TCL India plans to invest Rs 50 crore

Shortlists Andhra, Maharashtra & Noida for manufacturing unit

TCL India Holdings Private Limited, the fully owned subsidiary of the $4.5-billion TCL Corporation China, plans to invest Rs 50 crore in an electronics and home appliances manufacturing facility in India, in the next six to seven months.

Addressing a press conference to announce the launch of TCL electronics and home appliances products in the Andhra Pradesh market, Adhikarla Gopal Krishna, senior general manager (sales and marketing) of TCL India Holdings Private Limited, said: "The company is at present working on finalising the blue print for the manufacturing facility and has identified three possible locations where the facility could come up."

According to him, the likely places were in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra or Noida. "We would be initially investing around Rs 50 crore in the facility which would manufacture the entire range of electronics and home appliances products that the company offers," Krishna said.

He said that the company expects to start the production in the new facility from June 2005. "We are looking at being among the top five companies that offers electronics and home appliances in the next three years and break into the top three in the next five years,"Krishna said.

During the first phase of the launch, the company is entering the market with the entire range of colour televisions and window, and split air conditioners.

"We expect to be present in all the markets across the country before Diwali, and during the second phase in October we would be launching IT products, VCD and DVD players, and washing machines which would complete the range that the company offers," he said.

Krishna said that the company at present is looking at having around 150 direct dealers in the state.

"After October, we would be opening company-owned exclusive showrooms which would showcase the entire range of products," he said. The company plans to open around 100 stores across the country, out of which six stores would be coming up in the state.

"In the fist stage, we would be opening two stores in Hyderabad and one each at Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. And in the second round of retail expansion, one store each would come up in Tirupathi and Nellore," Krishna said.