Home appliances makers hope for revival in microwaves' demand

Home appliances manufacturers such as Panasonic, Whirlpool of India and Godrej are hoping that the microwave segment will see an uptick after two years of demand slowdown with the government waiving import duty on a key component.
Although the removal of customs duty on magnetron of capacity 1 KW to 1.5 KW from 10 per cent earlier will benefit mostly microwaves of industrial applications, Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) says the step will give a fillip to domestic manufacturing.
"The exemption of basic customs duty from 10 per cent to nil on Magnetron (of capacity 1 KW to 1.5 KW), which is used to manufacture microwave ovens, shall positively impact microwave oven manufacturing in the country," Panasonic India & South Asia Managing Director Manish Sharma told PTI.

The government impetus on 'Make in India' by providing tax and duty benefits will boost the manufacturing sector for a longer period of time for strengthening the manufacturing capabilities, said Sharma, who is also President of CEAMA.
Expressing similar views, Whirlpool of India VP Marketing Kapil Agarwal said: "This is a welcome move given the fact that the MWO industry has been declining in the past two years. This will enable not only growth as the products become more accessible but also spur India manufacturing."
Offering a different perspective, Godrej Appliances Business Head and EVP Kamal Nandi said the proposal announced in the Budget 2016-17 will be beneficial only for big microwaves used in industrial applications and not the ones for domestic purposes.

"They have dropped duty for magnetron of capacity 1 KW to 1.5 KW, which is for the higher end," he said, adding in domestic microwaves the capacity of magnetron is less than 1KW and import duty on these zero per cent last year itself.