Haier India has seen rapid expansion in recent years. The company says that its revenue has increased tenfold in the last decade to Rs 10,000 crore. Haier now has products in nine different categories, ranging from TVs to air conditioners. At the AI ​​for Air event held at its Greater Noida facility, Haier claimed an average annual growth of 25 percent in India over the last five years.

With the launch of the Gravity AI series, the appliance maker looks to double down in India, especially with air conditioners. Haier plans to have an expanded AC factory in Greater Noida and a brand new factory in India soon, which will be its third facility after Greater Noida and Pune. Haier India President NS Satish, in a conversation with India Today Tech, underlined the importance of the Indian market for the company.

Next 20 years about India, says Higher India chief

When asked about the importance of the Indian market, Satish stressed that it is one of the key focus areas for Haier. “Look, this is the most strategic market. The next 20 years are all about India,” he said. A major factor when it comes to consumption is unused capacity. “Your GDP is performing well. You have the lowest penetration. Your consumers are getting younger. Consumption will increase,” the Haier chief said.

NS Satish indicated that no major international player can afford to ignore India ahead of this expected surge in economic growth. He explained, “Nobody in this world can ignore it, if they have any international business, they can’t ignore India also. If they are ignoring today, you know, they are not imagining better.”

A key strategy of Haier to pursue market share is diversification. The company sells products in nine different categories and there is a logic behind it. “We have nine categories. So, our desire is that once we enter a household with a product, we would like to sell all nine products to them over the life cycle period,” explains Satish. “We have the highest potential to retain them for a longer period of time than any brand available in India,” he said.

Higher India is ‘self-reliant’ in terms of finance

Haier is a leading Chinese appliance manufacturer that entered the Indian market in 2004. Since then, the company has established itself as one of the big players in the market. According to NS Satish, the company has managed to reach this level without relying on its parent company for additional capital funds.

“So far, all our expansions, we have been able to finance it only through our internal sourcing or internal procurement within India, our own generation and ECB, you know, commercial borrowings, which we do,” Satish explained.

In recent months, reports circulated that Haier India was considering selling stake to Indian investors to get a capital increase. However, NS Satish has refuted such rumours, saying that the second phase of the Greater Noida AC factory is being planned “through our own funding, there is no external funding that is being done.”

Haier is planning to set up a third factory in India with a planned investment of Rs 3,500 crore. NS Satish insisted that he would not seek funds from the parent company. “We do not need any FDI investment or anything else,” he said.

When asked whether Haier India was “self-reliant”, he replied, “Yes, completely.”