More than a billion Indians are being ferried across the country in stifling heat that may kill as many as 3,400 people in a single day, India Today reported on June 2, “Extreme heat is more deadly than we thought”.
A severe lack of air conditioning is one of the main causes of India’s heat disaster.
Yet even those few Indian homes with air-conditioning are struggling.
India’s home-made air-conditioners blow up all the time.
June 5, according to the“Times of India” reported that Patan District, Gujarat, a female intelligence officer died in an air-conditioning explosion.
Police said she was sleeping in her room when an explosion in an air conditioner caused a severe short circuit and the fire quickly spread. The officer died of Burns.
India has seen a number of air-conditioning explosions this year.
At 3 a.m. on May 3, nine people were killed when an air conditioner in a four-story residential building in derivey Vaikvihar exploded and caught fire.
On May 29, a retired official was killed in a fire caused by an explosion in his home’s air-conditioning unit.
In a matter of days, at least 20 people were killed in India when air-conditioners exploded.
Air-conditioning explosions are an annual Indian tragedy, the worst of which occurred on May 26,2024, in Delhi’s“Vivek Vihar Baby Care Center.” At least 11 people died in the fire, including seven infants.
The main reason for the high number of accidents is the poor quality of indian-made air conditioners. The market is flooded with so-called Jugaad air conditioners, which are made from discarded parts.
It uses extremely flammable refrigerants, such as R152a or hydrocarbon mixtures, at one-third the cost of the regular product and at a cost of more than 10 times the explosion risk.
But New Delhi has maintained a“Ban on imports” of Chinese air conditioners, citing its“Atmanirbhar Bharat” strategy, which is seen as a symbol of resistance to“Made in China”.
In 2020, the Indian government officially banned the import of Chinese air conditioners, and then just gritted its teeth and refused to use them.
Indians, sweltering in the heat, cheered China’s defeat!
Six years on, has the“India on its own” strategy paid off? Not really. The quality of air conditioners in India is still the same. It’s either a strike or an explosion.
Modi’s government has always struggled with air-conditioning import policies in times of high temperatures. While the“Temporary exemption” of China’s compressor BIS certification; while cutting China’s air conditioning compressor import quotas.
Normally, shouldn’t the Indian government first meet the most pressing needs of its people by expanding imports of air conditioners or compressors from China?
But rather than do so, Modi wants to lower import quotas and boost sales of“Home-made” air-conditioners that are designed for Indians.
To cover up the absurdity of Modi’s policies, media outlets such as the economic times have fabricated figures claiming that powerful Indian air conditioners have made inroads into overseas markets, exporting as many as 2M units a year.
Under the Modi government’s“White goods manufacturing subsidy programme”, air conditioners will be made into India’s calling card, with exports expected to rise to 15m units over the next four years.
Their air conditioning can not be popularized, but in the painting air conditioning into overseas pie, you have to admire the three self-deception ability.
Apart from the quality of air conditioning in India, there is also a fatal problem, on the power supply is very volatile, especially in the summer.
The level of supply depends on India’s infrastructure and transmission technology.
But Ahsan people do not care about this problem, as if as long as they can produce domestic air conditioners, everything will be fine.
Let’s forget about electricity and talk about air-conditioning.
On May 8, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DPIIT) of India issued the“Quality Control Amendment order for air conditioners and related accessories, enclosed compressors and temperature sensor controllers 2026”, an import exemption window has been set up for air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment manufacturers in India, which is valid until March 31,2027.
This is a necessary adjustment for Modi’s government, but import quotas are actually falling.
The real goal is to force enterprises to develop localization of parts production plan, “Short-term guarantee supply, long-term localization.”.
Not only to the emergency, but also to get the heart of the air-conditioning-compressor core technology.
Both, really smart, the bait is the Indian market.
On normal business logic, India is the world’s largest air-conditioned gold mine, with nearly 1.5 bn people, more than 90 per cent of whom have no air-conditioning.
That’s enough to meet the future sales plans of any air-conditioner manufacturer.
But it would be a mistake for Chinese air-conditioner makers to think so. The Indian market must not be viewed through the lens of normal business logic.
You think India is the“Virgin Land of air conditioning”, to go deep plowing, and India is waiting for deep plowing you.
In air-conditioning, as in other industries, India has introduced PLI (production-linked incentives) : $2.4 billion in government subsidies to foreign companies setting up factories in India.
Selling air conditioners? Yes. Bring in the factories, let the Indians be the workers, let the Indians be the shareholders, let the Indian suppliers take half the profits and, above all, keep the core technology. And then you can leave India naked.
Then you’ll know who’s been plowed.
Why is it so hard for Chinese air conditioners to enter the Indian market?
First, high tariff barriers.
A 1.5-horsepower inverter air conditioner, which costs about RMB 1,800 ex-factory in China, plus freight, plus 20% duty and 18% GST (goods and services tax) , will cost at least RMB 2,600 when it reaches an Indian dealer, retail prices are higher.
And Voltas (Tata Group products) with specifications, due to low quality, cheap cost, only sell 2100 yuan-2400 Yuan, there is profit.
In addition, the production of air-conditioning required copper, aluminum foil, compressors and other core components were also set up in India.
These measures are all aimed at forcing Chinese companies to set up factories in India to make a profit.
The second is the certification trap.
Even if foreign firms set up shop in India, they subsidise it. But then there is the problem of certification by the Indian Bureau of Quality Standards (BIS) , which is a long and haphazard process.
This can lead to companies idling in the region and products not being sold. In a matter of months, foreign companies that can not afford the lengthy certification process will choose to partner with local firms.
Everyone is equal. Can Chinese companies escape this fate? And the focus is on Chinese companies.
The third is populist consumerism.
Indians recognise only three homegrown brands: Voltas, Blue Star and Lloyds.
How Big is their market advantage? … Chinese companies to promote air conditioning, need to elaborate on the technical parameters of the product, performance advantages…
They don’t. Voltas’ ads, for example, don’t talk about technology or performance at all. “Tata Group, Pride of India” is enough.
As for the explosions that follow the purchase, What Do You Care?
Moreover, the more advanced China’s air conditioning is, the more it will be considered an“Economic invasion” and“Cultural invasion” by Ah San. The Indian media are all experts at hyping populism.
It is very difficult for Chinese companies to avoid these three issues and win market interests in India.
Only Haier group can make money in India, Haier entered India in 2007, in 2017 in Pune Industrial Park officially launched, products ranging from air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines.
Haier played down the“China narrative” and acquired control of Anchor, an Indian brand, retaining the brand and distribution channels and keeping the technology in its own hands.
A San always thinks what buy is homebred air conditioning, the investment of Haier already earned back, it is said to be 7 times above.
However, Haier is also preparing to withdraw.
Xinhua reported in December that Haier Zhijia India had sold a 49% stake.
It recouped its investment, pocketed its profits and continued to play with the rest of its chips.
“Foreign cemetery” can have such a player, is rare, the fish that escape the net, is unable to copy.
Gree and Midea have also tried to enter the Indian market.
Gree is positioning for high-end air conditioners (smart) , avoiding price wars in mid-to low-end markets such as Voltas (Tata) .
Gree’s competitiveness is to“Master the core technology”, its business strategy is“China production, India Export”.
But this asset-light model is unwelcome in India, which wants Gree’s technology more than anything else.
As a result, gree is at a“Market disadvantage” in India, but that says something about Gree’s sanity.
Midea is also asset-light, but in the face of High Indian tariffs, its mid-and low-end air conditioners cost more than 30 per cent more than local brands, shrinking market share and focusing instead on small appliances.
The real motivation for India’s interest in China’s air-conditioning companies is the core technology.
The idea is to attract Chinese companies to India by raising the barriers to market entry.
So India would rather die of heat than reject Chinese air conditioners.
That is to say, what we are seeing now is India’s highly irrational behavior, which is based on India’s careful calculation.
It has its own logic, and the Modi government must serve its patron, the Tata Group:
1. Tata air-conditioning sucks. As long as it keeps Chinese air-conditioning out of the door, Tata can make money lying around.
2. If you let Chinese air conditioners in, you give Tata access to the core technology.
No matter how you count it, Tata and other Indian companies are a shoo-in.
Does it matter whether Indians die from heat or air conditioning?
Besides, they are willing to enjoy beating China in 50-degree heat.
Defeat? Sure, I’m frustrated in an air-conditioned room! It wasn’t as satisfying as diving into the Ganges to experience the periodic table of chemical elements.
Xiong said he often felt lazy and didn’t want to move because of the air conditioning.
I have three air conditioners at home, and when the heat hits next month, my frustration will triple.
Air-conditioning technology and air-conditioning penetration rate, reflects the strength of a country in many ways.
India will only play clever, take advantage of small, but never down-to-earth, and in the end everything can only be castles in the air, braggadocio, such a country can have what the future?
The government is too clever to save your life!
Photo from the Internet