Blue Star warming up to solar ACs, to set up 2 plants

Air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Ltd is warming up to solar power air-conditioners, tying up with the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M), said a senior official here on Monday.

He also said that the company will be setting up new plants in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh and in Jammu at an outlay of around Rs.150 crore with a total production capacity of 0.5 million room air-conditioners per annum.

"We are tying up with IIT-M for development of products. We will look at development of solar power air-conditioners with IIT-M," B. Thiagarajan, executive director of the company, told reporters.

"We would like the development of solar power air-conditioner in a time frame of 18 months," he told IANS.

Thiagarajan said the company will be setting up new plants in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh and in Jammu.

"The total outlay will be around Rs.150 crore and the capacity of the two plants will be around 0.5 million units per day. The new plants will also make freezers and water coolers," Thiagarajan said.

He said a formal announcement on the investment will be made after the company's board meeting slated on January 29.

He said the central government may hike the excise duty on the room air-conditioners in the ensuing budget but the industry players may not be passing on the hike to the buyers.