Blue Star to invest Rs 550 cr on new manufacturing plant at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh

Air conditioning and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star Ltd on Wednesday said the company would invest around Rs 550 crore over the next few years for setting up a greenfield manufacturing unit at Sri City, in Andhra Pradesh.

Blue Star Climatech, a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, has commenced construction of the new plant, which will be 'highly automated' and will ensure that the products manufactured are globally competitive, said a company statement.

The construction of the first phase of 30,000 sq meters will be completed by July 2022.

This facility will be operational by Q2FY23 and will primarily manufacture room ACs with a maximum capacity of 12 lakh units per annum, it added.

"The company plans to invest Rs 550 crores over the next few years on this plant spanning an area of 20 acres, in a phased manner," said Blue Star Ltd.

The company is also planning to acquire IGBC Gold Rated Green Building certification for this plant.

Leveraging the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme by the Indian government, Blue Star Climatech has filed an application for manufacturing of Heat Exchangers and Sheet Metal components at this facility in Sri City.

"The plant is located closer to Southern ports and this will enable speedy and efficient logistics management for the company," it said.

Besides, the new plant will benefit the local communities as it is expected to create employment opportunities for around 1,500 people.

Commenting on the development Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan said: "Aligning ourselves to the 'Make in India' initiative and by leveraging on the PLI scheme by the Indian government, we intend to manufacture certain components in-house at this facility."

The plant is located closer to Southern ports and this will enable speedy and efficient logistics management for the company, it added.

Last week, Daikin Industries announced plans to set up its third manufacturing unit in India, at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, where it plans to manufacture ACs and its components and invest around Rs 1,000 crore.