Carrier to increase investments in India

New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) Carrier India will increase investments in the country, complimented with the 25-30 per cent growth in the 1.1 billion dollar air conditioning and refrigerating market in 2006.

''India is an interesting market for us because of the low cost of production and its closeness to the equator. We invested close to 1.5 million dollars last year at our Gurgaon plant and will make more investments in India going forward, once we are ready with the details,'' Carrier India Managing Director Zubin Irani said here.

Carrier India, a subsidiary of the 13.4-billion-dollar Carrier Corporation based in the US, will make investments on increasing its focus on energy efficient products and expanding its dealer network in India.

The company, maker of air conditioners (ACs) for both residential and commercial purposes, holds a 10 per cent market share in the residential AC market and 20 per cent in larger segments.

Carrier India is looking at a 25-30 per cent increase in its dealerships from the existing 345, Mr Irani said.

Carrier has a range of over 50 models in the household AC segment, which counts for about two per cent of the total air conditioning market.

Carrier India's Gurgaon plant rolls out two lakh units of residential and light commercial ACs. It produces about 100 units of chillers with a capacity of up to 3,000 tonnes.

The company operates in key segments such as IT and ITeS, retail, financial services, airports and hospitality. It has 600 retail outlets and 345 mono-brand dealers. ''We will continue to focus on the same segments this year,'' the company MD said.

UNI