Versuni opens new factory in Ahmedabad to boost local production
Versuni Wednesday opened its second factory in India in Ahmedabad built on a 25,000 square metre to make air fryers, garment steamers, hand mixers.
Global CEO of Versuni Henk De Jong, who was present at the inauguration, told reporters that with the second factory in place, Versuni — which owns the Philips Domestic Appliances brand — will procure 90% of all products sold in India locally, from 70% at present.
The new factory is expected to generate more than 1000 new jobs in the first phase where the factory will have a capacity to make 500,000 air fryers and 2 million garment steamers annually.
Later, the company plans to scale up production to 1 million units at the factory which deploys a combination of automated machinery and manual labour.
«This (the new factory) underlines the commitment of Versuni to the Indian consumers that we will bring the latest and greatest innovation, which will also be produced here,» De Jong told ET.
The executive said that Versuni is already sourcing 70-75% of components for its air fryers locally, either producing them at its factory or procuring them from Indian partners.
«We are going to make the plastic parts, metal parts, the packaging ourselves. Our intention is to localise as much as possible,» De Jong said.
He added that while the production at the two factory will only be used to serve local consumption, Versuni plans to export appliances from India in the future once it reaches a certain efficiency and quality. Notably, the company already exports its mixer grinders from its Chennai factory to other parts of the world.
«It depends on the logistics.
