BSH Home Appliances: In Line With Atmanirbhar Bharat In Consumer Goods In accordance with the government's Make In India initiative, the company is strengthening its production capacities in India. Besides, the firm is also working on its goal of entering every Indian household with innovation at its core. From collaborating with startups to practicing sustainability, the company is on a hot streak

BSH Home Appliances, a company under Bosch Group, is determined in creating the India story; resilience is its purpose for the year 2023. "The company's purpose for 2023 is resilience, the year 2022 was arduous on the bottom line. So, our purpose is to grow sustainably not only in the top line, but also on the bottom line," said Neeraj Bahl, MD and CEO, BSH Home Appliances, India.

In line with the government's Make In India initiative, the CEO is strengthening its production capacities in India. Besides, the firm is also working on its goal of entering every Indian household with innovation at its core. From collaborating with startups to practicing sustainability, the company is on a hot streak.

Make In India

Over the years, BSH has strengthened its Make In India initiative and the genesis was at its Chennai manufacturing plant. "We manufacture front load washing machines at our Chennai plant and we commenced a refrigerator plant last year with a huge investment. Now, we are manufacturing our frost freeze less than 400 liters in Chennai itself. Three months back, we included cooktops in our production line," he said, adding that the company is planning to increase localization of the production of front load washing machines from 65 per cent to almost 90 per cent in the coming years.

In the Union Budget 2023-24, basic custom duty on electric kitchen chimneys has been increased from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent. What's the impact on your business? "This will impact us in the long run. But in the short run, for the next six to seven months, we have enough stocks. We are mulling production of our hoods or we might also get it manufactured." BSH is also mulling manufacturing of Hobs 2.0 in India and it is also prepared if the government stops the import of 400 liter plus refrigerators or in case increases the import duties, "We are working on this!"

Product innovations & channels

BSH entered India with three brands—Bosch for mass premium, Siemens for premium and Gaggenau will be luxury. With the mass brand, Bosch, it aims to enter every Indian household, "Recently launched cooktops and mixer grinders are part of this family. A few more products are in the pipeline."

It is also looking at the possibility of manufacturing single door refrigerators from its plant. "In the case of our premium products Siemens, we are market leaders and we are further strengthening our portfolio by launching an all black range of ovens. For Gaggenau, the ultra luxury brand, we are opening a few more experience centers, a recent one is coming up in Hyderabad by March."

On the shifting consumer behavior, he said, "Post pandemic, things have shifted towards premium, better quality products. People want companies which are more reliable. With disposable income in hand, the spending dynamics of people are changing."

Any organization needs to maintain a good balance of its offline and online channels. "We are growing in both the segments, BSH is relatively a new entrant and we have a lot of scope in our market shares. We have a hybrid structure, where we have more than 115 branch shops and as they generate good revenue we are planning to expand them. Further in this year, we will open new experience centers. We entered D2C last year and have received positive traction so we will strengthen the segment and maintain balance between offline and online channels."

Indian market & investment

For Robert Bosch, India is a serious market and the reason behind the company's investments in the region. "India is a protagonist in the global success story of BSH. As a result of the ongoing global crisis due to war, Europe is stagnant. Meanwhile, regions such as India and North America are growing exponentially."

Talking about new investments, he said, "The present capacity of the front loading line is 3,25,000 and the company is planning to double it. Though appliances have a long journey to cover, people are shifting more towards connected and smart devices," he said, adding that the company is taking innovative steps towards sustainability by making green efforts in packaging. Its manufacturing plant is producing 50 per cent to 55 per cent of its own power.

Bosch Limited, the flagship company of Bosch Group in India registered a whopping profit after tax growth of 35.74 per cent year-on-year. BSH Hausgeräte GmbH is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and is ranked number three in the sector worldwide. Today, BSH operates in about 42 factories in 13 countries in Europe, the USA, Latin America and Asia. Together with a global network of sales and customer service firms, the BSH family is made up of about 70 companies in 46 countries, with a total workforce of nearly 61,000 people.