Japanese electric fan and lighting major Hayashi Electric on Friday announced its debut in India, with specific plans to tap the demand for luxury decorative fans — an area it considers as its forte.

“Fans are considered functional items, especially those that are reasonable in pricing (in India). But, now, a segment exists in the country that is tech-savvy, wealthy, and aware, among which, there is demand for decorative fans,” Hayashi Electric Chief Operation Officer (India, South East and MENA) Ashish Narang told Deccan Herald.

The company’s range of decorative fans include snazzy innovations with Bluetooth connectivity, internet, USB port, speakers, and even those without blades. Apart from the technological features, the fans boast of superior aesthetics and styling. “We are especially keen to tap those markets in India, where people are exposed to such breakthrough concepts. By the end of this year, we will be opening four of our own showrooms — in Bengaluru, Pune, Gurgaon, and Chandigarh — to showcase our decorative fan range,” Narang said.

The said showrooms, in the 1,000-1,500 sq feet area, will be high-street standalone stores. The company is also eyeing established retail and lifestyle channels to sell its decorative fans.

The decorative fans, which will hit the market in the first week of March, will be largely imported from China and Taiwan, with some assembly taking place here. In the beginning, Hayashi plans to launch 15-20 models, compared with around 100 sold worldwide.

Meanwhile, the company will also bring its economic range of fans to India on February 1, beginning with 12 models. “We will be the first organised company with a premium fan range in the market, a large part of which is unorganised. By 2018, we see an annual sales potential of 5,00,000 fans, of which, over 3,00,000 units will belong to the decorative range,” he said.

The fans will be priced between Rs 1,200 and Rs 1,20,000, with decorative ones being priced from Rs 5,000 onwards. Hayashi will be setting up a fan manufacturing facility in South India, as part of its ‘Make in India’ push, which will come up by the end of this year, and will serve both domestic and export markets in future. The company is investing Rs 30 crore from internal accruals towards the facility, and other related business activities.