 "Air purifier sales surge after Diwali in NCR")
With smog surrounding the National Capital Region (NCR) for the past week, demand for air purifiers has surged. Sales at major manufacturers Blue Air, Sharp and Kent doubled between Monday and Thursday; the trend is expected to continue.
According to Girish Bapat, director, West and South Asia, Blue Air, sale of air purifiers rose 250 per cent in the week following Diwali, compared to the week before. “Till recently, there were hardly any enquiries. Post Diwali, the situation has changed dramatically. Most of our dealers in Delhi-NCR are running out of stock," he said.
Home appliances company Sharp India sells up to 1,500 air purifiers every month through the year but says it sold nearly 1,600 products in the four days after Diwali. Shuvendu Mazumdar, product head, said: “We are expecting to sell over 10,000 purifiers this month and have planned the inventory accordingly.”
According to a study conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, sale of air purifiers rose 50 per cent across the region in the four days after Diwali. “The national capital has been facing the problem of haze for quite some time. Pollution, allergens and firecrackers together have further caused significant deterioration in Delhi’s air quality,” said D.S. Rawat, secretary general, while releasing the findings. Assocham estimates the market for air purifiers at Rs 250 crore.
Syed Moonis Alvi, general manager at Panasonic India, says they expected a 400 per cent jump in the sales of air-purifiers after Diwali. Citing a Techsci Research report, he said: “The total market size for the air purifier segment in 2015-16 was 40,000 units. We will surely see 100,000 units sold by the end of 2016-17.”
Mahesh Gupta, chairman, Kent RO, has observed the same trend. Enquiries about such products have increased in recent days after nearly flat growth earlier, he says.
Usually, say experts, sales take place between November and March, when air quality deteriorates in the region. The market is expected to reach around Rs 1,500 crore in the next four years and a million units by 2021.
