KOLKATA: In the aftermath of gang-rape and murder of a medical student in Delhi last month, both the demand and import of Chinese closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) and surveillance cameras in the metro cities has gone through the roof, according to a just-concluded Assocham survey.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) interacted with about 200 stakeholders in the domain of security products including the traders, manufacturers and others operating in CCTV cameras' market considering that gory incident of December 16, 2012 has made surveillance imperative.
The Assocham carried out the survey between December 20, 2012-January 20, 2013 in metro cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR-Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida) and Pune as these state capitals and cities are flocked by men and women from various tier II, III cities, districts and rural areas in search of job opportunities which also makes these centres prone to crime.
Over half of the traders said there is negligible manufacturing of CCTV cameras in the country and thus they import the same from countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Israel and also from US and Europe as their product is not only cheap but these countries being leading hardware manufacturers, their products are affordable and based on latest technologies and thus are more preferred by the customers over domestically manufactured CCTVs.
Majority of respondents said that even most of the indigenous enterprises are importing all the components from abroad, assembling them and selling them under their brand names.
In terms of sales, the Chinese CCTV cameras are selling like hot cakes and the respondents said their sales have increased by over 60-70% during the course of last one month itself.
The imported tag on basic fixed focus cameras and sophisticated infrared cameras is proving to be lucrative for those operating in the business and said it is feasible for them to import as the investment involved is huge while the volumes are not high which in turn does not justify the cost of production.
Lack of government support, absence of regulatory framework, large investments and outdated technology are key reasons holding back domestic electronic companies from venturing into the CCTV domain leading to increased dependence upon imported stuff, highlights the Assocham survey.
"The need for safety and security in almost every walk of life has fuelled an overwhelming demand for CCTV cameras and more so after the Munirka gang-rape incident as hostels, paying guest accommodations, hotels and places alike in cosmopolitan cities are installing surveillance gadgets to keep a check on the movements of both the inhabitants and stalkers," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of Assocham while releasing the chamber survey.
According to an Assocham analysis, the video surveillance and CCTV market in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30 per cent is likely to cross Rs 2,200 crore by 2015.
Indian CCTV camera market is currently poised at about Rs 1,300 crore and accounts for about 40% of the Rs 3,250 crore worth total electronic security market in India, according to an analysis on CCTV/video surveillance market.
The global CCTV and video surveillance market is growing at a CAGR of about 25% and is currently poised at about Rs one lakh crore and is likely to cross Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark by 2015, according to the Assocham study. Asia accounts for nearly 35% of the global CCTV market with a share of over Rs 27,000 crore.