India, Sept. 11 -- CHENNAI, INDIA, 11 September - Hydraulic lifts have quietly become the practical answer for most Indian homes. They are mechanically simple, they run quietly, and they need a fraction of the civil work a conventional passenger lift demands. Elite Elevators has set out the specifications of its hydraulic elevators, a range built for compact and mid-sized homes, including houses that were finished long before a lift was considered.

Most Indian houses are two to four storeys, occupied by four to six people, and already built by the time a lift is considered. Those three facts favour hydraulic drive.

A hydraulic system moves the cabin using a pump and cylinder through a chain-and-pulley arrangement. It is quiet in daily u...