Havells bets big on 'Rio Switches' for rural market

HYDERABAD: Havells India Ltd, a $1.3 billion fast moving electrical goods and power distribution equipment manufacturer, today said it plans to enter into rural India market with its newly-launched 'Rio'switches.


Sunil Sikka, president, Havells India said the company aims to garner Rs 150 crore revenues in the current fiscal from the conventional switches sales.

"There are 1200 towns in the country with population 50,000 to 1, 00,000. As the income levels are growing these towns are also potential for our business. Rio switches are our strategic business segment to enter into those towns," Sikka told reporters in a press conference.

The total market for conventional switches is estimated to be around Rs 1500 crore in India, he said.

Replying to a query, Sikka said though there may be some slowdown in industrial growth, housing sector is expected to boom in the next ten years as demand-supply gap is huge.

Higher demand for houses means greater demand for lighting and other domestic electrical goods, he explained.

Talking about the new manufacturing plant in Rajasthan, Sikka said currently the company is exporting around Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore per month lighting fixtures from the plant.

"Capacity of the plant in terms of value is Rs 45 crore lighting fixtures per month. If the trend continues we may have to ramp up the production capacity," he said.

He added that Havells is also planning to launch domestic water pumps with 0.5 and I HP capacity.

Currently, there are more than 200 'Havells Galaxy' stores across India and 12 in Andhra Pradesh. The stores contributed close to Rs 450 crore to overall revenues of the company.