Mumbai: China''s Haier, the largest manufacturer of refrigerators worldwide, today said it was launching its first manufacturing facility in India as part of its plans to expand operations in the country. The new manufacturing facility is located at Ranjangoan in Pune district of Maharashtra.

>Spread over 40 acres of land, the plant currently has capability to manufacture refrigerators, CTVs and washing machines. Haier is upgrading the new facility with state-of-the-art equipment to create a R&D facility for refrigerators. Haier India has acquired the facility from Anchor Daewoo Industries Limited as a part of purchase of appliances business.

Haier initially plans to manufacture its wide range of refrigerators at this facility in Pune. The facility would enhance the overall capacity of Haier and would enable the company to increase its customer reach and enforce its commitment to providing advanced quality products in the India as well as in the global market. The facility is expected to have a headcount of over 500 people (including contract workers) and the company may look at recruiting more people in various capabilities as it commissions to its full capacity.

According to Shi Zhiyuan, managing director, Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Haier group "Haier''s target is to become one of the prominent player in the Indian market in the coming few years. We wish to achieve this by following the localisation strategy, where R&D, manufacturing and marketing activities are carried out as per local way.

>"During our presence in last three years, we had been able to localise product development and marketing. This acquisition is our next step in local manufacturing strategy, where earlier we had been using third party vendors for producing for us, but with this acquisition, we would be able to achieve even better quality levels, faster response time, cost advantages and would be able to meet market demands and requirements in a more efficient manner,"

According to Pranay Dhabhai, whole time director and COO, Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd,. "India is a key market for Haier''s global operations and the launch of our manufacturing and R&D unit investment is a reiteration of Haier''s long-term commitment to the Indian market. Haier sees India as a strategically important market and we may expand current capacities in the near future and are poised for high speed growth in the coming quarters."

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