BPL enters automation and surveillance market with ‘BPL IQ’

Consumer electronics manufacturer BPL has entered the market for automation and surveillance products for homes and offices with an array of products under the 'BPL IQ' brand.

The company on Friday announced the launch of surveillance camera with plans to ramp up retail sales of its automation and surveillance products on the back of the Narendra Modi government's ambitious programme to develop 100 smart cities.

BPL is targeting a 10-per cent market share in the home automation and surveillance segment over the next two - three years.

"At present, the market size of the home automation and surveillance segment is over Rs 3,000 crore and we are aiming to have around 10 per cent market share in the next 2-3 years," BPL CEO K Vijaya Kumar said.

The total market size of automation is estimated to be around Rs600 crore and surveillance business is pegged to be around Rs2,500 crore, he added.

The company, which was already present in B2B sales of home automation segments, has appointed 10 distributors and over 300 dealers across India for retail sales of its BPL iQ Smart Automation and BPL iQ Smart Surveillance range.

For smart city projects, BPL has partnered with technology major Cisco to jointly bid and participate in some of the smart cities project.

"The partnership is for some projects. In some, we may bid alone also," said Kumar.

The company has launched around 80 products in BPL iQ Smart Surveillance and has plans to add more.
 
"We are working on new products and technology. In every three to six months you would see us coming with new products and technology. We feel that there is a genuine requirement for this, the way society is growing. Safety and security is a major constraint," he said.

"Our expectations from the surveillance business, which is pegged at Rs2,500 crore, are that we should be doing business worth around Rs.100 crore in the first year of operations and then scale it up to around Rs.250 crore in the next 3 years," he added.

The BPL iQ Smart Automation is an advanced wireless technology which offers a one-touch control for security, temperature, lighting, audio and other home control functions.

"The BPL brand has always been about quality, comfort and tech superiority. Our new offerings in the home automation and surveillance segment bring the same technologically advanced, easy to operate systems that ease and secure our lives," he said.

BPL's home automation system range starts from Rs50,000.

The BPL iQ smart surveillance cameras, with user friendly and technologically advanced features such as facial recognition and number plate recognition, start from Rs1,000.

The company has indigenously designed, developed and manufactured its BPL iQ Smart Automation based on wireless technology at its Bengaluru facility.

BPL says its intelligent surveillance products are capable of keeping a watchful  eye on little children to monitoring massive crowd in public places.

BPL iQ Surveillance systems cover everything from residences to educational Institutions, banks, shops and stores, hotels and resorts, offices and workplaces, public places and products.

These include analog network IP cameras, professional cameras, special cameras, storage (DVR/NVR), HD camera etc.

BPL also has a dedicated team to help customers assess security needs, recommend the optimum system configuration, design and install it, besides providing regular system checks and upgrades, under an AMC. It also provides round-the-clock maintenance support, if required.

"Everything we do will always be dedicated to making the lives of our customers better and happier," says Ajit G Nambiar, chairman and managing director, BPL.