Blue Star scouts for European partner

Blue Star, a maker of air-conditioners and commercial refrigeration products, is on the look out for a European partner to source ammonia refrigerant technology, which is used in cold storage rooms.

Satish Jamdar, executive director, Blue Star, said, "We are planning to make cold storage rooms using ammonia refrigerants from next year. At present, no player in the country is offering a complete range of products and services based on this technology."

The market for cold storage rooms in the country is still nascent. There is no single player offering an entire range of products and services: each has a different set of offerings.

At present, many air-conditioner companies, including Blue Star, use only 'free-on' refrigerant technology in making cold storage rooms. Few use the ammonia refrigerants and so this segment is unorganised and fragmented.

Jamdar said, "The size market for cold storage rooms in India is estimated at Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion). Of this, half is contributed by free-on refrigerant technology and the other half by ammonia refrigerant technology."

Cold storage rooms based on ammonia refrigerant technology are used by the perishable-foods sector, ice cream makers, pharmaceutical firm and hospitals.

Blue Star posted a net profit of Rs 32.55 crore (Rs 325.5 million) on a turnover of Rs 716 crore (Rs 7.16 billion) in the year ended on March 31, 2004.

The company expects its turnover to grow by 20 per cent this fiscal. It also aims to double its exports earnings, which stood at Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million) in 2003-04.

The air-conditioner firm has three manufacturing facilities and has presence in 29 cities.

Previously, the company had entered into technical collaborations with US-based York International and Rheem Manufacturing, and Italy-based Climatrol, for manufacturing air-conditioning equipment, such as centrifugal chillers, reciprocating chillers, screw chillers and air-handling units.

It also had recently entered into a tie-up with the Taiwan-based Hanbell Precise Machinery Company for supply of hermetic screw compressors.