Bosch Home to start AC exports from India in two years: CEO & President Jan Brockmann

New Delhi: Europe’s largest air-conditioner maker, Bosch Home Comfort Group, plans to start exports from India within two years, including to Europe facing an intense summer this year, as it invests €80 million (about Rs 900 crore) to expand manufacturing capacity and make the country one of its three biggest markets globally, said Jan Brockmann, chief executive and president.

Brockmann said he would be returning to the company’s headquarters in Germany above 40°C—higher than what he experienced in India—with people in France even driving 200 km to Spain to buy the last available portable AC units, with Europe’s AC penetration at just 5% but people now realising the importance of owning.

He said Bosch has just commenced operations at its global product development centre in India that will design and develop ACs for the global market.


Speaking to ET during his three-day India visit, Brockmann said India's friendly geopolitical ties and stability, along with strategic location, makes it a natural manufacturing hub for the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The company currently supplies to these markets from the ASEAN region, while the India-European Union free trade agreement will further augment India's advantage, he said. This FTA is expected to come into effect from early next year.

The fresh investment—the company's largest manufacturing commitment globally in recent times —will either expand its existing plant at Kadi, Gujarat, or fund a new factory, with a decision due soon.

"Companies are looking at geopolitical decoupling, wherein India has a big opportunity,” he said. “We are creating the prerequisites for that. We have just launched our global room air-conditioning development centre in Kadi. Next in line will be global manufacturing from India.”

Brockmann said the German parent aims to double India's sales profitably and raise market share from single to double digits. He expects India to rank among Bosch Home Comfort's top three global markets by 2030, from the top eight currently, alongside North America, as a key growth market. Till 2027, the focus will be driving local growth, followed by exports.

Having tracked India's economic evolution since the 1990s, including during an earlier stint at Volkswagen and Electrolux, Brockmann said the country has transformed from exporting mainly die-cast automobile components into a sophisticated manufacturing base, aided by its "free trade attitude".

He contrasted this with Brazil, which has become "very expensive" because it is "completely protected", and the US, where tariffs have reduced competitiveness by fuelling inflation, raising mortgage rates and dampening consumption. "As Europeans, we like open trade and open trade partners like India,” he said. “Because the earlier you smell trade problems, the less you tend to invest.”

Last year, Bosch completed the full acquisition of the Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning joint venture for about $8 billion, the biggest deal in the German conglomerate's history. This is Brockmann's first India visit since the deal.

The erstwhile US-Japanese joint venture sold ACs and refrigerators under the Hitachi brand in India. The acquisition gave Bosch a "cheaper and scalable" entry into India's AC market, but it exited refrigerators because its Hitachi brand licence covers only ACs, Brockmann said.

Bosch Home Comfort India, a publicly traded company, reported sales of Rs 2,699 crore and a net loss of Rs 3 crore in 2025-26. India managing director Sanjay Sudhakaran said Bosch-branded ACs will be launched in January in the super-premium segment, while Hitachi will continue targeting the mainstream market.

Brockmann said as the Indian market grows, it will only help the company make more investments and grow exports. "The government must do whatever it can to foster consumption in India,” he said. “That's how China has grown or even Germany.”

Bosch has a separate entity, BSH Home Appliances, that markets refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers globally, including in India.

Bosch Home Comfort currently localises about 60% of its air-conditioners in India and plans to increase this further. The parent also owns a 25% stake in Chinese compressor maker Shanghai Highly Group, whose India factory too is expanding capacity.