Until last year, consumer durables retailer Vijay Sales would hardly stock up on air purifiers in Mumbai as demand was negligible. The picture is different now. The retail chain has seen sales go from a measly 5 units last year to almost 150 units now at its outlets in the city. And the number could increase as Mumbai’s air quality worsens with rising air pollution.
“Typically, around this time every year (October-November), the air quality in cities such as Delhi-NCR begins to get worse. This year, Mumbai too has seen bad air quality prompting an increase in sales of air purifiers,” says Nilesh Gupta, director at Vijay Sales, which has outlets in the west and north of India.
Executives at Kohinoor Electronics, Croma and Reliance Digital also point to a spurt in sales of air purifiers at their outlets within the city. This is despite the prohibitive price. Retailers say that a Dyson air purifier, for instance, can cost anywhere between Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 per unit at the lower end going up to Rs 65,000-Rs 68,000 at the upper end depending on the features.
“Air purifiers as a market is very small in India. The category also tends to be seasonal in nature, with sales seeing an increase during the winter months,” says Eric Braganza, president of the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA).
Yet, that has not deterred the well-heeled from laying their hands on the product as respiratory problems in the city have risen as air quality falls. Mumbai last week recorded its worse air quality index (AQI) at 191 versus Delhi’s 84. While the AQI levels in the city have since moderated, medical practitioners say that those suffering from respiratory problems have to be cautious.
“Coastal cities such as Mumbai have the advantage of air pollution being blown away into the sea. However, pollution levels have been increasing sharply in the city of late, which has led to people suffering from breathing problems,” says Dr Pankaj Bathla, a general physician who practices in the Santacruz area of Mumbai.
Bathla has been advising his patients to put on masks and use air purifiers at home.
While residents of Delhi-NCR have had to grapple with these problems for years, exacerbated in part by stubble burning in neighbouring states such as Punjab and Haryana, for residents in Mumbai, this is a new reality.
The civic body in Mumbai – Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) – has warned that construction in the city will be halted if builders do not take measures to cut dust and pollution levels at their sites. This includes putting up 35-feet high sheets to prevent dust from settling all over as well as a mandatory enclosure of buildings with cloth cover.
Experts say that with construction on at 6,000 sites across the city, these measures would hardly help. On Tuesday, for instance, the AQI recorded in Mumbai was poor across most of the 22 stations where it is monitored, raising concerns ahead of Diwali, which is a period where fire crackers are burst to celebrate the festival of lights.
While the BMC may clampdown on bursting of fire crackers to reduce air pollution, it is clearly boom time for air purifier makers in terms of business.
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