Tata Croma in strategic tie-up with Hitachi, to sell TVs by Sept

NEW DELHI: Japanese investments appear to be gathering momentum in India.

Close on the heels of Sony’s contract manufacturing agreement with Foxconn, consumer durables-to-infrastructure technology major Hitachi has entered into a strategic partnership with Croma to tap India’s booming electronic retail segment.

Hitachi Home Electronics Asia (S) Pte Ltd (HHES), a whollyowned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, has inked the deal with Croma, run by Infinity Retail Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Sons. The venture will initially sell TVs by the end of September or early October, when the festival season kicks in, but expand the pact later to cover other consumer appliances as well.

“India is a strategic growth market for Hitachi,” HHES MD H Nakano told HT. “We are currently focused on establishing our brand at the top end of the value chain in terms of quality and services through the strategy of engaging with a single partner. This has worked very well in the UK where we conducted a pilot and have now decided to bring this business model to India in partnership with Croma,” he added.

The partnership with Croma appears to be in line with the long-term strategic thinking that future smart cities hold an opportunity in latent demand for smart systems, fixed consumer equipment and smart buildings, which must be available when the basic infrastructure is built.

“We believe it will allow us to differentiate in a market where products and technologies are not optimally used by consumers,” Infiniti Retail CEO Avijit Mitra said.

Hitachi India and the Tata Group already have a joint-venture in construction machinery and steel automation, among others.