LG launches water purifier for Rs 40,000

Korean consumer durables LG on Monday announced its entry into the Indian water purifier market and said it aims to be a major player in the category by offering a range of products across all segments of consumers.

While the company's first water purifier product will be priced around Rs 40,000, the company is already working to introduce a product in the mass segment by the end of this year to compete with the likes of Tata's Swach and HUL's Puriet, which are priced around Rs 1,000 to Rs 7000 range.

"Our way of doing business is that whenever we enter a new business we try to tap the high end segment and then we expand from high end to more affordable range," LG Electronics President (South West Asia) and Managing Director of LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd Soon Kwon said.

At present, the Indian water purifier market is estimated to be around five million pieces per year. It is mainly dominated by HUL, Kent RO and Eureka Forbes among others.

LG said to start with, its product will cater to a premium and niche segment, which is close to 5 per cent of the market.

"We are already working on bringing out affordable range...We will be able to tell you at what price but we are very serious about it... Depending on the feedback of the product of the premium range, we will consider launching it in different segments," Kwon said.

When asked about the company's targets in the water purifier segment, he said: "It is too early to talk about market shares now but we definitely would like to have a significant presence there."

At present, the company is launching the product only in major cities, including the National Capital Region, Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

Kwon also said the company would consider setting up a manufacturing plant for its water purifier products once it enters the affordable segment.

"In the same category, we are planning to bring affordable range by the end of this year," LG India Home Appliances (Business Head) Rajeev Jain said.

He, however, declined to give further details on what price points it is planning to launch. Besides, the company launched a refrigerator which will be positioned at the premium end of the market.

The new refrigerator, which has a capacity of 782 litres, is priced at Rs 1.76 lakh.