Japanese air conditioner maker Daikin is considering setting up a second manufacturing plant in India to double its production capacity.
The company’s existing annual production capacity is 10 lakh units of residential air conditioners.
“For expansion, Daikin has a budget of Rs. 330 crore. This does not include land cost of the new factory, whose location we have not yet decided,” Daikin Airconditioning India Managing Director K.J. Jawa told PTI .
Asked about the size of the new factory, he said: “We are looking to double our capacity here because Neemrana, Rajasthan plant is almost running at its peak”.
Daikin on Wednesday launched next generation VRV IV technology (Variable Refrigerant Volume) for commercial air conditioning in the Indian market and is expecting to clock a turnover of Rs. 2,500 in financial year 2014-15.
“We are expecting to at least cross Rs. 2,500 crore this financial year. We could have grown more but the first half was flat due to factors such as elections and high exchange rates,” Mr. Jawa said.
Daikin Airconditioning India had a turnover of Rs. 2,200 crore in FY 2013-14.
The company is expecting that new VRV IV technology would help it to consolidate its position in the commercial air conditioning segment.
“We think that new generation VRV technology would take our market share from its 53 per cent to 60 per cent in the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) segment in India,” Mr. Jawa said.
According to him, Daikin is now moving from “prominence to dominance” in India by launching new technology.
The company is looking for export orders but the Indian market would remain its first priority.
“We have already explored some markets and would explore more. We have sent some orders to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. We are going to further strengthen these areas,” he said.
He further added that the company was “very aggressive” in the tier II and III cities and increasing its network of dealers and Daikin Plazas.
“In 2010, we had less than 300 dealers and now we have over 2,200. By the end of this fiscal, it would be around 2,650. We have now 11 branches. Strengthening it further we are opening more and more Daikin Solution Plazas and would take it to 200 from 100 before March next year,” he said.
