Whirlpool plans pan-India presence for water purifiers

Consumer durables major, Whirlpool India, is looking at having a pan-India presence for its 'Purafresh' reverse osmosis (RO) water purifiers by the end of this financial year.

The company, a relatively new entrant in the Rs 1,000-crore water purifier segment in India, which is being dominated by Eureka, Kent and Ion Exchange with a combined market share of 60 per cent, currently offers these products in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Announcing the launch of the 'Purafresh' range of water purifiers in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, Tamal Kanti Saha, vice-president (sales), Whirlpool India, said the company was targeting to capture 25 per cent of the Rs 350-crore RO water purifiers market in 12 months from now.

"Given the high growth rate of 45 per cent in the RO segment, as against 12 per cent in the ultra violet (UV) segment, and backed by the 11,000-strong retail network that we have across the country, we are hopeful of achieving the target this year," he said, adding that the company may consider adopting other technologies such as UV, in due course.

The home appliances company, at present, sources the water purifiers from international suppliers in the European Union. It is open to manufacture these products in India in future, Saha said, declining to divulge more details.

The 12-year-old Indian subsidiary of the $19-billion Whirlpool Corporation, posted a turnover of Rs 1,650 crore for the year ended March 2007.

"We have been experiencing substantial growth in our topline since the last three years at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 per cent. We expect to grow 30 per cent during this fiscal," Saha said.