The penetration level of cooling products in India is low and there is an opportunity to tap into rising demand due to higher disposable income and impact of climate change, according to Achal Bakeri of Symphony Ltd.
Lower penetration levels—including just 14% for air coolers, and 20% for all other products such as fans—offers room to expand sales, Bakeri, the founder, chairman and managing director of Symphony, told BQ Prime.
He highlighted the example of China, which saw a proliferation of demand for cooling products as its economy took off.
"The prospects for cooling category in general and air cooling in particular remains unchanged. A study by the World Bank forecasts (demand for) all cooling products to go up by eight times in the next 15 years in India on the back of urbanisation, increasing disposable income and industrialisation, (and) climate change leading to more heatwaves. That is phenomenal," he said.
According to him, the company faced challenges over the last few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic over two successive summers, increase in input costs as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war and the hit of inflation to the margin. Despite that, Bakeri remains optimistic about the future.
He expects improvement in Symphony's key markets—India, the U.S. and Australia—over the coming years, as economic growth picks up and recessionary pressures ease.
For the current year, he forecasts sales in India to underperform as compared with last year since this summer saw unseasonal rains that dampened demand.
"The irregularity of seasons is something we have learnt to deal with over the last 35 years. What no one was prepared to deal with was Covid and the Ukraine war, the ravaging impact it had on the economy, on costs and on supply chains," Bakeri said.
The company's focus on India will continue while it expands its operations in other markets, such as Mexico and Australia, under the "asset-light, capital-light model", he said.
The addition of new products in both heating and cooling segments in Australia and India will open new windows of growth for the company, Bakeri said.
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