Air-conditioning major Blue Star Ltd. is planning to establish a new plant for making deep freezers by FY27 as the present facilities in Wada and Ahmedabad are fast approaching the optimum level, a top official said.
“We can produce three lakh deep freezers in Wada and one lakh units in Ahmedabad. We will touch three lakh units in FY24 and 3.5 lakh units in FY25,” MD B. Thiagarajan told The Hindu.
“After that, it will be a close call. By FY27, we have to decide about a new plant. It can come up in the North with a capacity to produce five lakh deep freezers. Like the Sricity model, we will increase the production capacity in modules of 1.5 lakh units per year,” he said.
Though the company had surplus land in Sricity, it would be reserved for making room air-conditioners. North is preferred for the new unit due to logistics reasons, he said.
Stating the demand for deep freezers from modern retail stores was ‘small’ at this juncture, he said the ‘revolution’ will start in the next two-three years.
Apart from deep freezers, Blue Star plans to grow its commercial refrigeration business to leverage the rising opportunities in the country.
The company has developed a wide portfolio of cold-chain products and solutions for horticulture, floriculture, dairy, ice cream, processed foods, quick-service restaurants and pharma among others.
“The market for commercial refrigeration and cold-chain solutions is poised for huge growth in the coming years, and we aim to further consolidate our position by introducing a new and innovative range of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly products and solutions,” he said.
On Wednesday, he unveiled energy-efficient and eco-friendly deep freezers from 60 to 600 litre to cater to a wide set of customer segments for diverse applications.
