Godrej & Boyce seeks global ally

Godrej Appliances, a division of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company is looking at an international strategic partner to boost its prospects in a new venture, commercial refrigeration.

The company is now eyeing the commercial refrigerator and the cold storage market, where it will look at investing Rs 70-100 crore in a facility. The unit will be functional by the end of this financial year.

"The demand for chest coolers, commercial refrigerators is going to increase with the opening of more and more large-format retail stores. We are in the process of making a underway into this segment," said George Menezes, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Godrej Appliances.

Godrej Appliances recorded a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore last fiscal and is expecting Rs 1,400 crore as turnover this year.

For its commercial refrigerator segment, the company expects the demands to come from sectors such as F&B, pharma and hospitality.

"Apart from these three main segments, we are also looking at industries with special needs such as blood banks. Cold storage equipments have a wide range of applications., " said Menezes. We are currently evaluating all the possibilities," said Menezes.

According to sources, Godrej Appliances is looking at a strategic partnership with an international company in this segment.

"We are still studying the segment. Depending upon the attractiveness we will look into a strategic partnership. It will be premature to comment at this point of time," said Menezes.

In India, the cold storage industry is fragmented and there are very few established players. The domestic cold storage market in India is estimated to be around Rs 1,200 - Rs 1,500 crore.