Voltas AC sales up by 30 pc in 2006-07

New Delhi, Apr 15: Voltas Ltd reported a growth of 30 per cent in sales of its room air conditioner business at 2,60,000 units in 2006-07 as against 2,00,000 units in 2005-06.

''Voltas targets to achieve a growth rate of over 30 per cent in 2007-08, much in excess of the expected market growth rate,'' Voltas Chief Operating Officer (Unitary Products Business Group) Sanjay Johri said.

With a target to achieve a 20 per cent market share, the company has also put in place an aggressive distribution strategy to increase the number of channel partners from the current 3,000 to about 4,000 next year.

Voltas launched 17 new models during the year from a range of star rated air conditioners from high-rated five-star to basic one-star ACs.

The higher rated models would be priced a bit higher, but would recover the higher initial cost for the consumer through savings in electricity cost within the year, he said.

''These products would not only conform to the energy efficiency requirements of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) but also benefit the user in terms of energy saving as compared to an unlabelled product,'' it stated.

The BEE, under the Ministry of Power, has made it mandatory for all companies to have a rating system for all their electronic products from June this year.

UNI