Panasonic Japanese electronics giant plans to open refrigerator plant in India

India: Panasonic plans to make refrigerator in India in order to tap the huge market of the country where it is a marginal player currently. The India unit of Panasonic is planning to invest Rs 250 crores in setting up the manufacturing plant for making refrigerators and also planning to set up another unit to make mobile phones. The initiative is triggered by the huge market potential of refrigerators in India where Panasonic has failed to make headway in the past five years. Currently the company is importing refrigerators from Thailand and the import is not working for them. Once the manufacturing unit will set up, the company will be increasing the sales volume by producing the refrigerator locally.

The refrigerator market is considered as the biggest market with huge potential in the consumer durables category. Panasonic is evaluating several locations in Maharashtra and Jhajjar in Haryana for setting up the refrigeration plant and the plans are to make it functional in coming two years. Presently, Panasonic manufactures kitchen appliances, air-conditioners, welding systems and televisions in the country. The company officials said the current television market is around 10 million units annually and the refrigerators market is more than 11 million.

According to TechSci Research, the refrigerator market alone has huge potential in India and it is moving towards the multi-door and frost-free models. The overall refrigerator market grew at a CAGR of more than 20% during the last 4 years and Panasonic, in order to tap into the growth prospects of refrigerators segment, is taking the initiative for setting up the manufacturing unit. In order to compete with the market players like Samsung, Godrej and LG, Panasonic should focus on the features like cooling, more storage and competitive price range. Earlier the penetration rate was high in the urban areas but changing lifestyle and increased disposable income, Panasonic has a huge demand potential of refrigerators from semi- urban areas as well.