The Hindu Business Line : Whirlpool sees potential in water purification biz

Chennai, April 2 Whirlpool of India, which recently entered the water purification business with its Purafresh brand, says it will aggressively pursue being a market leader in the next 2-3 years.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Sukhpreet Singh, General Manager (Brand Marketing), says the water purifier (which runs on electricity) is a great brand fit with the rest of its business of home appliances. Internationally, the company is already in this business. “The importance of water purification is growing, and the current choices available in the market are not up to the mark. The market penetration is low (less than 1 per cent) and there is huge scope right now at different price points,” he says. According to Whirlpool, penetration in SEC A cities is 35 per cent and SEC B 11 per cent. The market is estimated at 1.4 million units and Rs 1,400 crore.

The products will be available countrywide by the end of April. To begin with, they will be available in the SEC A cities, in the kind of outlets where frost-free refrigerators are also found, Mr Singh said.

Purafresh purifiers use the reverse osmosis (RO) technology to purify water and claim to not only kill the bacteria and microbes but also cleanse it of chemical impurities. It comes in a range of three models – Deluxe and Elite, which come with a tank to store the treated water, and Platinum, claimed to be India’s first and only direct-flow RO system that has to be attached to the water inlet system enabling immediate consumption of freshly purified water. The prices range between Rs 14,450 and Rs 22,950.

Whirlpool’s products are different in that they come with a silver ceramic cartridge which keeps the water pure even after treatment, and come with filter change indicators, Mr Singh said. The Deluxe and Elite purifiers use 16 W of electricity while Platinum uses 60 W.

The water purifier (electric) market is estimated at Rs 1,400 crore, and growing at 12-15 per cent annually across the UV and RO technologies. RO is a more advanced technology and the market is shifting to this, Mr Singh said, adding that RO systems account for 30 per cent of the market. While the segment using UV treatment is growing at 12 per cent, the RO segment is growing at 25-30 per cent, he said.

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