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Air-conditioning company Blue Star Ltd is considering setting up a Rs 150-crore air conditioner manufacturing facility in the South.
It has seven plants now— two each in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and one in Dadra and Nagar Haveli — for various products such as deep freezers, chillers, central air-conditioning equipment, and room air-conditioners.
As the company expects its room air-conditioner manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh to reach its full capacity (of four lakh units a year) by 2015, it is planning a new plant. A decision is likely by August next year. “In all probability, we may set up our new facility in the South,” said B. Thiagarajan, Executive Director and President. He also hinted that Tamil Nadu may be the location because of port facilities and skilled human resource.
South accounts for over 40 per cent of the company’s total sales of room air-conditioners. Besides, it imports some components through the Chennai port and transports them to Himachal Pradesh. “Hence, setting up a facility in the South would make sense as it would mean 7-8 per cent cost-saving in terms of logistics,” he said.
Market share The Rs 2,700-crore company commands 8 per cent share of the over 3.5-million-unit room air-conditioner market, and has been growing more than 15 per cent year on year.
Blue Star also plans to enhance investments on new product development and research and design initiatives. “We have been investing around Rs 25 crore every year from 2010 on these initiatives. This year, we invested in facility upgrade to phase out the use of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerant.”
Thiagarajan was in town to launch a new range of energy-efficient air-conditioners, comprising around 60 models. He said the company will aggressively promote its inverters in the coming season.
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