Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its home appliance business Godrej Appliances has forayed into the Indian dishwashers market with its new range of Godrej Eon dishwashers.
The company said that the new Godrej Eon Dishwashers have a starting price of Rs 37,900 plus taxes. It will be available online as well as offline pan-India.
Godrej Appliances is eyeing a 15 percent market share in this category by FY22 end, said Rajinder Koul, Product Group Head – Dishwashers, Godrej Appliances.
The Indian dishwasher market is anticipated to cross $90 million (Rs 667 crore) by FY26. At present, it is close to Rs 250 crore as per industry estimates.
Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President-Godrej Appliances, told Moneycontrol that this is a logical extension for the brand into this product category.
"There is a behavioural change where products like dishwashers are being in demand due to work-from-home. Last year, there was a growth in this segment in the country," he added.
Prior to pandemic, he said that only about 20,000 units were sold every year in the dishwasher category. Amidst the pandemic, he added that this went up to 80,000 last year.
"We expect that dishwasher sales could go up to 120,000-125,000 this year for the industry," he added.
The new Godrej Eon Dishwashers challenge prevailing misconceptions about dishwashers in multiple areas – like on cleaning efficacy, types of dishes or the number of dishes it can cater to, water wastage, electricity consumption, and time required.
The company said in a statement that the Godrej Eon Dishwasher is ideal for an Indian kitchen to wash up to 91 utensils and cutlery at a go, including large pressure cookers, kadhais, pans, tawas and all the typical Indian cooking utensils.
It is also suited for expensive dinner sets and delicate cups and glasses. It can also wash Teflon non-stick cookware, ceramic, melamine, silicon and plastic ware which is marked dishwasher safe.
Nandi said that contrary to the popular belief that dishwashers consume a lot of water, all Godrej Dishwashers have Eco mode which saves energy and uses as low as 9 L of water per wash cycle. He said that the products are imported at present since volumes are very low; but added that manufacturing in India could take another two to three years.
"As against pre-conceived notions about dishwashers, our products are suitable for Indian cooking style by being effective against grease and masala stains," he said.
Brands like Voltas Beko, LG and BSH Home Appliances (including Bosch and Siemens) are among the major ones that operate in the dishwasher category.
Koul said that the tabletop dishwasher variants are also being tested at present and that these will be launched going forward.
The company said in a statement that it has the smart wash technology that provides special turbidity sensors that detect the amount of particle matter in water and adjust the washing cycle parameters (temperature, duration, amount of water) accordingly, for an optimal wash every time.
With a stainless-steel interior door and tub that ensures higher durability, Godrej Eon Dishwasher comes with a two-year comprehensive warranty.
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