The MET department expects this summer season to be warmer than usual over most regions in India. CNBC-TV18 spoke to B Thiagarajan, MD of Blue Star, and Kanwaljeet Jawa, MD & CEO of Daikin India to take stock of the likely demand for cooling products amid the hotter-than-expected summer.

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Blue Star witnessed around 17 percent growth over last year and Thiagarajan expects a 25 percent growth in Q4.

"Going forward the dealers have stocked up well. From our side the priority is to pump in more material in Tier - III, IV, and V towns which are less affected by COVID restrictions,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Jawa pointed out, “after having a disaster in the first quarter and in the second quarter the third quarter onwards I think the sales started moving up. This quarter has been very good for the industry, also I see this in urban and in the rural. I see demand coming up from the rural as well as urban.”

Thiagarajan further added that it will not be possible to absorb the rise in commodity prices. Blue Star had increased the prices anywhere between 5-8 percent from January 1st, from April 1st again we are rising between 3-5 percent.

On margins, he said, “Margin for FY21 should be in the order of around 7 percent, I think it will be in the order of around 8 percent in FY22.”

Meanwhile, Jawa spoke on the revenue from AC industry. “AC industry can drive one lakh crore revenue-generating industry by next 5-7 years," he stated.

"Primarily, we have indicated huge employment opportunities for Indians with domestic penetration as low as 6-7 percent, there is a potential to locally manufacture and consume 24 million units by 2029. So most of the multinationals are looking at that,” he further noted

For full interview, watch accompanying video...

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)

First Published:Mar 30, 2021 12:55 PM IST