Trane to chill homes

Chennai: To cash on the booming construction sector, air conditioner marketing company Trane India Limited has launched its smaller capacity air conditioners in Chennai. Importing the product from Thailand, the company has started marketing the Trane brand of air conditioners ranging from 0.6 tonne to 50 tonne capacity targetting the residential and the mid-size commercial building segment.

Agreeing that the products are premium priced — staring from Rs42,000 — Trane India's regional leader Manoj Mathur said, "The energy efficient air conditioners enable a buyer to take back his investment fast. Further the premium segment is growing faster." The company's split air conditioners of up to 2-tons carry the energy star label signifying that the equipment uses 7-10 per cent less power than others. "The number of Indian families with an annual income of $2.30 lakh is expected to double by 2010 from the 2005 level of 53,000."

The company has appointed one distributor each in North, West and South. The distributors in turn will appoint dealers. Around 90 dealers are expected to be appointed soon. The southern market will be taken care by Tropical Impex Private Limited.

Speaking about the commercial segment he said, around 300 malls, 325 departmental stores and 1,500 super markets are being built in various parts of the country. All these require air conditioners. "The potential is huge as the cost savings will give back the investment in the air conditioning systems."

According to him the fall out of the boom in the commercial building segment will have a positive impact on the residential segment. "Building one-square foot of commercial space will result in demand for seven square feet of residential space."

Citing couple of five star hotels in the country that have replaced their old air conditioning systems with that of Trane's he said, "The Park Sheraton hotel in Chennai recovered its investment in our systems within a year. Similarly many other hotels are opting for our products."

A big name in the commercial segment, Trane India has airconditioned several IT Parks, hotels and hospitals in India.