Ajay Bajaj in New Delhi on Tuesday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, April 26: LG Electronics India plans to set up two assembly lines to manufacture air conditioners (ACs) at its Pune facility next year.

?This will entail an investment of approximately $30 million. The ACs manufactured here will largely be exported to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and West Asian countries,? said Ajay Bajaj, product group head, LG Electronics India Limited (LGEIL).

The investment will be part of the $250 million to be invested in the Pune plant. The production lines for ACs were slated to be established this year but have been put off till next year.

At present, the Pune facility manufactures colour televisions, refrigerators and mobiles. While LG?s high-end premium ACs are imported from Korea, the remaining models are manufactured in Noida (near Delhi) facility.

The company already exports ACs to Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Singapore, Iran and Iraq.

After the new production lines are in place, LG India?s AC manufacturing capacity will double and it will start eyeing new export markets, said Bajaj.

?The new lines will cater to the increased domestic demand anticipated in the next few years as well as to the export market as the Pune plant is closer to the port and would have cost benefits,? he said, adding that LG was also likely to shift production of premium ACs to Pune.

LG today launched the revamped range of ?Whisen? and ?Healthzone? range of air conditioners with added features like 3-D cooling and tele controls.

The Whisen range is priced between Rs 23,490 and Rs 66,000, while Healthzone ACs will carry a price tag between Rs 14,000 and Rs 35,000.

The company currently has a market share of over 40 per cent in ACs and a compounded annual growth rate of 38 per cent against the industry average of 28 per cent.

LG has set a sales target of 1 million units with a 50 per cent market share in ACs by 2007, Bajaj said.

By 2007, the company is also aiming for a reversal in window to split AC ratio to 60:40 against the current 33:67 in the wake of the growth expected in smaller cities as well as second-time purchases.