Mr Ajay Singhania - MD & CEO, EPACK Durable

28 Dec 2022 , 03:42 PM

Mr. Ajay Singhania, MD & CEO, EPACK Durable interacts with India Infoline. 

Briefly explain about EPACK Durable and tell us more about your upcoming Greenfield project?

Our company is India’s one of the largest manufacturer of room air-conditioners (RACs). Over the last two decades, we have built up manufacturing capability in RACs as well as small home appliances. We have strong business relationships with all key brands. As the penetration of ACs and home appliances increase, it is well positioned for significant growth. Our company is looking to invest capital in brownfield and Greenfield projects to leverage the production-linked incentive scheme for RACs, as we aim to increase capacity to 3.6 million units by next year. We are in the process of setting up a Greenfield manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to be commissioned next year. Our plans are also to expand in brownfield expansion at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, which will be commissioned by the end of the current financial year. EPACK has acquired land of about 25 acres in Sri City in which the investment will be close to 200 crores this year. Company aims to invest about ₹500 crore in five years. The facility envisages creating more than 3,000 jobs in a phased manner in five years.

The global economic situation is all set to deteriorate in the foreseeable future. How is it going to affect the plans of EPACK?

Our stock of material are available and aligned in spite of the global challenges on availability and shortfall of certain key components of PCBA. The global economic situation will not hamper our sales and manufacturing capabilities. EPACK will definitely be able to meet the requirements and will not fall short of any Raw material for production.

Is there scope for reducing the cost of Room Air Conditioners so that their price can come down for end-consumers?

To help the sector grow, it’s important to provide incentives to consumers and increase AC penetration across the country. At present, 28% GST is charged on AC. It increases the cost and discourages consumer sentiment. In a bid to make it affordable, the government can think about bringing AC into the 18% GST category. This will not only increase AC sales but also give a fillip to production due to a rise in demand. Ultimately, this will further boost manufacturing and create more employment opportunities and meet the demand of end-consumers.

You have raised money for further backward integration. What are some of the components that you intend to manufacture after this backward integration?

Backward integration in critical sub-assemblies have always been the area of focus at Epack. This not only boosts Customer confidence, but also provides control on the critical items that govern the quality of the product. Examples of a few of the critical items that have been taken up for in-house manufacture include:

• Assembly of the Printed Circuit Boards which are used in several of our products
• Manufacturing of the motors for the Mixer Grinders
• Manufacturing of the steel Stampings for the motors
• Manufacturing of the Coils for the Induction Cookstoves
• In-house manufacture of the Cross Flow Fans (CFF)

Has manufacturing really become easier or more difficult in India in the past few years? 

India has become one of the fastest growing manufacturing markets in the world. Investments have doubled and several companies are setting up their manufacturing plants in India. This has been supported by PLI scheme which has been introduced by the government. Also, for other categories like small and larger appliances and other products, the production will further boost the domestic manufacturing and will create more job opportunities in India. The industry has been very optimistic which also led to manufacture a good number of products.

Above are pointers which indicate that manufacturing in India has become a lot easier during the past few years.