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Potential seen: Products lined up at a store in Mumbai

Bindu D. Menon

New Delhi, Jan. 1 It is now the turn of consumer durables majors to take a cue from global automobile companies.

Several multinationals with operations here are firming up their plans to make India a manufacturing hub for their global operations.

Backed by big-ticket investments, the companies are increasingly getting attracted to the advantages the country offers in terms of availability of skilled manpower and significant cost-reduction in logistics and inputs.

While Samsung India’s $30-million facility in Sriperumbudur near Chennai is being readied for substantial exports, LG India has been making steady investments at its Noida and Pune facilities to harness its export potential. Haier and TCL are also drafting blueprints for exports from India.

“We plan to develop our vendor base in Chennai so that we can continuously enhance our competitiveness. For the future, the company is looking at the Sriperumbudur facility becoming a manufacturing hub for Samsung’s global operations,” said Mr R. Zutshi, Deputy Managing Director, Samsung India.

Samsung also has R&D operations at its Noida complex — both for hardware (product customisation) and software development.

“Currently, we are exporting completely built units (CBU) to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal,” he said.

Noting that the “idea to make India an export hub has always been on the cards”, Mr M.A. Dhandapani, member of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association, said, “The consumer durables industry is steadily pumping investments into R&D and capacity enhancement. The backward linkages will help the MNC giants cater to a larger consumer pool.”

“Export is a natural progression for us since all our products meet international quality standards. The company’s focus is to supply competitively to global markets. Our exports alone touch Rs 1,000 crore annually,” said Mr V. Ramachandran, Director (Sales and Marketing) of LG India, identifying Europe, West Asia and Asia as promising markets.

According to Mr Pranay Dhabhai, Chief Operating Officer, Haier India, the company recently acquired its first manufacturing facility in Ranjangoan near Pune from Anchor Daewoo Industries Ltd. It has the capability to manufacture refrigerators, colour televisions and washing machines.

“Haier is upgrading the new facility with modern equipment to create an R&D facility for refrigerators. The facility would enhance the overall capacity of Haier and would enable it to increase its customer reach in India as well as in the global market, including West Asia and Africa,” said Mr Dhabhai.

Stating that one of the major reasons for acquiring the facility was the availability of inputs such as steel and fuel, he felt that India also proved to be of logistic advantage. “The freight cost is almost 30 per cent less if one were to export from India rather than China,” he said.

Chinese durables major TCL too plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India, both for domestic and global operations.

“We are seeking regulatory approvals to set up a manufacturing unit somewhere in northern India,” Mr Sudhanshu Bhandari, Marketing Head of TCL, said.

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