Tough for AC industry to achieve 10-15% growth: Voltas

Pradeep Bakshi, President & COO - unitary products business group (upbg) & mining & construction equipment division (MCED) at Voltas is confident of outperforming the industry going forward despite intense competition, inconsistent weather and muted performance. However, he is a bit skeptical about the AC industry clocking a double-digit growth in FY16. The growth for the industry has been in single digits as against expectations of a 10-15 percent growth. For most of the industry players summers have degrown, says Bakshi in an interview to CNBC-TV18.Monsoon typically is a subdued quarter for the industry and this time too with the rains starting earlier than expected the sales could be impacted thinks Bakshi.However, to combat this degrowth in air conditioner sales, Voltas has now come out with air coolers at an affordable prices, he adds.The market share for the company stood at 20 percent in April and has gained by 0.4% in May, says Bakshi.He is not expecting any prices increases in the near future. The last price increase was taken in January 2014.transcript to follow