Blue Star may see 35% growth in sales this fiscal, bets big of summer 2025

Driven by a stellar summer season in 2024, leading air conditioning and commercial refrigeration company Blue Star Ltd is expected to see over 35 per cent growth in sales this financial year, a senior company executive told Business Standard.

 

Despite having a higher base, the company is targeting 20-25 per cent growth in FY26 as well. “The year started off well with a great summer season, with around 57 per cent growth. Contrary to our expectations, it continued growing in Q2 and Q3 too. We will end this year closing at more than 35 per cent," said B Thiagarajan, managing director, Blue Star.

 

The company unveiled its new comprehensive range of 150 models of room air conditioners (ACs) on Tuesday, including a flagship premium range, for the upcoming summer season. The lineup features inverter, fixed-speed, and window ACs, catering to every consumer segment across all price points.

 

The demand for room ACs is seeing substantial growth, driven by intense summer heat across various parts of the country and rising disposable incomes in India's expanding middle class. Additionally, this growth is fuelled by increasing demand in Tier-III, Tier-IV, and Tier-V markets, as well as replacement buyers and those purchasing ACs for additional rooms in their homes. According to estimates, India's AC industry is projected to double by FY30.

 

To meet this growing demand, Blue Star has launched a range of products, leveraging its manufacturing, research and development (R&D), and innovation capabilities to introduce new, differentiated, and best-in-class ACs.

 

"Going forward, since we had a large base this year, we cannot expect a similar number next year. I think it will be anywhere between 20-25 per cent. Weather forecasts suggest it will be a hard summer," Thiagarajan added.

 

"Commercial segment growth is around 10-12 per cent. In the commercial AC segment, there has been a slowdown due to the elections and the resultant infrastructure sector slowdown," he said.

 

The company has launched a comprehensive range of models in the 3-star and 5-star categories, offering high cooling performance under extreme conditions. These models are available in various cooling capacities from 0.8 TR to 4 TR, with attractive prices starting at Rs 28,990.

 

This includes an elaborate range of nearly 40 models of smart Wi-Fi ACs, which feature unique and smart capabilities such as Customised Sleep, allowing users to preset the temperature, fan speed, cooling/fan mode, and switch the AC on/off every hour for 12 hours, ensuring uninterrupted sleep. With Voice Command Technology, customers can operate their ACs through smart devices such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home, using English or Hindi voice commands. Additionally, the Energy Management feature offers complete control over the AC’s energy consumption, enabling users to track, control, and limit AC usage, preventing excessive energy consumption.

 

The newly launched ACs come with various powerful features, including an innovative AI Pro+ function—a complex and intuitive algorithm that senses various parameters, adjusts, monitors, and delivers maximum comfort. Another standout feature is Defrost Clean Technology, a three-step process designed to keep the indoor unit of the AC clean and maintain optimal performance. It begins with frosting of the coil, followed by melting and drying, significantly enhancing performance and prolonging the AC’s lifespan. Additionally, all Blue Star inverter ACs are Smart Ready and can be upgraded to Smart ACs with the addition of a separate smart module.

 

Since the company’s foray into the residential AC segment in 2011, Blue Star has consistently grown in this segment, outperforming the industry year after year. The company aims to achieve a market share of 14.3 per cent by FY26 in the room AC segment.

 

Blue Star, through its fully owned subsidiary Blue Star Climatech, has established a cutting-edge manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, which began commercial production in January 2023. Additionally, the company operates two dedicated plants in Himachal Pradesh for manufacturing room air conditioners. With these plants, Blue Star's production capacity is currently around 1.4 million room ACs, with plans for gradual expansion to 1.8 million units in the near future.