The doctor silently scaling up Indian manufacturing

Dr. Pawan Goenka is driving an unusual public-private partnership, informing and helping finetune policy changes

Before the pandemic started, the major players in India’s room air conditioner market had no plans to invest in larger manufacturing operations, relying instead on convenient imports of over 80% of finished ACs.

Over the past week, despite COVID-19 denting AC sales, global brands like Hitachi, Daikin and Panasonic, as well as domestic majors like Voltas and Blue Star, have announced investments of about ₹5,000 crore to reverse the reliance on imported AC parts from 80% to 20% over the next five years.

The seeds for this about-turn, driven partly by a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, were being sown from a third-floor corner office of an auto major in Worli, Mumbai.