In a major development for the government’s Make in India programme, another Chinese major, Haier, is setting up a mega industrial park at Greater Noida, with an investment of about Rs 3,070 crore. The ground breaking ceremony for the same was held on Friday (29 March 2019) and the plant is expected to be operational by 2020-end, reports The Hindu BusinessLine.

Once operational, the new unit would have an annual production capacity of 2 million refrigerators, which would enable the company to double its overall refrigerator production in India. Refrigerators contribute about 40 per cent to the company's annual turnover presently. The said plant will also have an annual capacity for 1.5 million washing machines and 1 million air conditioners.

The major investment comes on the backdrop of two major developments for Haier. One, India has become its highest contributing international market with enormous further room for growth. Two, its existing unit at Pune is reaching full capacity and is expected to run out of capacity by next year. This makes capacity addition a must for Haier to pursue its ambitious goals.

The company, which has completed 15 years of operations in India, aspires to become a billion-dollar company and be among the top three brands in the home appliances segment. Haier also owns a cluster of seven other widely known brands which include GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, Aqua and Candy.

The company, which operates a Research & Development (R&D) centre at Pune, gets major R&D support from the parent company based in China. However, the company is now in the process of investing into a new R&D unit at Greater Noida to generate in-house solutions and product concepts.