Daikin plans second plant in India

INDIA: Daikin is planning to build a second manufacturing plant in India as it bids to become the country’s leading air conditioning company.

The Japanese manufacturers subsidiary Daikin Airconditioning India Private Ltd is said to be evaluating various locations for a second facility which could potentially double its manufacturing capacity to 1 million units per year.

Daikin opened its current plan in Neemrana in Rajasthan in 2010, having entered the market in 2000. The 500,000 units currently produced at the 160,000m2 factory include around 22,000 VRV units and 1,000 chillers.

Around €50m has been budgeted for construction of the new facility. In addition to supplying the rapidly growing Indian market, it would also be used for export. Daikin India is already exporting to Sri Lanka and is planning to supply Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa and West Asia from the new facility.

The Indian subsidiary has grown rapidly over the past six years and currently boasts sales of €370m. Daikin’s share of the potentially huge Indian air conditioning market (estimates put the potential Indian market at 12 times that of the USA) is currently estimated to be around 11%.

Not content to play second fiddle to the current market leader, the Indian manufacturer Voltas, Daikin plans to claim the top position by more than doubling sales to €710m by 2020.