ABB to foray into electrical accessories

ABB India, a power and automation technology provider, has announced its entry into the electrical accessories market.

The $500-million firm will invest Rs 15 crore to set up a manufacturing unit at its existing facility on the outskirts of Bangalore for rolling out a range of electrical distribution products, including switches, regulators and sockets.

Having been a bulk supplier of power equipment to generating stations, transmission and distribution networks, ABB intends to complete the cycle from "pole to home" with its range of products, including distribution boards, residual current devices and miniature circuit breakers.

ABB wiring accessories such as luminous night indicators will enable users to identify switches in the dark.

"The new range of products will be based on ABB designs and made from high quality engineering plastics, suitable for residential and commercial applications.

These accessories signify the final interface device between energy and users as the last but most vital link in power usage.

"The products will be marketed first in the four southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala under the ABB brand through its existing and new channel partners, besides on the web," Ravi Uppal, managing director, ABB, said.

During the second half of this year, the company will launch its products in western and northern markets. Initially, the company will market special and modular premium range of products to diverse users such as housing, offices, hospitality, healthcare facilities and knowledge parks with competitive pricing.

"The Indian electrical accessories market size is currently at Rs 1600 crore per annum, with the organised and the unorganized sectors sharing it equally.

"We see a great potential to capture a sizeable share of the market with the market's annual growth rate being at 12-15 per cent. In the Rs 800 crore organised sector, the premium range along constitutes Rs 400 crore," Uppal said.

ABB claims to have nearly 10 per cent of the world's electrical accessories and wiring equipment market of $ 4.5 billion and 15 per cent of the European market of $2.3 billion.