Cranes: Cranes and hoists are an important category of material handling equipment
required by almost all sectors across the industry. Wide range of cranes are manufactured in the
country and these include Electric Overhead Travelling (EOT) cranes, mobile cranes, ladle
cranes, hydraulic decks, crab cranes, floating cranes, controller cranes, etc. There is a good
potential for growth of this sector in view of increased industrial activities in various fields as
well as construction industry.
Lifts and Escalators: The use of lifts and escalators is increasing rapidly due to substantial
investments in construction of multi-storied housing complexes, large malls and supermarkets of
international standards, modernization of airports and railway stations apart from industrial
sectors. A wide range of lifts and escalators are manufactured in India. These include single
speed, double speed, gearless, hydraulic, servo and Variable Voltage Variable Frequency
(VVVF) elevators.
Refrigerators: In India, refrigerators have the highest aspiration value of all consumer
durables with the exception of television. The refrigerator industry has become highly
competitive. A number of brands have entered the market and the consumers have wider choices.
There are two basic designs adopted in refrigerators presently being manufactured in the country.
These are commonly referred to as Direct Cool (DC) and Frost Free (FF). There has been gradual
consumer preference shift towards frost free segment. Increasing number of dual income
households are shifting the demand from the conventional 180L refrigerators to the larger 220L
and higher capacity refrigerators with double doors.
Washing Machines: The washing machine market in the country can be divided into semi-
automatic and fully-automatic. With rising incomes and higher aspirations, there is a gradual
shift towards higher capacity and fully-automatic washing machines. Controls are changing from
purely mechanical to fully electronic as microcontrollers are incorporated into the designs. While
providing intelligence, microcontrollers boost reliability, drive down costs and improve energy
efficiency.
Air Conditioners: Air Conditioners (AC) are gradually being treated as a necessity in
changed socio-economic environment with changing life style. The air-conditioners’ market can
be classified into three segments: window AC, split AC and central AC. The split ACs are
gaining popularity due to limitation of space and increase in number of people living in flats in
multi-storied complexes and also because of less noise. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a
statutory body under the Ministry of Power has introduced energy efficiency based star rating for
air conditioners to help consumers buy the best energy efficient products.
Lead Acid Storage Batteries: Lead acid batteries are accumulators of current and power
which is discharged over a period of time. They are used in vehicles and also for various
industrial uses such as for backup power for UPS application, control rooms, power stations,
telecommunications, etc. In addition, it is also used for emergency lights for houses, telephone
systems and as power source for mining, etc. A new application of lead acid batteries has
emerged today in electric vehicles. The average life of the battery is approximately 2 years,
hence these batteries will be needed as replacement throughout the life of the vehicle or the
machinery in use. Although there are few large scale manufacturers of the product in India, there
are large numbers of very small scale units manufacturing the product in a most unorganized
manner. The product manufactured by them normally does not meet the required standards as
specified by BIS. In order to ensure safe disposal of lead acid batteries, Ministry of Environment
and forest has issued a notification Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 under