Godrej Appliances to quadruple AC manufacturing capacity by next year

Lines up Rs 700 crore investment for capacity expansion

Consumer durables major Godrej Appliances is bullish on the domestic air conditioning market and has planned to quadruple its production capacity by next year.

Compared to its installed annual production capacity of 200,000 AC units last year, the company is looking to double and quadruple the capacity to 400,000 units and 800,000 units per annum in 2020 and 2021 respectively, Godrej Appliances (product planning) head Arif Kooliyat told Business Standard here.

He informed the company had already lined up investment of Rs 700 crore for capacity expansion across various product segments, including AC, washing machines, freezers etc at its Shirwal (Maharashtra) and Mohali (Punjab) facilities.

The company, which currently has about 4 per cent market share in the AC market, is looking to double the pie in near future, he noted.

The domestic AC market was pegged at nearly 6.5 million units last year and has been growing consistently over the last few years. The market is expected to keep the growth momentum going in the next summer season as well, he informed.

Meanwhile, the company has launched its new range of energy efficient air coolers equipped with AC inverter technology for the first time in the Indian market.

“With the new line up of ‘greenest’ air coolers, the brand forays into the desert cooler category which is estimated to form about 60-65 per cent of total cooler industry,” he added.

The air cooler has been launched in 17 models of various sizes and cooling capacities ranging in introductory price from Rs 12,300 to Rs 19,900, coupled with warranty, Kooliyat said. The domestic air cooler market is expected to grow at CAGR of 20 per cent by 2022.