Elica PB India earmarks Rs. 50 crore for expansion

Kitchen appliance firm Elica PB India Pvt. Ltd, 51% owned by Italian kitchen chimney major Elica SpA, is planning to expand capacity with an investment of up to Rs. 50 crore, a top company executive said.

“The demand for life style kitchen appliances is growing fast from urban households in India and there is a requirement to expand production capacity,” said Prahalad Bhutada, CEO and director, Elica PB India. “By 2019, we are looking at a major expansion involving Rs. 40 crore to Rs. 50 crore,” he said.

Mr. Bhutada said the capex would be funded from internal accruals. “We are making good profit and will fund the expansion from our own funds,” he added.

‘Changing trends’

Currently, the firm manufactures 1,000 pieces of kitchen appliances at its production facility in Pune and the plan is to double the production at the same location in a year or so. “In India, the trend is suddenly changing and we must be ready for that. Besides, we are also investing in automation and gearing up to manufacture complex equipment which we are now importing to manufacture our ranges,” he said.

Elica PB India is into production of kitchenhoods (chimneys), built-in hobs, built-in ovens, built-in microwave ovens, dishwashers, barbeques, fryers and kitchen waste disposers.

Kitchen chimneys account for 60% of the firm’s production. These are priced from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 3 lakh. The company is eyeing a turnover of Rs. 200 crore in FY18. It has a network of more than 60 distributors and more than 1,500 retail outlets.

Let's block ads! (Why?)