Wednesday, January 29, 2014: Consumer electronics and durables major Mirc Electronics, owner of the brand Onida, has put its plan of establishing its manufacturing facility in Maharastra on hold. The company had planned an investment of Rs 4,000 million for the facility, to be set up for manufacturing air-conditioners. The company was also allotted land of 100 acres.
According to a Business Line report, Gulu Mirchandani, chairman and managing director of the company, said that unless there is a policy change, the company doesn’t find it viable to invest in manufacturing here.
He said, “The present policy of allowing duty-free import of electronic goods and other consumer durables from some select countries does not encourage domestic manufacturing.” It is worth mentioning here that over 60-70 per cent of the components of electronics gadgets are imported in India. He said that the country’s dependence on import is likely to grow even more if the government doesn’t discourage duty-free import and encourages domestic manufacturers.
Presently, Onida imports its entire range of air-conditioners from nations like China. The company currently holds around 10 per cent of the market share and hopes to garner 15 per cent by 2015.
