CHENNAI: Racold Thermo Ltd, an ISO 9001:2008 company and a fully owned subsidiary of Ariston Thermo Spa of Italy, the world leaders in the manufacturing and marketing of water and space heating products and their components, is all set to retain its market leadership in the water heater segment with the introduction of a new generation intelligent water heater - Primo in 15 and 25 litre capacities – for the Indian consumers.
In an interaction with this correspondent here on Friday, A K Rathi, Managing Director, Racold Thermo Limited, said that Ariston Thermo Group, with its 18 state-of-the-art manufacturing units worldwide, enjoyed a global presence in 150 countries with Ariston as its flagship brand.
He also said that the company, which carried a significant presence in Asia, with manufacturing plants in India, China and Vietnam, wanted to record a 25 per cent revenue growth year on year over its Rs 200 crore turnover as of now. The company’s products enjoy a market share of Rs 600 crore in India - Rs 450 crore for electric water heaters and Rs 150 crore for solar and gas water heaters.
The Indian operations include the country’s largest and fully integrated water heater plant in Chakan near Pune, Maharashtra, that has been functional since 1999.
Primo, with features like intelligent timer and anti-bacteria, would make people use hot water at the required temperature and time of their choice, irrespective of the cold water temperature and voltage fluctuation and the scaling on the heating element.
“The anti-bacteria feature kills harmful bacteria that is normally present in water which is heated to a high temperature of 80 degree C. This special feature can be activated when desired, he said.
On Southern market, Rathi said that plans were there to enter tier II and tier III cities and increase the distribution network in a big way. Today, Racold is the largest manufacturer and seller of water heaters in India with Racold as its flagship brand, besides allowing exports to European and Far East countries as the only exporting company in India, he remarked.