Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jul 13, 2006 |
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Corporate
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Outlook Agri-Biz & Commodities - Storage Blue Star upbeat on cold chain business Our Bureau
Business prospects Government's initiatives coupled with the emergence of supermarkets to present huge business opportunities Company to conclude agreements with supermarket display cabinet manufacturers in Europe
Hyderabad , July 12 Blue Star Ltd, the country's largest central air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration company, is upbeat on the emerging opportunities in the area of cold chain business. Addressing newspersons here on Wednesday, the Executive Director, Mr Satish Jamdar, said the Union Government's initiatives to enhance production and export of vegetables and fruits to raise agricultural income coupled with the emergence of supermarkets would present huge business opportunities for the company in providing cold chain infrastructure.
Partnership
He was here to announce the partnership that Blue Star has entered into with Danfoss, the world leader in compressors and control solutions for global refrigeration an air-conditioning industry, for jointly addressing the methods of conserving energy in heating and ventilation air-conditioner (HVAC) applications. In a bid to leverage the huge business opportunities arising out of these developments, the company has initiated several steps that include signing technical agreements with consultancy organisations in Europe, who are specialised in cold chain solutions.
Agreements
Blue Star has also come to an understanding with Bitzer, a global leader in refrigeration equipment for initially importing and then manufacturing the Bitzer range of rack compressor units, which are extremely popular with the supermarkets all over the world, Mr Jamdar said. Further, the company is also going to conclude agreements with supermarket display cabinet manufacturers in Europe. The company has also signed a technical agreement with Fruit Control Equipment of Italy for controlled atmosphere technology for long-term storage applications such as apple storage.
Expansion
Aimed at meeting the demand from the rapidly growing market for room air-conditions, the company has undertaken expansion of manufacturing capacities. The first phase of construction of a fourth plant at Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh was completed and production commenced in June last year. Stating that the second phase is already underway, Mr Jamdar said the expansion of this phase would be ready by September. The company has four modern manufacturing facilities at Thane, Bharuch, Dadra and Kala Amb. The new manufacturing facility at Kala Amb would provide substantial benefits form both the economies of scale as well as tax and duty incentives, according to Mr Jamdar. The Kala Amb facility would have an annual production capacity of 1.5-lakh window and split air-conditioners on a single shift basis.
More Stories on : Outlook | Storage | Air-conditioners & Refrigerators
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