The consumer durables industry is now going through a boom in India and things could only get better, Samsung Electronics Deputy Managing Director R Zutshi said on Tuesday.
“We are seeing double digit growth in refrigerators and washing machines for the first time and the industry is growing at a rate of 12-14 per cent,” Zutshi said during a conference inaugurating Samsung’s new factory in Chennai, which the company said it was planning to make its global hub for products.
The sale of refrigerators grew by 14.6 per cent, washing machines (20.5 per cent), flat CTVs (39.5 per cent), LCD TVs (300 per cent), ACs (64 per cent) and microwaves by 40 per cent between April and October, he said.
The new factory in Chennai was set up with an investment of $30 million in the first year and has started production in a record 9 months, Zutshi said.
HB Lee, President and CEO of Samsung South West Asia, said that Samsung was planning to make the Chennai factory a global hub for its products, adding Samsung’s R&D facility in India was among its best and there would be further expansion in the coming years.