Power deficit and the poor financial health of state run power utilities have helped inverter sales across the country. The all India peak demand in October 2011 was 128,907 MW and the deficit 13.1 per cent.
According to Ramana Prasad Alam, executive director, Amara Raja Electronics, the inverter business in the country had grown from close to 0.5 million units per year about six years ago to 3.5 million units (OE-battery and inverter as single unit) in 2010-11. Of this, north, west and the east comprise close to 2.0 million units, while the southern states the rest.
It is known that the unorganised inverter manufacturing segment has benefited hugely on account of the power cuts.
On battery sale, Alam said projections vary between 6 million and 10 million, but it must be understood that replacement batteries should also be accounted for. Moreover, some inverters come with a two battery configuration of 24 volts. For the current fiscal, there had been no spiral as such but the year still had four months to go. Sales of inverters happen between mid-February and June.
