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With the Bureau of Energy Efficiency tightening norms from January 1, 2023, refrigerators will get costlier by 2-5 per cent. At the same time, ceiling fans for the first time will come under the ambit of the mandatory star labelling regulations in the country.
Fumiyasu Fujimori, MD, Panasonic Marketing India, Panasonic Life Solutions Pvt Ltd said, “With the revised BEE norms coming into effect, we expect the pricing of refrigerators to increase by up to 5 per cent. We are keeping a close eye on the development and will try to absorb maximum costs. Entry-level buyers will face some challenge.”
As per the revised BEE norms for direct cool and frost-free refrigerators, an existing 3-star labelled refrigerator product, for instance, will become a 2-star rated product.
Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances said, “The revised energy efficiency norms for refrigerators will roughly lead to about a 2 per cent price hike. The 5-star and 4-star air-conditioners have been witnessing good traction in recent times. However, in the refrigerator category, 5-star labelled products still remain a small segment. As consumers are more keen to upgrade to higher capacity refrigerators that offer better technology.”
Satish NS, President, Haier Appliances too said that the impact in terms of price hike will be in the range of 2-3 per cent.
Also, only star-rated ceiling fans will be manufactured and sold in the country from January 1. This will also mean an average 7-8 per cent price hike on ceiling fans. Industry players said that at the entry-level the price hikes could be a tad higher.
Rakesh Khanna, MD and CEO, Orient Electric Ltd said, “We are trying to contain the price hikes to 7-8 per cent levels. While consumers will pay a tad higher price, they will also be able to get higher value from energy-efficient fans.” He added that the industry is prepared for the transition to the mandatory star labelling norms and the industry will focus on raising consumer awareness about energy-efficient fans in the coming months.
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