Daikin inaugurates R&D centre in Neemrana

NEEMRANA (Alwar): Air conditioner maker Daikin India on Wednesday inaugurated its research and development (R&D) centre in Neemrana that will design products suitable to different weather conditions in the country.
Daikin is the market leader in VRV and chiller segments but now it wants to increase its market share in room AC segment from the current 14%.
“Earlier, the R&D work was done either in Thailand or Malaysia, or in Japan. Since we are committed to the customers here in India, we want to develop different models for different ambient temperatures, voltage fluctuations, and customer needs. The R&D centre will contribute to this strategy bringing innovations in product development and designing,” said Kanwal Jeet Jawa, managing director, Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt Ltd.
The Japanese company has invested close to Rs 100 crore in the facility, which currently employs 65 engineers and the count is expected to go up to 150. Jawa said, “We will make the same quality products that we produce in Japan, Australia, Thailand, or in Europe because our heritage sells worldwide. We have progressed a lot in the last five years and are heading to become the market leader. We are very optimistic for our future growth,” he said.
Five years ago, Daikin used to sell 30,000 ACs. Today, Jawa said, the volume has surged to five lakh units. Same for VRVs whose sales have risen from 5,000 to 15,000 units in the last five years, he added. In case of chillers, the volume has increased from 100 to 500 units.
“Product quality and after-sale service has been the DNA of Daikin. We ensure that all our dealerships have service centres. Besides, we also have 300 Daikin Service Plazas and 232 engineers for service support,” added Jawa. Daikin is also investing Rs 500 crore in Neemrana to raise its production capacity to one million units. Jawa said the new capacity will come on stream before the end of 2017. It has already invested Rs 1,045 crore in the first plant that produces 5 lakh units.
Toshio Nakano, chairman, Daikin Industries, inaugurated the plant.