January 8, 2015: Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India & South Asia has been announced as the new president of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA). The executive council of CEAMA has unanimously elected him as the new president. Manish Sharma, who has previously served as the vice president (North) of CEAMA, has taken up the new chair succeeding Anirudh Dhoot, Director, Videocon. In the role of CEAMA’s president, Manish Sharma is expected to play a major role in fuelling a healthy growth of the consumer electronics and home appliances industry by serving as a key representative of the government and thus bridge the gap with the industry in a meaningful manner with the help of necessary dialogues and interactions. As vice president (North) he has driven major policy-related decisions for the industry and hence the expectations from him is higher this time.
Handing over the responsibility, former president of CEAMA, Anirudh Dhoot said that Manish Sharma’s in depth knowledge of the industry and its business sentiments coupled with an expansive knowledge of consumer behaviour will help CEAMA do better things in the future.
Manish Sharma, taking up the new role, said that the market size of the consumer durables industry is expected to reach US$ 12.5 billion this year. He attributed this future success to the backing provided by some strong government policies and the ‘Make in India’ campaign launched by prime minister Narendra Modi which has acted as a motivation to the market as it promises a lucrative time for the manufacturers in the coming days. He was further quoted as saying, “The amalgamation of these trends and policies has also enabled higher contribution to sales by rural and semi-urban markets making the rural consumer durables market to grow at a CAGR of 25 per cent. Going forward, the industry is expected to unleash significant business opportunities, heightened innovation, higher levels of collaboration and a significant impact on competitiveness and growth.”
