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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

 

--Voltas: May hike 3-star AC prices by around 8% on input cost pressure 

--CONTEXT: Comments by Voltas mgmt to Informist on event sidelines 

--Voltas: May hike 5-star AC prices by around 15% on input cost pressure 

 

By Anand JC

 

NEW DELHI – Voltas Ltd., India's leading consumer durables firm, is likely to raise the prices of its room air conditioners by around 7-15%, depending on the energy efficiency ratings, because of an increase in the cost of key commodities such as copper and aluminium and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, a top company official told Informist Tuesday. He did not specify when the company would raise prices.

 

Voltas is likely to raise the prices of air conditioners with a three-star energy efficiency rating by around 8% and those with a five-star rating by around 15%, Jayant Balan, chief of Voltas's room air conditioner business, said. Around 70% of air conditioners sold in India are rated three stars. The star ratings, regulated by the Union power ministry's Bureau of Energy Efficiency, are a barometer of the energy efficiency of electrical and electronic appliances.

 

Goods and services tax on air conditioners was cut to 18% from 28%, leading to a price decrease of around 8%. "If you look at it from a consumer point of view, if he bought a three-star product last May and he was buying again in March of this year, he would buy a superior product at roughly the same price because there is a table change, there is a better product, there is a host of new features, same price," Balan said. Table change refers to revisions to the efficiency rating table thresholds. As a result, an appliance that was previously rated five-star may be assigned a lower star rating in the new table.

 

"Now, five-star (air conditioners) is a bit of a challenge. There, I think we can look at a mid double-digit... there would be another 7-8% on top of the GST difference," Balan said. "But we will see how that pans out because, as I see it, if there is some softening of commodities and the dollar does go the other way, then we will definitely pass on the benefit to the consumer."

Balan acknowledged that there has been a steep increase in the cost of commodities such as copper, which is trading at around $13,000 per tonne, and aluminium, which hit record highs earlier this year. "All of these have resulted in increases, and to a certain extent, it has to be passed on to the consumer," he said.

 

GROWTH PROSPECTS

Voltas expects the room air-conditioner market to grow by more than 25% going forward. However, this growth would be on a flattish base as sales in 2025 were dampened by unseasonal rains. "This particular FY26 was arguably a very weak summer, simply because monsoon came in early and that erratic weather continued throughout the year, dampening demand," Balan said. "So we are coming off a relatively lower base... there is a lower base effect because we didn't grow this year."

 

Voltas is India's top room air-conditioner maker. It holds a share of around 18% in the air-conditioner market, up from around 16.8% as of Mar. 31. "So, the secular direction has been one of increase, despite a market which is intensely competitive," Balan said. He added that the company gained market share despite other companies flushing the inventory with stock and offering discounts to push sales. Voltas has its eyes set on achieving a market share of 20%.

 

Around 85% of Voltas's air-conditioner customers are first-time buyers. "Voltas historically has been very strong in the North and East markets, where I think the percentage of first-time buyers is also higher because we see the highest increase in per capita GDP in these markets as compared to the South and West, which are fairly more mature," Balan said.

 

For the December quarter, the company, on a consolidated basis, reported a net profit of INR 849.50 million on a revenue of INR 30.71 billion. Tuesday, its shares closed flat at INR 1,538 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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