What’s cooking?

New Delhi, April 2: Taurus Group, the Rs 2,000-crore Spanish maker of kitchen and home appliances, is set to enter the Indian market next year.

The group also owns the Inalsa brand, which it sells through the 100 per cent subsidiary, Taureg Marketing Private Limited, in India.

Taurus Group acquired Inalsa Home Appliances in October 2004.

“Plans are afoot to introduce the Taurus brand of home appliances in India next year. These products will come in the premium category and be priced slightly higher than Inalsa products,” said Amit Kumar Dhawan, the sales and marketing general manager of the company.

Taureg is also planning to expand the production capacity at its plant in Himachal Pradesh. The company plans to spend Rs 20 crore on capacity hike. The increased output will cater to both domestic and overseas markets. Till now, the company has invested close to Rs 40 crore.

Inalsa, which is largely present in north India, is now eyeing the eastern and southern markets. It has set a target to more than double its sales to Rs 100 crore in 2006-07 from Rs 45 crore in 2005-06.

In the near future, Inalsa, which became famous for its food processors, is set to come out with new and upgraded products. These include six models of mixer grinders, five of kitchen chimneys, 15 of cook-tops and two of juicer-mixer-grinders.

At present, the company has close to 2000 dealers selling its products across the country. This will rise to 4000 by the end of next year, Dhawan said. The number of distributors will increase from 300 to 600 in the same period.

The company is planning to export its products to Sri Lanka,Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia this fiscal.

Taurus Group is also mulling the possibility of making Indian operations a hub for the Asia-Pacific region.

At present, Taurus Group has manufacturing bases in Spain, Brazil and India.