Hitachi Home & Life Solutions, the air-conditioner maker, is planning to make India an export hub for its window and split AC units.
The Indian subsidiary of the Japanese company is also foraying into the refrigerator business by the end of this year.
Hitachi currently exports window and split units to Saarc countries and the Gulf. It is now exploring the option of exporting these to Brazil and Argentina.
The company has set a target of 20,000 units for the next financial year, up from 10,000 units this fiscal.
Of the latter, it has already achieved more than 50 per cent having seen a 200 per cent growth in the July-September quarter.
Exports currently account for 10 per cent of Hitachi's volumes in the country. The company is hoping to shore this up to about 18 per cent by next year.
In the domestic market, Hitachi has gone into an expansion mode by increasing the capacity of its Ahmedabad plant by 20 per cent this year and setting up of a unit in Jammu.
It is now toying with a new unit in Himachal Pradesh to enjoy tax benefits in the state and to also cater to the northern market more efficiently. The company has planned an investment of about Rs 27 crore (Rs 270 million) over the next two to three months.
"We plan to make India a strategic base for our air-conditioner business which will not be restricted merely to manufacturing. Room AC market in India currently stands at eight lakh units in contrast to the 70 lakhs (7 million) in China. We believe that this segment will witness a growth similar to that seen by China, from the mid-nineties till at present, over the next 7-10 years," said Amit Doshi, vice president (marketing and services) of Hitachi Home & Life Solutions.
Although company officials are refusing to comment at the moment, Hitachi will launch its refrigerator range in the country by the end of this financial year.
According to trade sources it will import high-end refrigerators from Japan and market them initially for a test-run here.
The company is eyeing a turnover of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) this fiscal and expects sales of close to 100,000 units.
