Samsung India eyes 40 p.c. turnover growth

KOLKATA, INDIA: Digital technology major Samsung Electronics plans a turnover growth of 40 per cent for 2011 to clock $5 billion in India this year, a top company executive said on Friday.

"Our plan for growth is 40 per cent across segments for this year. Last year, our turnover was $3.5 billion and this year, we plan to achieve $5 billion," Samsung India (Home Appliances) vice-president K. Mahesh said.

"We have clocked about 80 per cent growth in LED TV sets," he said.

When asked which region is giving the maximum growth to the company, he replied, "A lot of expansion is happening in tier-I, II and III towns. We see a lot of growth coming from the smaller towns."

On investment plans, Mahesh said the company has just completed an investment of about Rs.350 crore in its Chennai plant to upgrade capacity.

The company normally invests Rs.100 crore to Rs.110 crore every year, he said.

He said the company has hired an Italian designer to design its premium segment refrigerators.

"We (have) hired Italian designer Nathimo Zucci. He basically designs watches and jewellery. We got him to design our refrigerators. This is for the premium segment. The refrigerators are already available in the market. This is the first of its kind," he said.