Voltas forays into rural market, boosts exports

Kolkata, Mar 22 (UNI) Voltas Limited, India's premier AC manufacturer, is setting up three more production units in Uttaranchal by this yearend at a total cost of Rs 120 crores to foray into rural Indian market and boost export performances.

Announcing Voltas' new marketing initiatives, Company Vice- President, Marketing, K J Jawa said in the wake of tremendous economic uplift of rural Indian people they had decided to introduce a unique home airconditioning product of a little less than one tonne capacity at a cost of Rs 9990 per unit for the common household.

Claiming that their market survey in this regard had proved very positive, Mr Jawa said following the introduction of the new product they were looking for achieving at least 20 per cent market share of Indian air-conditioning by next year from the present level of about 6 per cent market share.

Elaborating Voltas' plan to increase the number of its manufacturing bases, Mr Jawa said while the first of the three plants for manufacturing commercial refrigerators would be ready for commercial production by June this year, the second plant for the domestic air conditioners would start production by November, while the third plant for other industrial airconditioning systems would be onstream before the end of the current year.

The total production capacity of these three plants put together would be about 300,000 units per annum, he said adding a total amount of Rs 120 crores were being spent from the internal acruals of the Company, which was recently taken over by the Tata Group, for the setting up of the new plants.

About the export plans, the Voltas VP said till last year about 20 per cent of their total sales of about 300,000 units were meant for exports mainly to the Middle East and South East Asia.

With the addition of new capacity the export target would be enhanced to over 30 per cent from the next year itself, Mr Jawa informed but refused to convert them in value terms in tune with the company policy.

However, while broadbasing our export busket we have decied to make much more aggressive marketing in the whole of Middle East, SAARC countries and South East Asia in the coming months, he said.

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