Whirlpool eyes Rs 200-cr revenue from kitchen appliances biz

By PTI

New Delhi: Consumer durables major Whirlpool of India is targeting over six-fold jump in revenue from its kitchen appliances in three to four years to touch Rs 200 crore on the back of demand for its hi-end products.

The company, which expects its kitchen appliances segment to be one of the future growth drivers, expects to record Rs 30 crore turnover in the current year.

"We are looking at Rs 200 crore turnover from our kitchen appliances business in three to four years. There is a demand for these hi-end products," Whirlpool of India VP Consumer Services and New Businesses Rajiv Kapur told PTI.

Whirpool's kitchen appliances range includes microwave oven, conventional ovens, refrigerators and dishwashers.

The company is working with a number of of modular kitchen manufacturers for its built-in appliances and also talking to builders for providing its products to luxury apartments.

It has a distribution network of 200 stores showcasing products in India.

The US-headquartered firm is also in the process of launching water purifier developed in India based on a new technology at a price range of Rs 6,000-7,000 by the end of this calender year.

"The water purifier has been developed in India, for India. In most parts of India, reverse osmosis (RO) water purifier is not required. We will launch it by end of this calender year," Kapur added.

At present, the company has a RO-based water purifier in its portfolio.

Whirlpool company has also partnered with Bangalore-based Something's Cooking Culinary Arts to organise Kitchen Wars, a corporate culinary contest.