Jaquar ties up with AO Smith to launch water heaters in India

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Kolkata, Jul 18 : Jaquar & Company Ltd, India's largest manufacturer and exporter of bath fittings on Friday tied up with $2.3 billion US company, AO Smith, to launch an exclusive range of water heaters in India.

This is AO Smith's first entry into the Indian market. Jaquar director (marketing) Rajesh Mehra said: "This tieup will enable Jaquar to provide world-class products to Indian customers leveraging the latest technology provided by AO Smith. The latter will benefit from Jaquar's established market presence and strong distribution network."

The two models on the offer, EWJ-6 and EWJ-10, are priced at Rs 5675 and Rs 6200 respkectively, and will be marketed under the brand name AO Smith-Jaquar. The water tank will come with a warranty of seven years, the glass-lined heating elements with four years and the rest of the parts with a warranty of two years.

According to Mehra, the heaters will be imported from AO Smith's manufacturing unit in China till Jaquar sets up manufacturing plants in India for this purpose. The company will come up with investment figures and sites for the Indian plants in a couple of months.

According to AO Smith's national sales & marketing manager Tamal Chaudhari, the company occupies 80% of the water products segment in USA and is the largest water heater manufacturer in North America with 40 plants worldwide.