Orient fans eyes 25% market share in South India

Orient Electric, a fan manufacturer from the $1.8-billion CK Birla Group, has envisioned to increase its share to 25% in the South Indian market over the coming months, on the back of a strong region-centric product strategy.

The Kolkata-headquartered company currently holds a 19% market share in the South.

Accordingly, the company on Wednesday launched its new 5-blade Wind-Pro Series of portable fans, priced from Rs 2,370.

Talking to DH on the sidelines of the launch, Orient Electric Senior Vice President and Business Head (Fans) Atul Jain said, "South India is a key focus market for Orient Electric, and with this new range of 5-blade Wind-Pro fans, we aim to increase our market share further in the region. The Wind-Pro range comes in table, stand and wall-mounted versions, and aptly provides a long-awaited solution for the consumer in Southern India."

The fan market in India is to the tune of 45 million unit sales every year, with the South Indian market contributing 30%.

"Our overall market share in India is 20%, and we are among the top-3 players in the country," Jain claimed.

Today, Orient sells more than 200 fan SKUs across a varied range of ceiling, pedestal, table, wall-mounted, multi-utility, and exhaust fan models. It plans to launch specific products periodically.

"When we launched the Wind-Pro Series too, we took into consideration the wind and climatic conditions of the Southern region. Our strong R&D team based in Faridabad is also working on several smart innovations including IoT, about which we'll share details in the future," he added.

Presently, Orient's three facilities at Kolkata, Guwahati and Faridabad, together have a production capacity of nine million units, of which 20% is exported to over 35 countries. The company also boasts of 4,000 dealers, one lakh retailers, 25 warehouses, and 320 service centres with 1,000 trained technicians.

Orient Electric as an entity contributes $250 million to the $1.8-billion CK Birla Group. And the former derives 70% of its business from fans, with the remainder coming from lighting, home appliances, and switch-gears.