US based lighting control systems maker Lutron plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India in the next three years to strengthen its presence in the country.
The company, which currently operates in India through a liaison office, will also start a 100 per cent subsidiary in India by next year.
“We are looking at having a manufacturing facility by 2012. It will be more of an assembly plant. At present, we only have our sales and research team,” Lutron Country Manager (India) Manjul Trehan said.
He, however, did not share details of the size of the facility and where it is likely to come up. At present, outside the US, the company has a manufacturing facility only in Mexico.
Trehan said the company is also focused on expanding its reach in the country by increasing its distributor network in Tier II cities.
“At present, we are in the metros. But going forward, we are planning to enter 12 to 15 B-class cities in the next three years,” he said.
In the last 12 years of its presence in the country the company has executed around 55 projects in India. While, majority of its projects came from the hospitality sector, it has also been engaged in setting up light control systems for residences and high-end commercial complexes.
“We only work on project basis where we do the entire lighting control and use devices made by our company. However, the market for it in India is at a very nascent stage and we are focused on creating awareness about it,” Trehan said.
He said Lutron plans to bring in more global products in the country in future, besides looking at opening exclusive stores for retailing its products in the next three years.
“We have around 1,500 products globally, out of which only 800 are available in India. So we plan to introduce more in the near future,” he said.
The company said it is currently working on projects of Radisson Hotel and is in discussion with some developers for residential and commercial projects.
It is also working on a project worth Rs. One Crore for lighting installations for one of the stadia for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year.
Till date, the company has done lighting installations for hotels such as ITC, The Oberoi, Le Meridian in New Delhi and Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon, among others. It has also handled projects for the Prime Minister’s Office and the Delhi Metro’s Stations.
