Kolkata: Kone Elevator India plans to double its connected elevators in India from 50,000 to 1 lakh within a year to minimise downtime and prevent passengers from being trapped in non-functional lifts. Currently, 30% of its India portfolio — around 50,000 lifts — are connected and remotely controlled.Kone global president and CEO Philippe Delorme told TOI that connected-lift technology allows engineers to carry out preventive maintenance by predicting failures before they occur and enables remote rescue of trapped passengers. The technology is installed in nearly 50% of Kone’s 18 lakh elevators worldwide.“When someone gets trapped inside a lift, a few minutes can seem like an hour. If there is a battery issue or a mechanical fault, we can remotely control the lift and ensure they get out,” said Delorme, who visits India at least twice a year from Helsinki.The company is using AI and machine learning to predict faults. At a boutique hotel in Kolkata, 80% of issues were resolved after connected technology was introduced; at a city hospital, the resolution rate was 98%.Kone and ThyssenKrupp Elevator (TKE) have announced a merger that will make the combined entity the world’s largest elevator company, ahead of current market leaders Otis and Schindler.In India, Kone — which began operations around four decades ago — has already overtaken Otis, which installed the country’s first elevator at Kolkata’s Lok Bhavan (then called Government House) 134 years ago.Kone is also working on replacing ageing lifts. “In India, the intensity of usage is five times higher than in the US or Europe. If a lift in Europe clocks 1 lakh starts a year, in India it exceeds 5 lakh. Humidity, heat and dust take a toll. Lifts need to be modernised to ensure safety and reliability,” Delorme said.
