The Hitachi Ltd. group has won an order for 300 elevators in Singapore, the largest single contract of its kind it has signed in the city-state.

The company said Tuesday it has received the order to supply and install the elevators from the Singapore government's public housing authority, Housing & Development Board.

A Hitachi spokesman in Tokyo did not disclose the contract value, but it is estimated to be worth several billion yen (tens of millions of U.S. dollars).

Hitachi Elevator Asia Pte. Ltd., an elevator sales and service unit in Singapore, plans to complete the installation in the public housing buildings within this year, the spokesman said.

The deal illustrates a step forward for the Japanese conglomerate, allowing it to tap elevator demand for public housing in the city-state after having previously mainly supplied prime housing and office buildings, according to the spokesman.

"HDB flats are home to over 80 percent of Singapore's resident population. We are proud to be part of this development and look forward to serving the people in the years to come," said Victor Sia, managing director of Hitachi Elevator Asia.

The local unit has provided a large number of elevators and escalators, including moving sidewalks, for major facilities such as Changi International Airport and Guoco Tower, the tallest building in Singapore that was formerly known as the Tanjong Pagar Centre, according to a Hitachi statement.

In 2019, the Japanese group launched an advanced remote monitoring and maintenance service in the Southeast Asian business hub to obtain real-time operational data about its elevators to allow for the planning of preventive maintenance.

The spokesman declined to comment on whether the latest contract includes such a service. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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