Rising pollution pushes up air purifier sales in Delhi-NCR

NEW DELHI: As the air quality of Delhi NCR and the surrounding area is touching at alarming levels in November, ritually sales of air purifiers are also going up and some of the makers are expecting double-digit growth this season.

Air purifier, which has a sub Rs 500-crore market size, is sold mostly in metros. Its demand steps up in November and December only, when the Air Quality Index (AQI) touches alarming levels.

The business of air purifier came to the spotlight around eight years ago when the AQI level of Delhi NCR and the adjoining area started hitting alarming levels in November and December. After that several companies jumped into the segment.

''We have seen that in the past four years, there has been a sudden surge in air purifier demand during the smog situation in Delhi. The onset of winter only further deteriorates the air quality and acts as a catalyst to push the sales for air purifiers,'' KENT RO Systems CMD Dr Mahesh Gupta told PTI.

LG India VP Home Appliances & Air conditioners Deepak Bansal said the current situation is boosting air purifier sales as consumers are looking for solutions to fight pollution.

''We are witnessing double-digit growth in air purifier sales, especially in the Delhi NCR region,'' he said.

According to the latest data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a thick layer of smog continued to cover Delhi on Saturday as the overall AQI remained in the ''severe'' category at 408. AQI between 401 and 500 is considered to be 'Hazardous'.

Electrolux India, the company which has re-entered the Indian market earlier this year, anticipates the category to have a long-term adoption and will see not only seasonal demand.

''With the onset of the winter season, especially across the northern regions, we expect a significant uptake in demand for air purifiers,'' said Electrolux India Commercial Director Sudhir Patil.

Muzaffar Izamuddin, Design Manager, Environmental Care at Dyson, said: ''Every year during this season, we tend to witness a rise in AQI levels, and this year is no different.'' According to him, there are a number of ways to help improve your personal air quality exposure such as adapting your daily routine to include fewer polluting activities, as well as using a purifier to control your indoor air quality.

Kent RO Systems has witnessed a ''steep hike'' in demand for air purifiers in the last 15 days as people were expecting this situation and an air-purifier is the only medium to provide some respite in this polluted air.

''We are expecting demand to further increase in coming days due to continuous air quality deterioration, growing knowledge of air purifiers, coupled with rising health consciousness among consumers,'' said KENT RO Systems CMD Dr Mahesh Gupta.

Earlier sales of air purifiers were limited in Delhi NCR. However, this year these have seen a surge in demand from other cities also.

''Air purifier segment is not just restricted to the Delhi-NCR region, but there is a demand from neighbouring states and cities, including Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar, Amritsar, Lucknow, Kanpur etc,'' he added.

However, there are also concerns over the quality of the air purifier sold in market place both offline and online through e-commerce channels.

Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan suggested the government should come up with air filtration standards for the air purifiers.

The move will help gullible customers to select the right product. Presently air purifiers are sold in the price range between Rs 2,000 and Rs 98,999 on online and offline channels with Hepa filters to UV filters.

When asked about the market size, the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) President Eric Braganza said, air purifier is a very small segment and most of the suppliers are importing their products from China and surrounding countries.

''Air purifier sales have a very small window for sales, which is basically during this season when there is an increase in the pollution levels,'' Braganza said.

Moreover, most of the large brands do not sell in this category, he added.

Recently, some companies such as Panasonic have exited from the category. Now Panasonic has integrated the features of air purifiers in its range of smart air conditioners.

Now, leading AC makers such as Blue Star, Voltas etc have integrated air purifier as a built-in feature in some of their top models of room air conditioners.