Rentokil launches India operations from Chennai
05 June, 2008
UK-based pest control service provider Rentokil is launching its operations in India, with Chennai as its base.
Looking to capture the Indian pest control market, which is worth Rs 700-crore now and is growing at 20% annually, the multinational which carries the brand 'Initial' in Europe, has forayed into the South, by acquiring six existing pest control companies, in the past six months.
"Though our current focus is on urban areas with 70% of our services going to commercial spaces and corporates, we aim to establish a mass pan India presence by mid 2009, by way of our awareness campaign among the masses," said Mr Sam Essaw, managing director, Rentokil.
Currently priced at Rs 5,000 per annum for a small house, and the range going only upward from there, their services have been employed by a variety of companies like Mc Donald's, HSBC and Renaissance Hotels, who were customers of the companies acquired by Rentokil. With an annual global turnover of $4,330-million, which is majority from UK, USA and Australia, Rentokil aims to generate $4-million in its India operations by next year.
"Since pests can never be destroyed, especially in this conducive tropical environment, we focus on continual working between residents and their technicians, to effectively control them, rather than offering product-based solutions like sprays," said Mr Gopi Pillay, Regional director, Rentokil. But chemicals supplied by Dow, BASF and Bayer are used in its operations. Its focus services means it needs to employ 79,000 people globally. It is employing 400 in India, all trained in house on technical, service operations.
While these are mainly high-school graduates, Rentokil expects to employ about 2,000 people in the next year, including agriculturists, field biologists and entomologists to conduct studies and reports. "We are also capable of large scale vector (mosquito mainly) control using our fogging machine mounted on a vehicle," said Mr Gopi, hinting at possible collaboration with the city corporation.