A tiny little factoid, many may not know is that India was one of the first countries to adopt family planning at an official level in 1960. Even more interesting is the fact that condoms were first introduced to the country by the Chennai-based TTK Group that imported and sold them here since the 40s. Even then, it needed courage for the group to put up a unit to manufacture condoms in 1963. That too in the conservative South. The London Rubber Company was established in collaboration with London Rubber of UK by the TTK Group. It was the first unit to come up in the private sector. In those days of licence raj, it was given a licence to manufacture 37.5 million condoms. (Today the country manufactures about three billion condoms.) The government at that time was very keen on manufacturing prophylactics in the country. The public sector Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL) came up a few years down the line in the mid-60s.
In spite of the apparent enthusiasm by the government, the early days were difficult. Selling condoms in a conservative country where sex was a four-letter word was impossible. The government, which was supposed to place orders, did not do so. As part of the government?s family planning promotion programme, Operation Nirodh was launched in select markets in 1968. Condoms were being made available at 15 paise for 3, through over 5,00,000 small retailers who were subsidised by the government. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) was aiding the government in those days and the country was getting its supplies from Sweden. The London Rubber factory worked only a month a year till 1972. Eventually, SIDA approved the quality of the company?s products and actually gave aid to the government to buy them.
By 1972, the company turned around and was able to declare dividends. However this is a product whose major customer is the government, which of course favours HLL, its own company. In spite of this rather restrictive scene, several private sector players have entered the market. The JK group introduced its ?kamasutra? brand in the 90s. Today there is the Polar brand and a whole lot of smaller players. Manforce, which had set up its own unit a year ago, has made considerable inroads in UP.
Till the late 80s, quality control was not a major issue with condom manufacturing. Says J Srinivasan, who was then CEO of TTK LIG and SSL TTK, currently mentor of the group, ?The quality of what we manufactured was not exportable. Consistency was lacking and zero defect was an unknown concept.? Everything changed when London Rubber?s joint venture partners decided to revisit the arrangement. By this time, the UK company had undergone several changes and was known as London International Group PLC. It was and still is the world?s largest manufacturer of condoms and the owner of the Durex brand. ?They offered to source from us and place orders for 150 to 160 million pieces if we could assure them that we could meet their specifications?, says Srinivasan.
The company knew that improving the quality standards was the only way to survive in an industry which was so largely dependent on government purchases. The country was also being flooded by low quality imported condoms. ?To manufacture the international brand Durex and get it accepted was truly a tall order. We could not do it overnight. We had to focus on changing our own process, mindset of the people, shop floor habits and many other things. For example, the manufactured condoms used to be filled in canvas bags by hand and the bag would be tied up with a jute string. The consultant from UK had to point out that sheddable fibre cannot be used for packaging?, says Srinivasan. The company worked on improving quality and systems and also on getting international accreditations including FDA approval from the US. Today, almost every country buys Durex brand of condoms made in India.
India also had to emerge as the lowest-cost manufacturer with the highest quality. The JV partner was not willing to increase prices for years. This meant improving labour productivity, machine downtime, eliminating defective products from vendors and also implementing TPM to get optimum efficiencies. By 1996, TTK LIG emerged as a major supplier for Durex International. Thanks to the Durex connection, during periods when orders were not forthcoming from the government and other factories including HLL. JK and Polar had to shut down, TTK LIG worked. Sales crossed a billion including the domestic market at one point. Since then the numbers have dropped a bit.
The usage of condoms is seeing a declining trend in India. Precise figures are not available. There are other contraceptives available now. Sterilisation continues to be the preferred form of family planning. Per capita consumption of condoms was never high in India.
It has not grown substantially yet, in spite of better quality products and better marketing.
?It was about four earlier, it has probably gone up to six or eight now,? say industry sources. ?Indians also think that using condoms reduces pleasure. So all of us have to focus on the pleasure platform,? says Srinivasan.
In spite of HIV fears, the government is not as focused as it used to be, feel health workers. ?The officials who were deeply committed to the concept of family planning and spreading the Nirodh message have all gone. The younger lot has not seen the misery over-population brings. Maybe they have bought the idea that India needs a young population. So the enthusiasm of the previous generation is lacking in government circles,? is the general feeling.
Government orders have also stopped due to litigation. The earlier regime was thought to favour, apart from the public sector HLL, a few select manufacturers. The matter has gone to court and orders have dried up. In most developing countries, the government is the major buyer of condoms as it has to sell them at subsidised prices to propagate family planning. This is a low-price, high-volume business. The total sale of condoms in the country does not exceed Rs 1,400 crore! So, three billion pieces mean very little in this industry.
