Electrolux rolls out battery-run fridge

In a bid to tap the rural markets for its refrigerators, Electrolux Kelvinator limited (EKL) today announced the launch of a new model which could run without electricity for nearly 12 hours.

The model, named Bijlee, is a direct cool refrigerator designed with a built-in power pack that facilitiates its running on an externally connected battery during power cuts.

"We felt that power shortage was a big deterrent to refrigerator sales in rural areas. Bijlee is an attempt to address this problem," said Rajeev Karwal, CEO, EKL.

The product, according to Karwal, was developed at the company's local R&D facility in Shahjahanpur. EKL claims that in case of power failure or voltage fluctuation, the power automatically changes over to the battery mode, which saves and enhances the compressor life.

The model is priced at Rs 10,990 and would initially be available only in the northern and eastern region. "Since it is a newly developed product, there are a few production constraints. In the next few months we will roll out the product to other parts," said Karwal.