Havells to expand rural footprint, plans to add 2,000 new retailers in UP

Plans to invest in greenfield wires manufacturing plant in Assam

Domestic fast moving electrical goods (FMEG) major Havells is planning to expand its rural footprint in India, including Uttar Pradesh.

The company plans to add nearly 2,000 new retailers to its existing network of more than 15,000 retail points in UP, Havells India vice-president Shashank Shrivastav said in Lucknow.

“Besides, more than 150 dealers and distributors would be added to our network of about 1,100 in UP during the current financial year,” he informed.

He said the company had now strategically decided to shift focus from "India" to "Bharat", implying that the company had shifted attention towards the country’s hinterland and was exploring new markets with deeper retail and service presence. The moot idea was to cater to towns with a population of less than 30,000 people, Shrivastav added.

At the same time, Havells will add more than 20 Havells gallery, or brand stores, to its existing tally of over 500 in UP, apart from nearly 50 shop-in-shop formats across the state.

He was in Lucknow to launch a new range of Havells water purifiers in the price range of Rs 8,999 and Rs 23,499.

UP, which ranks among the top markets for Havells, had accounted for Rs 1,150 crore in turnover during 2018-19 and reported a growth of 24 per cent. “We retain the double digit growth outlook for the company during the current financial year as well,” he informed.

Havells operates 12 manufacturing units in India, including those in Haridwar, Baddi, Noida, Sahibabad, Faridabad, Alwar and Neemrana. Its product range comprises industrial and domestic circuit protection switchgear, cables, wires, motors, fans, power capacitors, luminaries for domestic, commercial and industrial applications, modular switches, water heaters and domestic appliances. Nearly, 93 per cent of the products are manufactured by Havells at its captive plants.

The Noida plant manufactures industrial switchgears and capacitors. The company has also invested Rs 500 crore in a greenfield air conditioner manufacturing plant in Rajasthan. Besides, the company has proposed to develop another greenfield plant in Assam to manufacture wires.

“We have identified the need to increase the manufacturing capacity of fans,” he said adding the company would continue to invest as and when needed for capacity expansion in future.