Panasonic on Mega-Localization Drive
The Indian arm of Japanese consumer electronics major, Panasonic India, is betting big on 'Make in India' by ensuring that 90 to 100 per cent of each of its products sold in India is locally built. The aim is to "double its residential air-conditioning business" segment in the next three years, Manish Sharma, President & CEO, Panasonic India & SA said recently on the occasion of the launch of a new range of ACs. Sharma said he expected to see a sales growth of 35 percent from the first half of this year itself. Overall, the AC industry is expected to see a growth of 15-20 percent this summer.
“We are already exporting air conditioners and many other products from here. Now we are collaborating with component manufacturers, specifically for parts such as motors, compressors, and aluminum. You will see this happen in phases in three years’ time,” he said.
In India, Panasonic has a manufacturing factory at Jhajjar, Haryana (since 2012). This is the company’s second Greenfield facility after Chennai.
“I say with absolute responsibility that 'almost' 100 percent of the residential air conditioners that we sell in India will be manufactured at Jhajjar,” Sharma said. “For ACs, we are looking at Semi Knocked Down (SKD) units to cater to markets in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We export Completely Built-Up units (CBU) to countries in the Middle East,” Sharma added. On opting for the benefits offered under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing residential ACs, “work is still in progress”, said Sharma.
Panasonic India reportedly clocked a turnover of Rs 11,000 crore last year of which roughly half came from the consumer durables segment. Rest was divided between Panasonic Life Solutions and the company's B2B business. Panasonic India accounts for close to 2 per cent of the global firm’s revenue.
