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.
