects. “A creeping demand for waste water management - cleaning and reuse, also now mandated by the government, is a potential avenue for us. Our product ClearBlack is a perfect fit for projects which require modular sewage treatment plants with IOT-based controls for managing it,” he adds.

Outlook

The growing real estate market with the construction of more high-rise buildings are driving the demand for advanced pipes and fitting systems. Also, the replacement of old sewerage and drainage systems with new ones will also demand more pipes (plastic as well as metal).

The Budget announcements are going to have a positive impact on the pipes and fittings market. Measures such as Rs 60,000 crore Har Ghar Nal se Jal, Rs 48,000 crore PM Awas Yojana to construct 80 lakh houses for the eligible beneficiaries will drive the demand for pipes for water supply and drainage systems. These proposals coupled with the expected demand from upcoming projects will definitely create opportunity for more piping in the country.

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