Monday, March 30, 2015

1.5 ton AC freezes 80% share of air conditioners' total sales

Split ACs have marginally become expensive
With the onset of early summers, the demand of air conditioners has suddenly increased this year. The demand for ACs have surged tremendously even before the start of the April month. However, the prices, when compared with previous summer, have marginally climbed up by up to 5%, depending on the models.

The statistics generated from the online demand of ACs in previous summers reveal that 1.5 ton ACs including split and window with 2 and 3 star ratings have more than 80% of share in the total sales of ACs in entire summer of 2014. The trend is expected to continue in 2015 as almost every brand is focusing on 1.5 ton.
Online sale of AC and Coolers - Infographics

Last year, the starting range of split AC was around Rs23,000. This year, it has marginally increased by around Rs500 to Rs700. The half ton split AC this year is available for Rs23,700 and above.

Meanwhile, the Window AC and air cooler too have demands, but their share is believed to be less than 20%. This year the air coolers have also become expensive. The entry range last year was around Rs4,700, which has increased by up to 15%. The price of the air coolers this year, is above Rs5,400.

The demand of Window AC is decreasing every year. Few years ago, the share of Window AC was more than 30% while these days it has fallen to 20%, 10% lesser than the previous one. Window ACs have some demand, only because of their affordability. However, the price of Window Acs, due to fall in demand, are almost remained flat as compared to the prices in the summer of 2014. This year, the price of Window AC starts from Rs16,500. 

At Infibeam, almost every AC brands sold in India are available online. The brand names include Amfah, Blue Star, Carrier, DaikinGodrejHaierHitachiIFBLGLloydMitashiMitsubishiPanasonicSamsungSharpVoltas and Whirlpool.

Tonnage wise, at Infibeam, ACs with below 1 ton are also available. While with higher capacity it also goes beyond 2 tons and more.  The overall price range of ACs including Window and split is between Rs16,500 and to over Rs92,000.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

'Modi is a Complex Person'

Esteemed Journalist & Author, Lance Price Talks about his new book The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India 

Lance Price Author
Lance Price
Lance Price is an author, political commentator, former BBC correspondent and media advisor in 10 Downing Street. An Oxford alumni, Price has worked for BBC for nearly 2 decades, and is an avid traveller. He has worked in North Ireland, was a national radio and TV reporter, Defence Correspondent, and finally a Political Correspondent at Westminster.

In 2011, Price left journalism to join the press office at 10 Downing Street as a special adviser for Alastair Campbell. In 2000, he became the Labour Party’s Director of Communications and helped plan -and then run the 2001 General Election campaign.

Since 2001, Price has been a freelance writer, broadcaster and commentator. He also lectures in politics, journalism, and at times does media training as well. He has authored three book so far: The Spin Doctor's Diary, Time and Fate, and Where Power Lies.

His fourth book, The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India is going to release on the 12th of this month. Infibeam got a chance to have a conversation with the eminent journalist about the book that's been creating ripples on the Indian Political scene. Here is what he had to say: 

Que: Your book The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India claims to give a never seen before view of Modi's Lok Sabha election campaign from the back-room. Can you say that you have covered every aspect of the campaign?

Lance Price: I was very fortunate to be able to interview Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times and get a great many new thoughts from him about how me managed the campaign and the tactics he used. I also spoke to people at every level of the campaign, from high-level advertising executives to junior foot soldiers who worked at the booth level. I have done my best to cover all aspects of the campaign. Some of it was very modern and high-tech, including the 3D hologram rallies. And The Modi Effect tells the story of what a huge undertaking these were and how sometimes it appeared that it might all go wrong, but by hard work and good fortune it worked! I hope there is plenty of detail for readers who would love to know more about exactly how the election was planned and executed. But it is not just for politics addicts. I have tried to make the book interesting for all readers who would like to re-live some of the great moments of the election and find out how it looked from the inside.

The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's Campaign to Transform India
Que: Being an outsider, what inspired you to take up PM Narendra Modi's election campaign as the subject of your book? Do you think you have done justice to the Indian point-of-view?

Lance Price: It is true that I am an outsider but I hope that gives me a unique perspective. I love elections and have seen many in different parts of the world, although nothing to compare with the Modi campaign. I wanted to see how he did it but also to see what lessons people in the west could learn from an Indian election. There will be a campaign in my country, the UK, very soon and in America next year. I think that the Modi campaign was a trend-setter and that many people outside India will be fascinated by the story also. Of course all the people who gave their time to be interviewed were Indian and the book is full of their stories, so I very much hope it does do justice to the campaign through Indian eyes.

Que: Tell us about the research you did for the book. How and where did you begin, what made you decide that you had enough material for the book?

Lance Price: When you are researching something like this, there is no such thing as enough material. I would have been happy to meet more and more and people and hear their stories, because they are all so fascinating. But at some point you have to say that you now have enough to tell the story properly and fairly. And because it is about last year’s election we wanted to make sure the book was available quite quickly while the memories of the election are still so fresh in everybody’s minds. I began with Mr Modi himself, of course, and he had many suggestions for how to tell the story of the triumph of Indian democracy. And I also spoke to academic experts and journalists in India to get a rounded perspective.

Que: Share something interesting that happened during your research.

Lance Price: The minister Mr. Piyush Goyal was very kind to invite me to his house and offer me dinner with his wife. They were both so excited by the campaign and full of good information. At one point during the meal Mr. Goyal told me about a TV advert he had planned to show after Mr. Modi was denied permission for a rally in Varanasi. The first version would have been very controversial because Mr Goyal and his team were quite angry when they made it. In the end they decided to use a more upbeat advert and so nobody had seen the original. But Mr. Goyal still had it on his phone so he pulled out his mobile and shared it with me. You can read all about it and what I thought of it in the book.

Que: How do you think Modi's victory in the elections has affected the world?

Lance Price: Narendra Modi’s election has already had a huge impact. He has already travelled to many world capitals and taken him with him the message that India is changing. His victory has gripped the attention of people all over the globe which is another reason I wrote The Modi Effect. I think if people want to understand the new direction India is taking then first they have to try to understand Mr Modi. And he is a complex and fascinating person. India’s size and economic potential means that whatever happens in India will have a big impact internationally.

Que: Do you think Modi's victory is a reflection of the shift in people's mindset with regards to the minorities?

Lance Price: One of the most interesting things about the Narendra Modi campaign is that it challenged the mind-set of people about all sorts of things, not just the minorities. He said to all Indians that it was time to rethink how politics is done in your country. I call it in the book ‘recasting India’ with a deliberate pun on caste and how people decided to cast their votes. We will have to see how permanent those changes are. Mr Modi preferred not to address his campaign at the minorities but to talk about all Indians and the needs they all have, whether it is jobs or a roof over their heads or a government that is less corrupt. What I found very significant was the stress he placed on women and young people in the election. And he has repeated those priorities since he became prime minister.

Que: Do you think that Modi's campaign and the subsequent victory was a hype created by the Indian media?

Lance Price: No, the election campaign and Modi's victory were very real, not hyped. There was definitely lots of excitement in the media and one of Modi’s successes was to get the media very worked up about him and what he was saying. He managed to dominate the media in many quite clever ways and my book explains how this was done. If Congress and the other parties think they were out-shone in the media then they should study what the BJP did and look again at their own strategies.

Que: You are the only author who has secured interviews with Modi and his core team. How was the experience?

Lance Price: I was very fortunate to be the only author to be granted access to Narendra Modi and several of his ministers and key campaign workers. It was a great privilege and I am very grateful to him for his time and to everybody else also. He is a very busy man but he was always very courteous with me and did not appear to be in any hurry at all. So we were able to discuss many things at some length. It was also important that he said I could write the story in my words without any strings attached in return for the access. Being with him in the room for over an hour at a time was fascinating. He is very engaged in the conversation and he loves to talk about the details of the campaign and how it felt for him. His stamina and energy are like those of a much younger man!