Inverter sales shoot up with mercury rising

Sanjay Jain, a Luminous inverter dealer in west Delhi’s Janakpuri now sells about 30 inverters a day — a five-fold rise in business compared to last year. Manoj Sharma reports.

Sanjay Jain, a Luminous inverter dealer in west Delhi’s Janakpuri now sells about 30 inverters a day — a five-fold rise in business compared to last year.

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“Sales of inverters are at an all-time high, thanks to the unprecedented 7-8 hour-long power cuts in the city,” said Jain, who runs Kamal Electrical Traders.

Ravish Kumar, a Laxmi Nagar-based trader who deals in both branded and unbranded power inverters and batteries, said his business is up by 40 per cent this year.

Inverter manufacturers and traders are making hay as Delhiites reel under soaring temperatures and long power cuts. Sales of inverters and batteries have gone by about 40 per cent in Delhi and NCR this summer, in contrast to 2008, when sales were very low because of persistent rains in May and June.

Large players in the segment like Su-Kam, Microtek and Luminous say Delhi is the biggest market for inverters in the country now, constituting about 20 per cent of total sales.

“There has been a 25 per cent jump in the sales this year compared to last year because of frequent power cuts and the rising temperature,” said Sridip Banarjee, senior marketing manager, Luminous.

Manoj Jain, sales manager, Microtek, said: “This year our sales in the Capital grew by 25-30 per cent.”

Though inverters with 600-800 VA capacity (priced at about Rs 13,000-15000, that can run four fans and a TV) are most in demand, high- capacity ones that can run an AC are also attracting buyers.

According to industry estimates, the market in Delhi and NCR, worth Rs 2,500 crore last year, will be worth Rs 3500 crore this year, with 60 per cent of the business in the unorganized sector.