Haier India eyes Rs 30 crore turnover in Guj

To market products through 70 dealers and 250 counters

Haier India, a unit of the $9.7 billion Chinese white goods major Haier Group, aims to garner at least ten per cent of its turnover this year from its Gujarat operations.

While the company targets a turnover of Rs 300 crore from Indian operations by the end of the first year (its products were launched in India in January), it expects a turnover of at least Rs 30 crore from sales in Gujarat.

"The entire range of Haier products will be sold in Gujarat through a network of about 70 dealers and at least 250 outlets. We expect Gujarat to contribute at least ten per cent of our sales throughout the country. Gujarat obviously will be one of Haier's key markets in India," said T K Banerjee, chairman and managing director of Haier India.

Banerjee was in Ahmedabad to launch the company's range of products in the western region.

Gujarat was chosen ahead of Mumbai and Maharashtra for launching Haier products because a lot of Gujaratis have settled in the US and European countries, where Haier is already a trusted brand, Banerjee said.

Banerjee said, "The consumers here will readily accept a product if it is of the best quality and price will not be a factor. The main aim of Haier is to create brand value for itself," said Banerjee.

Banerjee said the company will aim entering the interior areas as well. Haier will also enter the semi-urban and rural areas of Gujarat and the country as a whole.

He said the sale of products in Gujarat will be through a mix of dealers and distributors. Gujarat could emerge as a key market for the company in India as Gujarat and Maharashtra have been proactively taking up the issue of Haier setting up manufacturing units in their states.

The company plans to set up a research and development facility, along with two manufacturing facilities, in India over the next four years with an investment of $200 million.

"Although it is not necessary that all the three units are in the same state, Gujarat and Maharashtra are ahead of others in talks with Haier," he said.

The Haier group, set up in 1984 in Quingdao of China, manufactures a wide range of home appliances and consumer electronics products, spread over 13 countries including the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Haier India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Chinese major and the range of appliances and consumer electronics comprises 17 models of refrigerators, 14 models of colour televisions, 15 models of washing machines, eight models of air-conditioners, four models of microwave ovens, two models of dish washers and three models of DVDs.