Bajaj Electricals to set up 2nd water heater plant

The investment is estimated at Rs 25 cr

Bajaj Electricals Limited (BEL), a consumer electrical equipment manufacturing company of the Rs 38,000-crore Bajaj Group, is putting up its second water heater plant at Nashik with an estimated investment of Rs 35 crore, said executive director PS Tandon.

“The proposed plant will have a capacity to churn out 350,000 units of water heaters per year in a single shift. We expect to have this functional by the end of December,” he told mediapersons here on Wednesday.

The company has finalised land near Mumbai to establish an R&D centre for small appliances, LED lightning, among others. “Broadly, the investment for the R&D centre should be anywhere between Rs 50 crore and Rs 60 crore. The centre will be up and running within a year-and-a-half,” he said, adding the company had forayed into the non-electrical segment with products like pressure cookers and gas stoves one-and-a-half years ago, and was expecting this business to generate revenues of Rs 80-100 crore this fiscal.

Bajaj Electricals has manufacturing facilities at Ranjangaon, Chakan (for fans), Uttar Pradesh (lamps and tubes), Nashik (compact florescent lamps) and Noida (water heaters). Tandon said the company had so far opened 68 exclusive  ‘Bajaj World’ outlets across the country.

On the revenues front, he said the company was expecting its turnover to cross the Rs 4,000-crore mark this fiscal, as against Rs 3,387.57 crore during FY13, and touch Rs 5,000 crore in the coming year. Of its total revenues, exports currently contribute to only 1%.

“We have created a special cell to focus on exports this year. We are already seeing strong growth and expect exports to account for 2% (or Rs 100 crore) of our revenues next year,” Tandon said.

Stating that the company had registered sales of Rs 123 crore in Andhra Pradesh up to December 2013 with a compound annual growth rate of six%, Tandon said with certain categories like microwave oven, compact fluorescent lamps and exhaust fans exceeding expectations, the company was expecting to close sales of Rs 180 crore by March 2014.

BEL’s scrip ended the trade at Rs 217 on the BSE on Wednesday, up 2.02%, over the previous close of Rs 212.70 a share.