Japan-based electronics major Panasonic Corporation’s Indian arm, Panasonic India Appliances (PIA), is set to make country-specific automatic rice cookers for export to destinations like US, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand, among others.
According to the Annual Report 2014 of the company, the rice cooker models of 4.2 litres intended for Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, US and Canada are ready for production. The quality and safety certification required from international bodies such as TISI for Thailand, SIRIM certificate for Malaysia, ETL/NSF for US and Canada have been obtained, which is mandatory for export to these markets.
PIA is Panasonic Corporation’s joint venture with Chennai’s Obul Reddy family in India to exclusively manufacture and sell home appliance products including rice cookers and mixer grinders.
The Chennai headquartered company, in an effort to enter new export markets, has carried out research and development (R&D) activities to develop additional models of the existing cookers and mixer grinders as per the global specifications. Product specifications vary from country to country.