CHENNAI: Johnson Lifts has increased its stake from 49 per cent to a majority in its 14-year joint venture with Japan’s Toshiba Elevator, sharpening its India play in the high-rise segment even as the West Asia crisis begins to disrupt logistics and push up costs.
The Chennai-based company now assumes management control of Toshiba Johnson Elevators India (TJEI), which will remain the exclusive partner for Toshiba-branded elevators in the country.
Announcing this on Monday at a press conference here, Yohan K John, director, Johnson Lifts, said the move is anchored in a new 10-year agreement between the partners, replacing the earlier pact.
Wilfred Martin Clarence, managing director, TJEI, said the restructuring is aimed at combining Toshiba’s technology strengths with Johnson’s on-ground reach. “We will continue to offer Toshiba’s advanced technology while leveraging Johnson’s service network to be closer to customers, ensure faster response time and deliver long-term value,” he said.
John said the timing of the stake increase aligns with India’s urban transition. “With more high-rise developments coming up across metros, high-speed elevators will be the need of the day. This move allows us to scale faster using our deep market presence and Toshiba’s engineering excellence,” he noted.
Johnson Lifts, which has a turnover of Rs 4,000 crore, expects the Rs 300-crore TJEI business to double in size over the medium term following the stake enhancement.
The expansion, however, comes amid rising geopolitical uncertainty. The ongoing West Asia conflict has already begun impacting shipments.
John said 10 to15 containers that were en route to Dubai and held up in Sri Lanka had to be brought back to India due to the situation.
The disruption has also sharply escalated logistics costs. Freight rates have surged to about USD10,000 per container, ironically exceeding the price of a single elevator unit in some cases, posing cost pressures for the stakeholders.
Despite these headwinds, the company remains bullish on growth. The combined presence of Johnson Lifts and TJEI represents 20 per cent of the elevator market of one lakh units and 30 per cent of the escalator market in India.
Under the revised structure, Toshiba will continue to supply products and technical support from Japan, while Johnson drives execution, backed by its extensive nationwide network and service centres.
There will be no immediate changes to employee roles, ongoing projects or customer commitments as the latest move has only altered the Board composition, John sought to point out.