The Hindu Business Line : Major electronic goods makers to meet Chidambaram

Panaji April 20 The chief executives of four leading electronic brands will meet the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, next week to discuss various issues related to domestic trade and exports of electronic consumer goods.

Mr Moon B. Shin, Managing Director, LG Electronics (India) Ltd, who was here in connection with the launch of company's latest product Time Machine TV, told Business Line that apart from him, representatives of Samsung, Sony and Whirlpool would also be meeting the Finance Minister.

"I have decided to impress upon the Minister the need to make Indian exports in electronics products most cost-competitive. This will mean working on tariffs and taxes to ensure a level-playing field for Indian exporters in comparison to other countries," he said.

Mr Moon described India as the only country who can take upon China in terms of exports and felt, therefore, it was imperative that the Government ensures that the exports are made cost-competitive by revising duties. He felt that in view of the SAFTA multilateral treaty ahead, this was most significant.

As for LG, it looks at India as one of its future export base in South-East Asia though presently Indian operations are around 6 per cent of its global operations. The company exported goods worth over $170 million to West Asia, Africa, Central American countries and several European countries last year and the figure is expected to touch $270 million this year, he said.

He admitted that low cost of manufacturing coupled with high skill availability makes it economically viable for company to look at India as an export destination.

Fall in CTV sales

In reply to a question, Mr Moon admitted that there has been a fall in sale of TVs after India's exit from cricket world cup, even as he said that the sale would be 20 per cent higher compared to the figures in April last year.

He, however, explained that LG sold over 2.7 lakh colour TVs during March and is expected to sell around 2.3 lakh sets in April.

He further said that LG has been growing constantly at the rate of 20 per cent.

He added that the turnover of the company was expected to be around Rs 9,500 crore for the current year.

Because of a general slowdown witnessed by the domestic electronics market in the last couple of years, LG has strategically decided to focus on premium products, said Mr Moon.

Mr Sanjiv Agarwal, Regional Head of LG for Maharahstra and Goa, said that in the premium segment in India, the market is no more price elastic, but the consumer looks for value for money and more products in terms of technology and utility.

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