CHENNAI: The new quality control order (QCO) issued by the central government to maintain BIS certification will create a non-tariff barrier for the import of commercial refrigerators, especially from China, Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan said.
This will give a competitive advantage and a level-playing for the domestic manufacturing industry, he added. “Fly-by operators who ship cheap products from China will be hit and can no longer compete with domestic players. Prior to the pandemic, domestic deep freezers were 30% costlier than that of imported from China.” He was speaking at the launch of 15 new deep freezers of Blue Star in the city on Tuesday.
The company claim to spend Rs 100 to Rs 150 crore per year for research and development. It has capacity expansion plans at its facilities in Dadra and Sri City. Thiagarajan said the company is looking at exporting its commercial refrigeration solutions to the Middle East market.