Blue Star to invest Rs 250 cr in next fiscal to raise AC manufacturing capacity

KOLKATA: Leading home appliances company Blue Star will invest Rs 250 crore in the next financial year to raise the manufacturing capacity of room air conditioners at its Sri City facility in Andhra Pradesh, an official said here on Thursday.

The company now has a production capacity of 10 lakh room air conditioners across its various manufacturing facilities, including the Sri City unit.

"Plans are there to raise the manufacturing capacity to 1.8 million units in the near future," Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan told reporters here.

"The present manufacturing capacity at Sri City will be added by three lakh units next fiscal, for which an amount of Rs 250 crore will be spent," he said.

The company intends to garner a market share of 15 per cent in the room AC segment, for which there is a need to have products at various price points, he said.

Presently, the market share of the company is 13.75 per cent, Thiagarajan said.

The AC maker will also expand its distribution network across the country.

Blue Star, which earned a revenue of Rs 8,000 crore in the last fiscal, aims at a turnover of Rs 9,500 crore at the end of the current financial year, he said.

"The market for room ACs is at its infection point and is poised to grow exponentially. The industry size is expected to more than double by 2030," he said.

The present market size of room ACs in the country is approximately 10 million units per annum.