Miele to invest Rs 100 cr, expand in tier 2 cities

This money will be invested in brand building, creating infrastructure, training, hiring and after sales services

German high-end domestic appliances maker Miele plans to invest Rs 100 crore this year in Indian to expand the business.

"By the end of this year we will invest around Rs 100 crore. This money would be invested in brand building, creating infrastructure, training, hiring and after sales services," Miele India MD Dhananjay Chaturvedi told PTI.

Miele's different products are catered to high-end consumers. Its washing machine range starts from Rs 1.79 lakh, coffee machines at Rs 2.79 lakh, micro ovens at Rs 1.19 lakh and dish washers at Rs 1.34 lakh.

The company, which forayed into the Indian market in 2011, plans to expand its network in tier 2 cities and increase its point of sales to 60 in the next two years from 40 at present.

It has presence in 10 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Chennai.

"In next four years, you will find Miele at places such as Indore, Nagpur, Raipur, Coimbatore, Vijayawada or Ranchi," Chaturvedi said, adding that the company would soon open a center at Jaipur.

On the growth strategy, he said: "We would keep on focusing on our kitchen appliances segment which would remain our main stay for our retail business."

He said that in the last five years a lot of European modular kitchen brands, mostly Italian and German have set up shop here and the company has partnered them to sell products.

The company is also expecting increase in institutional sales from hospitals, garment exporters, pharma companies from its dish washing, disinfection, sterilisation machines.

It also has partnered with the leading real estate players such as Supertech, 3C, M3M developing luxury apartments.

"We have almost accumulated business of Rs 550 crore in the project business, which we would deliver in next 2-3 years," Chaturvedi said.

To create brand awareness in India, the company is engaged in below-the-line activities and collaborative events with other luxury non-competitive brands such as Harley Davidson, BMW, Mini Cooper, Audi.

"We have also partnered with renowned names in the alcohol industry such as William Grant & Sons for Glenfiddich and Balvenie brands, and with Pernod Ricard for Chivas Regal and Glenlivet," he added.