Eveready to roll out two new lighting products

Kolkata-based Eveready Industries Limited, the market leader in the dry cell battery market in India, plans to roll out the new range of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) up to 85 W and incandescent bulbs within a month.

Addressing media persons, Ravi Grover, executive vice-president (sales and marketing), Eveready Industries said, “Eveready has already launched CFLs in the range of 5-25 W and the company is now aiming to expand its range up to 85 W to tap the CFL market in the country which is estimated at about Rs 1,000 crore”.

Stating that the market is growing at the rate of 25-30 per cent per annum, he said, “We are also planning to launch incandescent bulbs and the two new products will mainly cater to the rural consumers in the country.”

Grover pointed out that Eveready’s late entry into the CFL segment would not be a deterrent to its growth as the company mainly aims to tap the rural market through its CFL products. More than 60 per cent of Eveready’s products are consumed in rural areas of the country.

Asked on the company’s turnover projection, he said, in 2007-08, Eveready clocked a turnover of about Rs 800 crore and it is targeting a turnover of around Rs 900 crore by the end of 2008-09. The eastern region with a share of about 35 per cent is the biggest contributor to the company’s revenue.

The economic downturn has not dented sales of Eveready’s products and the company has lined up a budget of about Rs 20 crore for 2009-10 which is to be spent on aggressive advertisement of its products.

Eveready today launched three products in the city- Eveready CFLs, Eveready HomeLite, a battery operated LED (light emitting diode) based lamp for household consumption and Eveready Ultima, dry cell batteries useful for digital cameras.