More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Apr. 16, 2026

--Kolkata retailers: Offering huge discounts on AC to clear inventory

--Kolkata retailers: Facing huge AC inventory overhang from last year

--Kolkata Retailers: AC sales picked up late this year in April

Avishek Rakshit

KOLKATA – While air-conditioner makers have raised prices 5-7% in March and more hikes are expected this month, the products continue to be priced lower, thanks to heavy discounts offered by retailers to clear a steep inventory overhang. Retailers in Kolkata said they were laden with inventory of 3-6 weeks against the norm of two weeks in early summers. The inventory overhang, dealers said, is on account of excess production by the companies last year in anticipation of a strong summer demand. The output got largely dumped with the sales channels. 

Retailers like the Tata Group-owned Croma are offering discounts in the range of 40-60% on inverter air conditioners just to clear old stocks, according to prices reviewed by Informist at Croma stores in Kolkata. Reliance Group-owned Reliance Digital is also offering discounts in the range of 30-50% on last year's models. The discounts cover online and offline sales.

The largest discount of nearly 60% in Croma is offered on Carrier air conditioners while air conditioners made by Voltas Ltd., Samsung, LG, and others are offered at discount of 40-50%. On top of the discounts, retailers like Reliance Digital are offering no-interest equated monthly instalment options with customised downpayment in partnership with financing companies. Informist has reviewed the prices, discounts, and instalment options at Reliance Digital. 

Retailers said air-conditioner demand has started to pick up lately in Kolkata, coinciding with the Bengali New Year. Usually, demand for cooling products like air conditioners and fans starts to pick up in mid-March and peaks in May. Last year, the erratic summer and an early and prolonged monsoon had wreaked havoc on demand in Kolkata and sales of all major air-conditioning companies, including Voltas and Blue Star, had taken a hit. 

Voltas's revenue from sales of unitary cooling products during Apr-Dec fell 16% on year to INR 60 billion and profit from sales of cooling products tanked 76% to a little over INR 1 billion. Blue Star Ltd.'s revenue from unitary cooling product sales fell 9% on year to INR 33 billion and profit declined 25% on year to INR 2 billion in the same period. 

Retailers said air-conditioning companies were expecting the inventory to clear up when the new energy efficiency norms kicked in in January and the summer season started. "However, air-conditioner sales didn't pick up on expected lines and consumers, aware of the inventory situation, were expecting discounts. It is only after the steep discounts started this month that we are seeing some pick-up in sales," said Shubhro Chakraborty, owner of consumer appliances retailing company Century Refrigeration Appliances. 

In January, after declaring its financial performance for the December quarter, Voltas had told investors it expected the inventory overhang to be cleared in mid-March. Blue Star, in a similar conference call with investors after its results, had said inventory would get cleared to a large extent in Jan-Feb when the new energy efficiency norms kicked in. 

However, retailers like Croma are offering 40-50% discount on Voltas air conditioners currently and Blue Star air conditioners are being offered at a 25-40% discount, in Kolkata. 

Sales personnel at Reliance Digital said easy equated monthly instalment schemes are also driving demand for consumer appliances, including air conditioners. However, the war on Iran by the US and Israel and the resulting macroeconomic fallout have consumers in India worried about the impact of the conflict, the sales personnel said. 

"Consumer sentiment has definitely improved in April as the summer has started to kick in, but sales, to a large extent, will depend on the actual price the consumer has to pay," Chakraborty said. "Customers are not buying higher-priced products still even under no-cost equated monthly instalment options or zero down payment." 

Consumer demand trend and retailer sentiments indicate that discounts will continue to drive air-conditioner sales in Kolkata at least in the coming months.  End

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.