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Our Bureau

Hyderabad , July 1

CITING buoyancy in the packaged corporate and retail air-conditioning segment, Blue Star Ltd expects more than 30 per cent growth fuelled by new economy customers — software, telecom and retail.

Blue Star, which recorded revenue of Rs 920 crore in 2004-05, expects to cross the Rs 1,200-crore mark this fiscal.

The Executive Director of Blue Star, Mr T.G.S. Babu, said the trend is towards adoption of packaged air-conditioners useful in both corporate and retail segments.

They are power efficient, though slightly costlier and bring in savings in long-term costs.

The summer months this year witnessed a growth of above 50 per cent over last year.

Blue Star expects this segment to grow faster this year particularly in IT centres such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and NCR region.

"Apart from focus on the corporate businesses, we have entered the home segment. Even though we do not have presence like that of say LG, the new plant coming up at Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh would be able help us expand this segment.

"This plant, coming up with a total investment of Rs 30 crore, would go in for production by October," he said.

Referring to the company's HiPer Plus range, Mr Babu said they are built more powerful and can handle temperatures of above 45 degrees. Significantly, a customer would buy 20 per cent lesser machines, as their efficiency is higher.

Sooner than expected, India could also witness the possibility of guidelines for A/Cs that stipulate certain conditions like in the Japan and US.

For instance, it is mandatory to carry SEER (Seasonally Adjusted Energy Efficiency Ratio) label in all A/Cs in the US, and soon, such stipulations could come in here.

This can be handled only through these energy efficiency machines, Mr Babu said.

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