With the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowing electric fan shops to operate in non-hotspot zones, fan manufacturers, their trade partners and retailers have begun seeking permissions from State government and local level authorities.

“With the onset of summer and predictions of scorching temperatures, fans have become an essential item for consumers, hence it is a step in the right direction,” said Rakesh Khanna, MD & CEO, Orient Electric. “Now, we are waiting for the States to give similar guidelines in alignment with the MHA guidelines. We and our trade partners are seeking the necessary permissions.”

“We will need to see how States begin issuing passes to retailers and also for the movement of vehicles for delivering stocks and we hope to get clarity on the same in the next 1-2 days. We will also focus on raising awareness among our trade partners on hygiene and social distancing protocols,” he added.

Fan manufacturers believe that with the onset of summer, pent-up demand from consumers looking to replace their faulty fans or buying new ones will translate into sales. However, the demand is likely to be only for basic fans, and not high-end ones. For now it seems only electrical shops selling fans have been given permission to open, but e-commerce companies are likely to seek permission to sell these, too, among essential goods.

“Since the lockdown began in March, we believe on an average small retailers may have had inventory stocks of fans for approximately 12-15 days in preparation for the summer season while larger retailers and distributors may have had inventory for about 30 days,” said Ravindra Singh Negi, President, Electrical Consumer Durables, Havells India Ltd. “The period of March-June contributes about 45 per cent to the tertiary sales at the consumer-end annually for the industry.”

Rohit Mathur, President, Electric Fans, Water Heaters and Pumps, Usha International, said companies will also be seeking local-level permissions to operate warehouses. Keeping in mind the red zones, the company said, once it gets requisite permissions, its back-end and supply chain will be able to replenish stocks.

Typically, electrical and hardware shops sell a range of electrical products such as fans, bulbs, wires and even air-coolers.

“A few shops sell fans exclusively. However, the majority sell a mixed range of electrical products. We are seeking local level clarifications on the government’s directives on the same. As of now only the Kerala government has allowed partial opening of fan-selling stores for a fixed number of hours and with limited staff,” Mathur added.

Atul Jain, Chairman of the Indian Fan Manufacturers’ Association, said it will be important for the industry to get local-level permissions to operate warehouses and godowns. He also said that to contain the spread of Covid-19, the association has suggested to authorities that the installation of electric and exhaust fans to maintain air-circulation be made part of the sanitation and hygiene protocols, especially in enclosed spaces

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