Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA) bats for energy-efficient fans to reduce power consumption In India

Launches a mascot, Mr Energy Saver, to increase energy efficiency awareness among consumers and trade partners

Mumbai, August 25th, 2022: With an aim to promote energy-efficient fans, the Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA) unveiled the Energy Saver mascot called “Mr Energy Saver” at their 22^nd Annual General Meeting at ITC Maratha, Mumbai. The representative body of branded electric fan manufacturers in the country stressed the importance of switching to energy-efficient fans with their Mr Energy Saver at the forefront. Another key announcement at the AGM was the change of leadership of the industry body. Mr Anuj Poddar (MD & CEO at Bajaj Electricals Ltd.) takes over as Chairman of IFMA for the years 2022 to 2024.

Mr Anuj Poddar, Chairman, IFMA and MD & CEO at Bajaj Electricals Ltd., said, “A holistic approach of focussing on the environmental impact, complying with government regulations and policies and promoting the global competitiveness of domestic fan manufacturing, will accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient fans in India. Under the latest campaign around the mascot Mr Energy Saver, we’re promoting the idea of having at least one energy-saving fan in every Indian home.”

This year’s public session revolved around crucial success strategies, a roadmap for making India the hub for manufacturing energy-efficient fans, and the critical policy support required to realize this vision. The other dignitaries at the event shared their views on the cost efficiencies brought about by sustainable manufacturing coupled with investment-friendly policies such as PLI schemes that could help India catapult its global competitiveness and manufacturing prowess.

IFMA represents the interest of approximately 120 Indian manufacturing entities in the country and is the apex body of branded electric fan manufacturers in India. The members of IFMA have been working relentlessly to ensure sustainability and energy efficiency in their final products. Compliance with the BEE star labelling norms is a significant step towards this goal. With this added focus on energy efficient fans, IFMA is optimistic about impacting energy consumption and impacting the consumers.

A key objective of this scheme is to provide the consumer with an informed choice about energy saving and, thereby, cost saving potential of the relevant appliance. Additionally, IFMA has also advocated a reduction in GST rate from 18% to 5% on fans, that will help make fans more affordable across the country, especially in the rural areas. On the business front, it will provide much-needed fillip and working capital cushion to invest in capacity expansion and energy-efficient technology and incentivise the industry to develop energy-efficient fans per the BEE star labelling requirements.

With the necessary policy support, the fan industry is confident that it will embrace sustainable and energy-efficient technologies allowing industry-wide scale production and adoption of energy-efficient fans resulting in a revolution in sustainable manufacturing.

 For Media queries, contact:

Saloni Trivedi: +91 98331 22579; saloni.trivedi@sixdegrees-bcw.com

Nupur Joshi:  nupur.joshi@bajajelectricals.com

Come summers and the market for fans, room coolers and air-conditioner heats up. According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, titled ‘Analysis of the Indian Fans Market, Forecast to FY2026’, the Indian fans market – comprising ceiling, table, wall, pedestal and tower fans, and others including exhaust and industrial fans – is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.5%. The report further states that premiumisation, rural penetration, and boom in the construction sector will result in 9.5 crore units of fans shipped in FY2026.

In a report on the Indian fan industry by IBEF, the Indian Fan Manufacturers Association’s (IFMA) Vice-President, Anuj Poddar, was quoted as pegging the current value of the Indian fan sector at approximately Rs 8,000 crore, with production hovering at around 60 million units each year.

However, as in the case of most industries, the Indian fan industry, too, was adversely impacted by the global pandemic. According to Atul Jain, former Chairman, IFMA, as stated in the IBEF report, the two pandemic waves set back the fan industry by 18% to 20%.

Industry experts see a strong revival for the fan industry, with yet another scorching summer season this year and the lifting of all Covid restrictions.

The fan market consists of both organised and unorganised players. The organised fan sector is dominated by national and multi-national brands such as Crompton Greaves, Usha, Orient, Almonard, Havells, Bajaj, Surya Roshni, Luminous, and Polycab.

The challenge that this industry faces is the high commodity and raw material costs. Some of the brands import their raw material for manufacturing, which results in higher pricing. So, the moment there is any increase globally in the cost of raw material such as copper aluminium and steel, the final pricing also gets affected. Thus, a majority of the brands try sourcing their raw material from within the country to keep a check on the pricing.

Over the last two decades, fan as a category has evolved and today it is looked beyond its functional role, high on innovation and design aesthetics to match consumers’ home decor.

Summer fans growth

The fan industry is expecting a good summer this year after two consecutive Covid-impacted seasons. Reflecting this positive sentiment, Atul Jain, Executive Vice President, Orient Electric, said, “The consumer confidence is back, and we are seeing very good traction across markets in the country. We have lined up many new, feature-rich fans across categories to cash in on the increased demand and are looking at doing and even exceeding the pre-pandemic levels.”

He noted, “Consumers today no longer look at a fan as just another commodity, but as a complete package to complement their lifestyle. They want fans that are smart, technologically advanced, visually appealing, energy-efficient, and add convenience to life. This rising consumer aspiration is in turn driving fan makers to up their game and come up with high-end fans.”

Jain further said, “In the premium fans segment, Orient Electric has a decisive market leadership with around 48 per cent market share. We not only created this category, but we are continuously nurturing and expanding it by introducing new models. Our Aero series and i-Series range of fans have been much appreciated by the trade and consumers, and we are continuously introducing new models with improved features in line with evolving consumer needs and trends.”

One major trend that is seen is the rising consumer inclination towards energy-efficient fans. In line with this, Orient is offering a wide range of elegant and technologically advanced BLDC fans that consume 50% less energy as compared to regular fans. “We are running a comprehensive 360-degrees marketing campaign covering TV, print and digital to promote our BLDC fans range,” he added.

While the last two years were faced with quite a lot of challenges, the future surely promises a positive sentiment as we move into the midst of the summer season. Sachin Phartiyal, Vice President, Appliance Business – Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, remarked, “Considering the kind of summers we are having today, driving up the temperatures to extremes while also inviting many heatwaves, fans will definitely play an integral role this season. However, fans are no longer looked as a functional product as consumer preferences and choices have evolved to integrate fans with their interiors. Hence, people have become more conscious of the kind of technologies they use in their day-to-day products and that include fans too.”

Adding further, Phartiyal said, “When we look at the ceiling fans, while aesthetics does play a role in amping up/ upgrading the ambience of the space, energy efficiency equally contributes to the consumer’s decision choices. Thus, today consumers are looking for energy efficiency as one of the key parameters while buying a fan. With the latest technology available, we can save upto 50% on our electricity bills. However, in the long run, there are few challenges that the industry may face especially with increasing cost of raw material pushing the prices up and consumers looking for a value for money that they are paying.”

“Crompton being the market leader in the ceiling fan category, our flagship SilentPro Enso will continue to be our product in focus this season. This is a highly differentiated product with a futuristic aerodynamic design that reduces air friction, thereby providing superior air delivery. It is up to 2X times more silent than regular fans and delivers up to 50% savings in electricity costs. As Crompton continues its journey towards being a more contemporary brand, we are gradually shifting our focus on digital platforms. Hence, in addition to the conventional channels like TV and print, our focus is increasing on digital platforms, which allow us to target relevant audience with relevant content,” he added.

“Summer has always been an important period for us where we witness a surge in demand for two of our categories – Fans and Air Coolers. Sharing his point of view, Krishna Raman, Business Head of Consumer Products at Bajaj Electricals, said, “The early onset of summer and sizzling temperatures has made fans and air coolers an even bigger necessity, and we are seeing an uptick in demand for these categories. After two summer seasons affected by lockdowns, we are expecting to garner sizeable increase in volumes for these categories in this summer season. We recently launched our latest range of fans through the ‘Fan Nahin Fantastic’ multimedia campaign.”

Continuing further, he said that their consumer research highlighted that modern Indian consumer are increasingly looking for new-age features in fans and the top three factors they consider while purchasing a fan are: 1) speed of the fan, 2) preference for low noise, and 3) aesthetic fans that can uplift the home décor.

“Our latest offering of Fans range caters to all these requirements. The campaign ‘Fan Nahin Fantastic’ is an interesting articulation of the changing needs of today’s modern consumer and we hope the new campaigns shown in a lighter vein will strike a chord with them. With these new campaigns, we aim to go beyond the basic requirement of fans as an appliance by enhancing functionality and appearance in a way that enables our fans to seamlessly fit into our consumer’s daily life,” Raman added.

Sharing his views about how the industry has rapidly moving towards innovation and scaling up technology, Ravindra Singh Negi, President – Electrical Consumer Durables, Havells India, said, “Energy consumption is the biggest concern for consumer while using an appliance.” According to him, in an average consumer household, fans contribute close to 25% of the total annual power consumption of appliances which is the highest amongst all home appliances, Due to shifts in ways of working, WFH and hybrid cultures, energy savings have become a priority. Consumers are looking for devices that reduce the power costs and save money on electricity bills. With summer temperatures rising, the company foresees an uptick in demand for feature-led, well designed and energy saving products.

Negi further said, “Havells being committed to keep powering the world with its state-of-the-art innovations, energy-efficient and environment friendly solutions has launched its new TV Ad campaign of its latest Havells ECOACTIV BLDC range of fans to take forward the notion of a better tomorrow established with the tagline ‘Hawa Badlegi’. Through ‘Hawa Badlegi’ social messaging, the campaign urges viewers to take small steps at their end that will go a long way in contributing to prevent global warming by taking a high ground for its environment friendly Stealth BLDC Range of fans with BLDC Inverter Technology that can save up-to 60% energy over ordinary induction motor-based fans.”

The industry is optimistic about a robust growth momentum this year due to the increasing heatwave and pent-up demand from consumers. Rajesh Uttamchandani, Director, Syska, said, “We have set a target of achieving Rs 250 crore revenue gain for this year. Brands such as ours are constantly developing innovative fans with cutting edge technology that are energy efficient along with contemporary design as both create value for consumers.”

Adding further, he pointed out that consumers today appreciate a brand that not only offers innovative products with superior experiences, but also saves them money. “We address our valued consumers’ expanding requests with cost-effective, high-performance solutions, as consumers are well aware of the technology and products available in the market. Syska has developed BLDC (Brushless Direct Current) motor fans that can save up to 50% on electricity consumption by incorporating cutting-edge technologies. Today, the demand of smart fans which are controlled by app and voice assistants is also picking up for evolved customers looking for comfort and convenience.We have already launched an aggressive brand campaign starring Rajkumar Rao on key TV channels in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam to raise awareness about the product range,” he added.

Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals, noted, “Indian summers are notorious for being extremely hot and humid. Therefore, brands are creating more efficient and innovative fans with advanced technology, robust motors and aerodynamic blades to deliver super-quick and more cooling. The modern customer is also design-conscious and has specific aesthetics in mind for their homes and offices. However, there are some lingering effects of the pandemic like disruption in the supply chain, unavailability of parts and drastic increase in the price of raw materials that continue to impact the sector.”

Continuing further, Jain remarked that the industry is also aware of the need to make more energy-efficient fans considering the rise in temperatures and the need to reduce electricity consumption. For consumers, their preferences have undergone a slight change – while they continue to want stylish, noiseless, high-speed fans at an affordable price point, they are also looking at energy efficiency and the possibility of IoT-enabled fans to complement their shift to a more technology-assisted lifestyle.

“Additionally, we are focused on marketing our product segment with many ongoing campaigns to generate awareness about our range of fan. Saif Ali Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez and Mohanlal are endorsing our brands. Our media focus is to be present in social media, Print and OOH,” Jain concluded.

Fan industry seeks policy support to make India a manufacturing hub for energy-efficient fans

 

• – Industry looks forward to embracing sustainable and energy efficient technology and ensuring effective implementation of BEE Star Labelling Requirements
• – GST rate reduction from 18% to 5% on fans can provide working capital cushion to invest in capacity expansion and energy efficient technology
• – Aligning with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, IFMA is focused on accelerating growth & sustainability in the new normal towards self-reliant Fans Industry

 

New Delhi, September 30th, 2021: The Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA) held a Phygital press conference on its 21st Annual General Meeting & conference on “New Era of Fan Industry – Towards a sustainable & Energy Efficient Technology”.

Aligning with the insight and vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the conference focused on building competitiveness, accelerating growth and sustainability for fan manufacturers in India. IFMA intends to make fans a promptly accessible commodity for everyone by increasing grassroots level penetration, especially in rural India. Aligned with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission, the manufacturing capacity for ceiling fans in the country today is close to 100% localized.

With vision of building competitiveness and sustainability for fan manufacturers in India, the session highlighted the need for adoption of energy-efficient to optimize the power consumption in Indian households and how with the necessary policy support such as reduction in GST rate from 18% to 5% can accelerate this adoption in order to compliance to energy efficiency norms which has a cost implication of 25-30%. Reduction in GST slabs will not only help the fan industry to invest into the capacity expansion, but also in adaption of new technologies.
Aligning with the insight and vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the conference focused on building competitiveness, accelerating growth, and sustainability for fan manufacturers in India. IFMA intends to make fans a promptly accessible commodity for everyone by increasing grassroots level penetration, especially in rural India. The industry is already aligned with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission, with almost 98% of ceiling fans being Made in India only.

Addressing the conference, Mr. Ravindra Singh Negi President-Electrical Consumer Durables at Havells and Chairman at IFMA said, “In an average consumer household, fans contribute close to 25% of the total annual power consumption of appliances which is the highest amongst all home appliances. 50% of the current energy consumption for fans could be saved just by designing and installing more energy efficient fans and introducing better control strategies. Hence, it is necessary for fan manufactures to invest in capacity expansion and energy efficient technology.”

A reduction in GST rate can provide much needed working capital cushion and incentivize 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”

Mr. Atul Jain, Executive Vice President at Orient Electric and Immediate Past Chairman at IFMA cited, “India is a huge market for fans and one can imagine the amount of energy savings and cost savings it can bring to the consumers and the country. At IFMA, we are working closely with the member companies to promote energy efficient fans. We are we are ever willing to work with the Government in furthering its policies and initiatives in building a comprehensive ecosystem that supports mass scalability and commercial viability of production of fans.”

Mr. Atul Jain, Executive Vice President at Orient Electric and Immediate Past Chairman at IFMA cited, “India is a huge market for fans and one can imagine the amount of energy savings and cost savings it can bring to the consumers and the country. At IFMA, we are working closely with the member companies to promote energy efficient fans. We are we are ever willing to work with the Government in furthering its policies and initiatives in building a comprehensive ecosystem that supports mass scalability and commercial viability of production of fans.”

The session also focused on key success strategies, the roadmap for making India a hub for manufacturing energy efficient fans and the key policy support required to realize this vision. Additionally, the session deliberated on how emerging trends in energy efficiency and consumer dynamics can present immense opportunities for Indian fan manufacturers to expand their global footprint.
The conference was also addressed by Mr. Rakesh Khanna, MD & CEO, Orient Electric, Mr Vipul Sabharwal MD Luminous Technologies Ltd, Mr Shantanu Khosla MD Crompton Greaves and other key officials.

About Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA):

IFMA represents the electrical fans industry with members like Orient Electric Ltd, Havells India Ltd, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, Usha International Ltd, Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Luminous Power Technologies Pvt Ltd, Surya Roshni Ltd, Metro Ortem Ltd, Vardhman Industries, Vishva Electrotech Ltd etc. As an industry, IFMA represents over 500+ fan and component manufacturing entities, having a distribution network of more than 150000+ retail outlets.

Fans being one of the essential items for the masses (a basic commodity with the highest level of penetration of ~74 % households across India) and employ over 10 lakh people (directly and indirectly) and thus touch the lives of almost 100 crore citizens of India, especially in rural India. Fan industry is amongst the most Atmanirbhar Industries in India, as more than 98% of ceiling fans are manufactured in India today .

Fans help in air circulation and ventilation, thereby reducing the risk of the spread of COVID19 pandemic.
Reduction in GST rate will make fans more easily accessible to all – the common man, as well as encourage commercial, industrial, and home users to increase air circulation and ventilation in closed spaces, by installing more fans.
Aligning with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, IFMA is focused on accelerating growth & sustainability in the new normal towards self-reliant Fans Industry.

New Delhi, September 18, 2020: The Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA) held a virtual press conference on the occasion of its 20th Annual General Meeting & conference on “Accelerating Growth & Sustainability in the New Normal Towards Atmanirbhar Fan Industry”.

Aligning with the insight and vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, the conference focused on building competitiveness, accelerating growth, and sustainability for fan manufacturers in India. IFMA intends to make fans a promptly accessible commodity for everyone by increasing grassroots level penetration, especially in rural India. The industry is already aligned with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission, with almost 98% of ceiling fans being Made in India only.

The session dwelled upon the difficulties faced by the fan industry in terms of demand, loss of 35% of annual sales due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Loss of peak sale period has further caused huge financial losses for fan companies. With the income levels shrinking and for certain deprived sections reducing to nil, the current GST rate on fans might result in consumers avoiding making any purchases.

Addressing the conference Mr. Atul Jain, Chairman, IFMA said, “The current GST rate standing at 18% is adversely impacting the industry as well as the entire supply chain, from distributors to end-consumers. Also, fans improve air circulation and ventilation, which has been established as a key intervention to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other viruses. So, reduction in GST rate will make this common man’s product more easily accessible to all – common man, as well as commercial, industrial, and home users – it will encourage them to increase air circulation and ventilation in closed spaces, thereby providing safer environments from COVID19 to all. It will also help the nation in lowering the risk of spread of Covid-19 pandemic.”

The session also deliberately spoke on how emerging trends in energy efficiency, smart devices, consumer preferences and regulatory ecosystem will present immense opportunities for Indian fan manufacturers to become self-reliant. IFMA is closely working with its member companies to promote energy efficient fans which will help the nation to save energy and reduce carbon footprint.

About Indian Fan Manufacturers Association (IFMA):

IFMA represents the electrical fans industry with members like Orient Electric Ltd, Havells India Ltd, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, Usha International Ltd, Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Luminous Power Technologies Pvt Ltd, Surya Roshni Ltd, Metro Ortem Ltd, Vardhman Industries, Vishva Electrotech Ltd, etc. As an industry, IFMA represents over 500+ fan and component manufacturing entities, having a distribution network of more than 150000+ retail outlets.

Fans being one of the essential items for the masses (a basic commodity with the highest level of penetration of ~74 % households across India) and employ over 10 lakh people (directly and indirectly) and thus touch the lives of almost 100 crore citizens of India, especially in rural India. Fan industry is amongst the most Atmanirbhar Industries in India, as more than 98% of ceiling fans are manufactured in India today.