Mr. Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia.
‘Make in India’ story is evident with the consumer durables industry. The companies have already invested around Rs 7,000 crore* in past few years. The growing middle class and a youth-driven economy is likely to further increase penetration of white goods in local households and have potential to open up 150,000 additional jobs by 2024-25*.
With this backdrop, we believe that the consumer durables and electronics industry has the potential to help our economy move faster towards the USD 5 trillion target. And, our expectation from the Union Budget 2020 is to see reforms that drive consumption and improve consumer demand. The decision to exempt basic custom duty on open cells from 5% to 0% was a welcome move last year and allowed us to pass on the benefits to the consumers by reduction in TV prices. Such initiatives with phased manufacturing programmes are helpful. However, the consumer appliances industry witnessed a flat growth over the last two years, and we urge the government to continue in the trajectory of positive policies to lend support and drive growth in the sector.
To give you a perspective – product categories like air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, television (TV) and audio, have gradually moved from luxury items to necessity in urban India- the overall market size is Rs 76,400 crore* and the market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.7 per cent till FY25 on the back of India’s consumption story. Infact refrigerators and TVs are turning into necessity products even in rural India. So reduction in GST for TV and refrigerators will help reduce costs for you and drive further penetration of these products.
