By AMIT VAZE

The Indian door manufacturing industry is undergoing a significant transformation as the market shifts from demand for individual door shutters to complete door-set solutions, comprising both the door shutter and frame. Real estate developers across the spectrum – large, medium and small – increasingly appreciate the value of this integrated, ready-to-install solution for ensuring timely project completion and consistent quality.

The newly revised Indian Standards – IS 2202 (Part 1):2023, IS 2202 (Part 2):2022, IS 2191 (Part 1):2022, IS 2191 (Part 2):2022 and IS 15380:2023 – provide comprehensive guidelines to help door manufacturers produce durable, performance-driven and aesthetically superior doors.

A key takeaway from these updates is the unification of performance parameters across various door constructions. This ensures that every door reaching the end user delivers a minimum guaranteed performance – marking a milestone in standardization and quality assurance for the Indian door industry.

Additionally, IS 4020:1998, which specifies 16 performance tests for flush doors, remains a key benchmark for testing and validating door quality and durability.

Material flexibility

The revised standards empower manufacturers with flexibility in material selection without compromising performance. Door components can now be engineered using modern materials if they meet the prescribed performance criteria. The key component options include:

•        Infill: Timber batten, block board, tubular or solid particle board, paper honeycomb, honeycomb panels, hollow core or cellular core.

•        Face panel/ door skin: Plywood, core+ face veneer, MDF, HDF or hardboard.

•        Stile and rail: Solid wood, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), veneer laminated lumber (VLL), or hybrid combinations using MDF or HDF or plywood as internal stile and rail.

•        Overlay: Decorative veneer, HPL, CPL, PVC foil, ABS sheet or other decorative laminates.

•        Adhesives: Phenol, Urea Formaldehyde, Melamine Urea Formaldehyde, PVAC, PUR, EVA or any other adhesive that meets the required performance criteria.

This modular approach allows door manufacturers to choose cost-effective and high-performance combinations suited for diverse applications. With ISI marking now mandatory for flush doors, manufacturers must align their production with these upgraded standards.

The adoption of modern materials and performance-based construction options allows manufacturers to triple their production capacities without any capital expenditure – ensuring both scalability and consistency in quality in ready set up.

This transition also enables the industry to move away from primitive, time consuming, labour-intensive manufacturing practices and adopt engineered door-set production, fostering efficiency, precision and repeatability with standardisation.

This development supports domestic panel manufacturers, whose growing capacities can now effectively cater to the high-performance component requirements of the expanding door industry.

Living environment

In modern India, a door is no longer just a panel that closes an open hole in the wall – it is an integral part of the living environment, expected to perform multiple roles.

With compact homes in metros and Tier-1 cities, sound insulation has become a desirable attribute. Acoustic-rated doors with drop-down and perimeter seals are increasingly being adopted, offering 3 grades with ratings such as 28 dB, 39 dB, and 42 dB. These innovations help maintain privacy and reduce household noise – ideal for modern living and work-from-home environments.

As high-rise buildings proliferate across India, fire-rated door-sets are becoming a regulatory and safety necessity. Many manufacturers now offer 60-minute fully insulated fire-rated wooden door-sets compliant with IS 3614:2021, while several others are expanding capabilities to produce 120-minute fire-rated door-sets.

With the mandatory ISI marking, acceptance of engineered materials and technological modernisation, the Indian door industry is poised for unprecedented growth over the next decade. Increased adoption of performance-oriented door-sets, driven by real estate demand and consumer awareness, will further accelerate capacity expansion and product innovation.

The transformation from conventional flush doors to engineered, performance-certified door-sets signals the dawn of a new era – one where India not only meets domestic housing demands but also positions itself as a global manufacturing hub for high-quality wooden door systems.

– The writer is a second-generation entrepreneur and CEO of Pune-based Sleek Boards Group, a premier marketing organisation for technologically advanced wood panel products. Sleek Boards represents and partners with some of the world’s largest wood panel manufacturers for a market spread across more than 20 countries.

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