Security-service SMEs to grow at 18-20%: CRISIL Research

A research from CRISL states that security services, where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have 60-65 per cent market share, have logged a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18-20 per cent over the past three fiscal years and it expects them to grow at a similar pace over the next two fiscal years.

Reasons for this Robust Growth

The growth of security services is driven by infrastructure development, urbanisation, the growing incidence of crime and terrorism, and the low police to population ratio. Major factors which contributed to this growth are

• Urban housing stock and commercial stock have grown at a CAGR of five per cent in the last three years (calendar years 2015 to 2018) and is expected to continue the same momentum over the next three years. Moreover, the development of residential townships has been gaining momentum in the outskirts of metro cities on account of the availability of large land parcels. This has created a huge demand.
• United Nations data shows that 34 per cent of India’s population lived in urban areas in 2018. The number is expected to increase further to 37.4 per cent by 2025. This trend of rapid urbanisation is driving the growth of the security service industry.
• India has a large gap between actual and sanctioned police personnel. Data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development shows that India had 150.75 police personnel per 100,000 people, compared with a sanctioned strength of 192.87 in 2017. This yawning gap is also driving the growth of the security services industry.
• Value-added services like site-specific training, supervisor patrols at all sites, high-tech surveillance systems, biometric technologies, remote-sensors and cybersecurity are being offered by the security services

But the Industry is facing its own set of challenges. Challenges like tough licensing norms, unavailability of trained personnel, high attrition and heavy working capital requirements are acting as a bottleneck in achieving their potential.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2018