Bosch Home Comfort Group is targeting a strong double-digit share of India’s air-conditioner market within two years, backed by an investment of about ₹900 crore to expand manufacturing, localisation and engineering capabilities in the country.
The German company plans to launch Bosch-branded air conditioners in India next year while positioning Hitachi as its mainstream and mass-premium brand. Sanjay Sudhakaran, Managing Director of Bosch Home Comfort India, said the company also aims to become one of the country’s top five cooling and comfort brands in the medium term.
The strategy follows Bosch Home Comfort’s acquisition of Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning’s global residential and light-commercial air-conditioning business in August 2025. In India, the group has taken over Hitachi’s air-conditioning operations and plans to refresh the portfolio while using the two brands to address different consumer segments.
Bosch air conditioners will be positioned in the performance-premium and super-premium categories, competing with brands such as O General and Mitsubishi Electric. Products in this segment are expected to be priced at around ₹45,000 to ₹50,000 and above. Hitachi will continue to serve the mainstream and mass-premium segments, drawing on its established air-conditioning identity and distribution network.
The planned investment of €80 million, equivalent to approximately ₹900 crore, will support residential and light-commercial air-conditioning products. This includes variable refrigerant flow systems under the Hitachi brand. The company is manufacturing its latest range of Hitachi VRF products at its facility in Kadi, Gujarat, and has expanded its global research and development centre in Ahmedabad to focus on light-commercial cooling technologies.
The Kadi plant currently has annual manufacturing capacity of more than 10 lakh air-conditioning units. It produces heat exchangers, indoor-unit moulds, condensing units, sheet-metal components, tubing and coils, and also carries out painting operations. Sudhakaran said the company would deploy capital expenditure in line with market growth and did not confirm or deny reports that it could consider a new manufacturing facility in southern India.
Local sourcing is a central part of the expansion plan. About 75 per cent of the company’s procurement is currently domestic, while imports account for approximately 25 per cent. The company said its integrated manufacturing operations and domestic sourcing would help improve cost competitiveness and reduce dependence on imported components when currency movements or wider economic conditions make imports more attractive.
Bosch Home Comfort also has access to compressors through a joint venture with a major global compressor manufacturer that operates a plant in Ahmedabad. The company said it would continue to expand domestic manufacturing and backward integration as it develops its product range in India.
On the market side, the group plans to use Hitachi’s existing distribution and retail network for both brands while exploring Bosch’s consumer-appliances retail footprint. Bosch-branded air conditioners could also be sold through Bosch and BSH-branded stores. Large-format retailers, regional retailers and online platforms will remain important channels.
The company expects to create operational synergies across sales and service, manufacturing, research and development, product development, supply chains and human resources. Its expansion is based on rising disposable incomes, low room-air-conditioner penetration and the expectation that cooling demand will grow alongside India’s economy. The next milestones are the launch of Bosch-branded air conditioners and the phased deployment of the planned investment.
