Latest News | Fan Industry Expects PLI Scheme to Make India a Manufacturing Hub

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The Indian fan industry is confident of effective implementation of BEE Star labelling requirements for the sector and expects a Production Liked Incentives (PLI) programme to make the country a manufacturing hub.

The industry is also demanding to put fans under a lower GST slab, from the existing 18 per cent to 5 per cent, a move which will help in category expansion and bear the additional pressure of energy labelling.

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The BEE Star labelling programme for the fans industry will become mandatory from July 1 next year.

According to the Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA), the adoption of energy-efficient fans will optimise the power consumption in Indian households but this is also expected to increase the price of fans by 25-30 per cent.

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"Compliance to energy efficiency norms will have a cost implication of 25-30 per cent," said IFMA Chairman Ravindra Singh Negi.

He is confident that the industry will implement the energy labelling programmes, despite the pandemic hurdles. For this, fan manufactures would have to invest in capacity expansion and energy-efficient technology.

"A reduction in GST rate can provide much-needed working capital cushion and incentivise the industry in developing new fans as per the energy efficiency norms. With the necessary policy support, the industry looks forward to embracing sustainable and energy-efficient technology and ensuring effective implementation of BEE Star Labelling Requirements," said Negi, who is also President-Electrical Consumer Durables at Havells.

According to him, fans are one of the essential items for the masses and should be placed in a lower GST slab.

While IFMA Vice-Chairman Anuj Poddar added that a PLI scheme for the fans sector can help create a more robust ecosystem for manufacturing for exports.

He added this will also help in expanding the country's capacity for TPW fans (non-ceiling fans) for international markets.

Presently, the Indian fan industry is estimated to be around Rs 8,000 crore in terms of value and manufacturers around 60 million units in a year.

According to IFMA former Chairman Atul Jain, the industry has suffered a hit during the two waves of pandemics and had an impact of around 18 to 20 per cent.

March to June accounts for nearly 45 per cent sales of the industry and sales were hit in two successive years, said Jain.

However, he also added the industry is expected to reach near the pre-pandemic level of sales in 2021, helped by good traction in the second half.

IFMA represents over 500 fan and component manufacturing entities, having a distribution network of more than 1.5 lakh retail outlets.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)