Alok Bharadwaj in Calcutta on Wednesday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, May 10: Canon India, a subsidiary of the Japanese camera and printer-copier manufacturer, is betting big on Bengal for the growth of its digital camera business in the country.

?In the last quarter of 2005-06, we became the market leader in eastern India by cornering a 32 per cent share in digital camera and 30 per cent in digital copier multifunctional,? said Alok Bharadwaj, vice-president (sales and marketing), Canon India Pvt Ltd.

The company today launched 36 products, of which 18 are digital cameras, to bolster its growth in the eastern market. ?In October, we will launch 40 more products, half of which will be digital cameras,? Bharadwaj said.

Bengal and other eastern states have contributed Rs 80 crore, or 26 per cent, to Canon India?s total sales in the country. The company clocked a turnover of Rs 306 crore in 2005-06.

?We are targeting a 30 per cent growth in the current fiscal. In absolute terms, we are looking at a turnover of Rs 400 crore in 2006-07,? Bharadwaj said.

Canon has earmarked Rs 30 crore for business promotion and retail network expansion. ?Of this, Rs 9 crore has been allotted for Bengal,? he said.

?Right now, we have 18 distributors and 400 dealers in Bengal and other eastern states. The number of dealers will be increased to 600 this year,? Bharadwaj added.

The company has no manufacturing facility in India. The products are imported via Singapore from its manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia and Japan.

?Canon started selling digital cameras in India in 2003. At that time, our entry-level camera was one mega-pixel priced at Rs 2,500. Now the entry level digital camera is 4 mega pixel priced at Rs 8,995,? Bharadwaj said.

The company follows a strategy to replace 60 per cent of its models with new ones every year and 60 per cent of its revenue comes from sales of new products, he added.

Product launches not only help the company charge a premium but newer and cost-effective technologies also help it stave off the rise in input costs from affecting the bottomline.