'Danfoss to grow by 20-22% for next 3-5 years'

Denmark-based firm Danfoss India is expecting its refrigeration and air conditioning business segment to continue to grow two times faster than the market for next 3-5 years, a senior company executive has said.

"Our refrigeration and air conditioning segment has been growing annually at 20-22 per cent compared to the market growth of 10-12 per cent. We expect to continue to grow two times more from the market for next 3-5 years, mainly driven by increasing processing activities in the country and growing demand for online grocery stores," Danfoss India President Ravichandran Purshothaman told PTI here.

Danfoss provides technology and solutions for industrial and commercial refrigeration as well as air conditioning to cold chain companies, food processors, food parks, among others that can help preserve highly perishable food from minus 30 to over 20 degree Celsius temperature.

He further said there is need for 50,000 pack houses in the country, which will also create job opportunities for over two lakh people.

In India grading and and sorting is just two per cent compared to 35 per cent in China and 65 per cent in the US, Purshothaman noted.

"There is a need for setting up pack houses for grading and sorting in the country so that farmers get better realisation for their produce and their is less wastage of perishable food," he said.

Meanwhile, talking about the company's future plans, he said, Danfoss is opening in new locations across the country, strengthening presence especially in tier II and III cities.

The company is focusing in the northeast region, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Besides, Danfoss is also looking at opportunities in horticulture clusters, which will be the growth driver for the processing sector, Purshothaman added.

He also said, Danfoss is looking at natural refrigerants that will be less harmful to the environment.

"We are looking at replacing the chemical refrigerants that emit potent greenhouse gases, with natural refrigerants that do not deplete the ozone layer and less harmful to the atmosphere," he added.

Danfoss is also running pilots in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which the company will commercialise gradually.

"We have pilots running in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh we are running a pilot on milk and in Sri Lanka we are into milk and horticulture. After the pilots we will become commercial," Purshothaman said.