Haier India plans expansion

Haier Appliances (India), the Indian subsidiary of Chinese electronic home appliances major Haier Group, will invest close to Rs 50 crore in expanding its refrigerator and washing machine manufacturing capacity at its Ranjangaon plant in Pune.

“The idea is to double our installed manufacturing capacity of refrigerators to 3 million and triple the washing machine production from the present 100,000 by the 2013 calendar,” Eric Braganza, president of Haier India, told Business Standard.

Since its foray into India in 2005, Haier had so far invested close to Rs 500 crore in the domestic market, including in the 55-acre Ranjangaon plant. At present, refrigerators and washing machines contribute a third each to Haier’s sales in India, with LEDs and LCDs, air-conditioners, dish washers, microwave ovens among others accounting for the rest.

Triggered by the sales of its refrigerators and washing machines, Braganza said, Haier overtook its last year’s revenues of Rs 850 crore from the domestic market in the first eight months of the present calendar. “Owing to the peak demand period of the ensuing festive season, we expect to clock revenues of over Rs 1,200 crore by the end of 2011,” he said.

Replying to a query on the company’s earlier plans of entering into the laptop segment, Braganza said their laptop range was present available in select cities in India. “Laptops is a market which needs a lot of attention. We will take a call on laying thrust on this category only after 2012,” he said, adding that the company was not interested in entering the Indian mobile phone market right now as it was too “over crowded”.

Haier opened its sixth exclusive experience centre in Andhra Pradesh and its second in Hyderabad on Monday. The 650 sq ft centre, run by Haier’s city-based franchisee, Shah Electronics and Home Appliances, is designed to provide all product categories under on roof. “Given our expanded franchisee network in Andhra Pradesh, we expect the state to contribute 6 per cent to our overall sales this year,” Braganza said.