NEW DELHI: The
Tata group is set to take on the Korean might in the
consumer durables space. With a foreign partner and Rs 1,000 crore planned investments, Tatas-owned AC major
Voltas will produce and sell refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens and dishwashers in direct competition with
Samsung and
LG.
For Voltas, it is a return to a category it had bid adieu in the late nineties following sluggish business and stiff competition. The company, which dominates the AC market and recorded revenues of around Rs 6,300 crore in 2017-18, has partnered global home appliances maker Arcelik, which is a part of Turkish conglomerate Koc group) for the technology.
The two groups will hold 50% stake each in the venture and the products – to be branded as Voltas Beko -- will be made in a plant that is coming up at Sanand in Gujarat. Till then, the products will be imported from China, Turkey and Thailand. Beko is one of the brands of Arcelik.
“The competition in the consumer durables space is pretty stiff, but we are confident on our prospects due to our healthy access to the channel partners and a fairly-strong branding for Voltas,” Pradeep Bakshi, MD of the company told TOI.
Products from the company are expected to be priced near to LG and Samsung, and Bakshi said that the effort will be provide “value-for-money and affordable” products in the market.
The company may also look at TV panels in the future, though there are no immediate plans at this moment.
LG and Samsung dominate most of the categories in the consumer durables space, though Indian companies are gradually looking to challenge their hold. Havells group (comprising Lloyd), spearheaded by Anil Rai Gupta, is challenging the foreign companies in some of the categories while others such as mobile phone maker Intex are also launching consumer durables products.
Industry analysts said that the space comprising AC, refrigerators, washing machines and kitchen products is pegged at around Rs 75,000 crore annually.
(Representative image)
