Air-conditioning and refrigeration major Carrier India expects new products to fuel growth in the

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current fiscal and is targeting a 50 per cent jump in business during the year.

The company is looking to launch a number of new air-conditioner models from its global portfolio in the residential category and would continue to expand product range even after the end of summer season, which accounts for nearly two-third of air-conditioner sales.

Carrier India is in the process of investing $50 million (nearly Rs 20 crore) to increase production capacity and set up a research and development (R&D) centre in Gurgaon, Haryana.

“We have been growing at 50 per cent from the last few years, which is nearly double of the domestic air conditioner industry’s growth of 25 per cent. The company expects to maintain this growth on the back of new launches,” Carrier India director marketing and strategy Krishan Sachdev told Financial Chronicle.

The company, which closed 2007 calendar year with a revenue of $200 million (nearly Rs 800 crore), is targeting to close the current calendar year with revenues in excess of 300 million dollar (nearly Rs 1,200 crore).

When asked whether spiralling input costs, especially steel, could force Carrier to revise prices in the near term, Sachdev said the company was still evaluating options to tackle the issue.

“We are still evaluating our options on how to deal with the issue of rising input costs. The company is yet to decide whether a price hike is required to offset this pressure or not,” he added.

A number of consumer durable makers have already increased prices of their products and are contemplating another price increase to offset margin pressure.

Whirlpool India had increased prices of home appliances in a range of 2-3 per cent in January and had recently said it would increase prices in lower single digits during the second quarter.

“There will be another price increase by 2-3 per cent in the April-June quarter across various product categories,” Whirlpool India Ltd vice-president (marketing) Shantanu Das Gupta had recently said.

Consumer durable firms including Samsung, LG, Godrej and Electrolux, are also contemplating a price hike of 2-7 per cent in the near future.

The proposed R&D facility would cater to Carrier’s global operations as well.