Liebherr lines up Rs 500 crore to make refrigeration units

Germany-based Liebherr group is investing Rs 500 crore in India to set up a production plant in Aurangabad to produce high-end refrigeration appliances.

The company expects the plant to start production from 2018 and is aiming to roll out 5 lakh units tailored to suit Indian markets.

Besides, the Liebherr group on Friday launched its first experience centre in Mumbai to give a first-hand experience of its premium refrigerators.

"We are investing Rs 500 crore here and our first phase of production is designed to have a production of 5 lakh units. This is going to happen in next five years," Liebherr Appliances Business Development head, Roman Schafer told PTI.

Liebherr, one of the largest and leading construction machine manufacturers, also known for refrigeration and cooling appliances, has a distribution pact with Hafele in India. Its range of refrigerator starts from Rs 1.8 lakh and goes up to Rs 5.5 lakh.

On sourcing, he said, "Everything would be locally produced. We have a local sourcing strategy and only those components would be imported which are not available here."

According to Liebherr Group International Head of Marketing Guenther Sproll, industry research suggests that the market for such products in India is slated to grow at 11.4 per cent by 2025.

"This, coupled with higher disposable incomes and changing consumer preferences, makes India an extremely relevant market for us," said Sproll.

The company is also planning to have more experience centres in all leading metro markets. "We would probably have experience centres in Delhi and Bengaluru in the next one year," Schafer added.

On being asked whether Liebherr is considering export from its Aurangabad unit, Schafer said, "The production capacity would be for the local demand. But slowly and gradually, we would also look into opportunity to export some products to nearby countries."

However, he added that it will be in the second phase of development.