Fuel costs, component shortages; ACs to become 3-4% expensive

New Delhi: Indian Air Conditioner (AC) manufacturers informed that they are hiking prices of the item up to three to four per cent, citing the rising fuel costs and global component shortages, IANS reported.

The Russia-Ukraine war and lockdowns in China keep affecting the raw material supply for the Indian consumer electrical industry.

Also, "commodity price inflation, disruption in the supply chain, and higher demand for air conditioning solutions for both B2B and B2C spaces is pushing brands to increase prices of the products," said Gurmeet Singh, Chairman and Managing Director Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd.

"With the pent-up demand for air conditioners both for B2B and B2C segments and long summer and monsoon seasons, the demand for air conditioners is not expected to be adversely affected," he added.

There is already a praise rise of 2 to 3 per cent in the electronic sector every quarter, thanks to the pandemic.

Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO of Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd (SPPL) told IANS that since the start of 2022, challenges like the Russia-Ukraine war, the Covid situation, lockdown in China and the falling Indian rupee had fueled price hikes.

"All this has pushed the brands to struggle in sourcing, production and supply. As a result, there has been an increase of 20 per cent in raw material and commodity prices. Thomson as a brand will increase product prices in June and July by 3-5 per cent," Marwah said.

Sources from the industry opined that the Centre's encouragement of domestic manufacturing by introducing PLI schemes and other such initiatives might improve the industry. This might also improve the ecosystem scenario in the future, which would ultimately benefit the consumers, they said.