Private security in India will become a Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) industry in four years as corporates have increased their spending on safeguards after the Mumbai terror strikes, industry chamber Assocham has said.
Corporates would up their security budgets by 35-40 per cent, the industry chamber said.
The private security business, a Rs 22,000 crore (Rs 220 billion) industry now, would touch Rs 50,000 crore as security all of a sudden has become top priority for Indian Inc, it said.
The industry, which has been growing at 25 per cent over the past 5-7 years, would achieve a growth rate of 125 per cent by 2012, it added.
Since a lot of industrial expansion, especially in the infrastructure sector, would take place during the 11th Five-Year Plan, the cost of security gadgets that need to be imported will work out to Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) in the next two years, it said.
Assocham further said demand for security gadgets has also increased in educational institutions, hospitals, shopping malls and business centres.
Not only will the manufacturing of security gadgets see voluminous growth, there will more demand for security personnel.
It is expected that over 2 lakh security professionals would be required in industrial installations in the next few years as no industrial house henceforth can afford to take security lightly, Assocham general secretary D S Rawat said.
"Foreign security companies have also started assessing Indian markets for sale of gadgets," he said adding the government should cut import duty on security gadgets by about 50 per cent.