Indian Air Conditioning Market Set to Double Manufacturing Capacity by 2020 With Addition of New Units

By Manu Sharma

The Rs 15,000 Crore, Indian air conditioning and commercial refrigeration market, is all set to make over as it plans to double its production capacity from 4 million units last fiscal to 8 million units by 2020. Indian players like Blue Star will add two more manufacturing facilities in India.

India’s capacity in the global room air conditioning market presently is a mere 3-4 percent while China dominates the industry with almost 50 percent share of the global market.

Speaking to the media, B Thiagarajan, Executive Director & President of Blue Star Limited says, “Even though the Chinese players dominate this market, but off late has seen a sharp decline and we intent to grab on this opportunity and double the Indian market share in the coming fiscal. I consider only Voltas and Blue Star are the pure Indian players with a Make In India tag and we shall along with other Japanese and Korean players drive this growth.”

Industry reports indicate that in the room air conditioning sector, Chinese players’ witness a flat growth last fiscal and this trend may continue this fiscal as well. In fact, out of every 100 units, 80 units are made from China.

Thiagarajan remarks that even the Indian market did witness a de-growth mainly due to the fall in the international market but we are poised to achieve our target by 2020.  

“We are on the verge of revamping our manufacturing facility with the addition of two more units at Sri City in AP near Chennai and the other at Jammu. Both these units will manufacture both air conditioners and refrigerator’s,” he adds.

Blue Star has 4 existing manufacturing facilities at HP, Wada, Debra and Ahmedabad.

In this regard, Blue Star has also announced the launch of a stylish range of air conditioners comprising a wide array of highly energy-efficient as well as eco-friendly split air conditioners for the residential and commercial segments.

The company intends to continue its aggressive thrust in the room air conditioners market and aims to gain a market share of 12% in FY17, in terms of value. Blue Star’s new line-up of room air conditioners consists of over 135 models. This stellar range of air conditioners is in line with the new energy standards prescribed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

“The room air conditioners market in India grew by about 10% during 2015, while Blue Star outperformed the market growing 20%. We find that the room air conditioner segment is becoming more brand-conscious preferring specialist air conditioning players. This trend works to our advantage since Blue Star is perceived to be a premium and aspirational brand, and our rich pedigree and high quality product range is in conjunction with this image. In addition, the brand continues to be a strong player in the corporate and commercial segment which comprises 25% of the overall size. The market for room air conditioners is expected to grow by around 15% in FY17 and considering our 5-year track record of outperforming the market coupled with our impressive new energy-efficient, eco-friendly and smart product range, we hope to achieve a market share of 12% in FY17”.

Blue Star is amongst the first companies to comply with BEE’s voluntary labelling programme for inverter split air conditioners as it has launched 16 models in the 5-star category and 13 variants in the 3-star category, as per the new BEE standards. All models have been designed to operate non-stop even at 50°C. 

The entire range of star-rated inverter split air conditioners is equipped to function smoothly within a voltage range of 160V - 270V, without the aid of an external voltage stabiliser. This is of a huge advantage in locations with high voltage fluctuations. 8 of the 16 models of 5-star inverter split air conditioners will be equipped with a ‘smart’ Wi-Fi feature which enables the customer to operate the machine from any remote place within the Wi-Fi network.