Samsung plans home appliances facility

The proposed unit will come up at Sriperumbudur

Samsung India Electronics Private Limited, a subsidiary of Korean electronics major Samsung, is planning to set up a manufacturing unit for home appliances adjacent to its existing facility at Sriperumbudur, near here.

Speaking to reporters at the Sriperumbudur facility, Ruchika Batra, spokesperson, Samsung India Electronics, said the company had two facilities in India -- at Noida and Chennai. “As the Noida facility is saturated, the company has decided to carry out all future expansions at Sriperumbudur.” The Sriperumbudur produces LCD televisions, colour monitors, colour televisions and front loaded washing machines.

“Our next phase of investment would be for setting up a manufacturing facility for home appliances — refrigerators and air conditioners — at Sriperumbudur. Going forward, the facility will also start exporting home appliances,” she said.

Last year, its exports stood at Rs 530 crore and is expected to touch Rs 1,000 crore this year. “Majority of this was contributed by the Noida facility. We would like to make Sriperumbudur the hub for exports in future,” she added.

The company has 80 acres of land at Sriperumbudur. It expects to produce one million LCD televisions this year from this facility.

Batra said the company had committed an investment of $100 million between 2007 and 2012 in Sriperumbudur, of which it had already invested $30 million. The facility has 320 direct and 450 indirect employees.

It is targeting to close the current year with a turnover of $2 billion compared with $1.7 billion last year. Southern markets — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala — account for 33 per cent of the overall sales.

Touch screen mobile
On Thursday, the company launched its new touch screen mobile model — Samsung Corby — in Chennai.

According to Asim Warsi, general manager - marketing, Samsung India Electronics, said the touch screen mobile market was expected to double to 1.6 million units this year.

The company has a market share of 31 per cent in this category and expects this to increase with the launch of new offerings. So far, it has launched 11 touch screen models in India.