Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Daikin Industries Ltd, Japan, will soon start manufacturing room-air-conditioners at its Neemrana plant in Rajasthan.
The Neemrana plant hitherto produces Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) units and chillers for its B2B segment.
The company has chalked out an investment plan of Rs 250 crore for the new line. “The new room air conditioners line will start commercial production from August-September,” said Mr Kanwal Jeet Jawa, Managing Director, Daikin Airconditioning India.
At present, the company imports room air conditioners from its facilities in Thailand and Japan. The proposed line will have an annual capacity of 5 lakh units.
Indicating a possible moderation in prices of room air conditioners, post production in India, the company said, “We want to make products in India with an Indian price tag to take on the mass segment.”
Currently Daikin room air conditioners are priced at 15-20 per cent premium to the market average.
“At present our priority is localisation and manufacturing energy efficient products. Slowdown will not affect our plans as we are preparing ourselves for 2015,” added Mr Jawa.
The company plans to increase its headcount from the current 1,038 to 2,500 by 2015, including another 500 employees at its Neemrana facility by the end of current fiscal.
Mr Jawa ruled out any further price hike for the rest of the calendar year. “We change our pricing policy only once, at the start of the calendar year in January. In January, we had hiked our prices by 7-12 per cent across product categories. Next change will come only in January 2013,” he said.
Daikin Airconditioning India closed the last fiscal with a turnover of Rs 1,220 crore and is looking at a growth of 40-50 per cent in the current fiscal year.