Blue Star eyes 12% market share in Indian AC market by FY17-end

The company to increase its spend on R&D and brand building by upto Rs 30 cr

Blue Star, a leading airconditioning and commercial refrigeration company, is eyeing around 12 per cent market share in the Indian AC market by end of FY17 from the current 10.5 per cent.

After launching THE company's new range of star rated inverter ACs here today, B Thiagarajan, Executive Director & President - AC&R Products Business, Blue Star Limited said that the room AC segment is estimated to be around Rs 11,000 crore in the overall AC market, which is estimated to be around Rs 15,000 crore.

The Rs 3,080-crore company Blue Star forayed into the residential segment in 2011. The company grew by 20 per cent in the current financial year, which is faster than the industry growth (10%).

Thiagarajan claims that while the market is projected to grow by around 15 per cent, Blue Star expects to grow by around 25 per cent.

To achieve its market share the company plans to role out new products and said it would invest around Rs 30 crore on new product development as well as ramp up its research and design initiatives in FY17.

Blue Star's new line-up of room airconditioners consists of over 135 models.

As regards to distribution, in 2016, Blue Star's room air conditioners will be available in 3,800 outlets in 500 locations across the country, vide exclusive and multi-brand sales and service airconditioning dealers, retail showrooms and modern trade.

The company has also built up an installation and service franchise network to support the retailers, and plans to introduce a same-day installation facility in the National Capital Region.

Presently, the company has nearly 70 exclusive product stores in the country and plans to increase it to 100 stores by the end of FY17. The company targets to open the first Blue Star Platinum Store in New Delhi in 2016. These exclusive stores occupying around 2,000 sq ft with an impressive display of its entire product range will be operational across important locations such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Around 50 per cent of Blue Star's room air conditioner sales are from smaller towns since consumers in these markets are aspirational and prefer premium brands.

In terms of advertising and brand communication, the company has plans to invest about Rs 40 crore in the forthcoming summer season .