'Chinese cost push to boost Indian fan industry'

The Indian fan industry has started tasting the benefits of cost push of Chinese fans which squeezed the competitiveness gap to 15-20 per cent against 35 per cent in the past.
"The Chinese are facing rise in costs due to their currency hardening. Earlier, cost difference of Indian fans with the Chinese was 35 per cent, but now it had reduced to 15-20 per cent," Indian Fan Manufacturers Association chairman Shekhar Bajaj said today at the AGM here today.
He said with 10 per cent import duty and other logistics, the import cost from China has already reduced to about 20 per cent from 60 per cent in the table fans segment and that the industry was expecting further reduction in imports.

The Chinese onslaught on the organised fan makers of India was in the table fans segment, which comprise about 20 per cent of the 40 million fan market of the country, the association said.
Bajaj said the Indian fan industry was optimistic of better domestic sales growth during the current fiscal against the 2.47 per cent jump in 2013-14.
Moreover, exports had also shown sharp jump of 23 per cent in volume in the first four months of FY'15 against just 6.33 per cent expansion in 2013-14.
Indian fan makers said lack of MFN status with Pakistan had cost USD 17 million worth of fan export opportunity to the neighbouring country.

"Despite a Pakistani fan makers' delegation visiting India, it is not viable to export directly to Pakistan unless the MFN status or via the Dubai route," Bajaj added.