Highly Electrical Appliances (India) Pvt. Ltd. has commenced manufacture of rotary compressors for room air conditioners at its new factory in Ahmedabad. The factory was inaugurated on November 26 by the Gujarat Minister for Energy & Petrochemicals Saurabh Bhai Patel, in the presence of Shen Hong – MD of Highly India, Shen Jianfang – Chairman of Highly Group, Hidenori Yokoyama – GM of Hitachi Appliances, Japan, Huang Dinan – President of Highly, China, and Wang Hejun – Economic & Commercial Counsellor, Chinese Embassy.

Highly Electrical Appliances (India) Pvt. Ltd. has been incorporated by Shanghai Hitachi Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd. – a joint venture set up 20 years ago between Shanghai Highly group of China and Hitachi AP of Japan. The JV had a production capacity of 18 million RAC compressors per annum – 6 million each at its two plants in Shanghai and one in Nanchang, China. The addition of 2 million capacity at Ahmedabad will take it to 20 million. Spread over 33,000 sq m with an investment of US$ 72 million (Rs. 450 Cr), the Ahmedabad facility will be India’s largest AC compressor plant. It has been set up within a short span of 8 months of signing an MoU with the government of Gujarat. The plant currently has 130 employees, and there are plans to scale it up to 800 in two years. Thirty eight employees were sent to China for a four week training programme.

This investment is in line with the group’s strategy to expand its presence overseas, especially in the BRICS markets. Shanghai Hitachi claims a 40% share in the Indian market for AC compressors, which it entered in 2003.