Air Quality: As air quality dips, purifier sales boom

NEW DELHI: Call it the flip side of crippling air pollution, but sales of air purifiers have shot through the roof as pollution and dust engulf large parts of northern India and other regions across UP, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Mumbai in Maharashtra.
Companies say that demand for air purifiers stands at record levels, especially as the pollution menace and dark haze has come to haunt cities even before Diwali.And, it’s not just the Delhi-NCR and the northern India belt which is reeling under pressure, the city of Mumbai is equally stressed on the pollution front, apart from other ones like Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Lucknow, and various regions of Haryana.
It’s not just brands such as Xiaomi, Philips (now part of Versuni Home Solutions), and Kent that are witnessing a strong demand for air purifiers due to the excessive decline in air quality, but even premium makers such as Dyson and Daikin are getting equally aggressive orders.
Gulbahar Taurani, MD & CEO of Versuni India, said there is a double-digit increase in sales of Philips Air Purifiers, as AQI levels hit alarming levels, surpassing 500 AQI in certain areas of Delhi-NCR. “This trend is expected to continue, as air purifiers become essential year-round investments for all strata to protect health and well-being.”
Xiaomi said such has been the spike in demand that it has been witnessing a 10x increase in sales during this week itself when air quality dipped to new lows. “With other metros like Mumbai too seeing a rise in AQI levels, the category itself has grown by 40-50% through the year, compared to last year,” an official at Xiaomi said.
Companies say not only the outdoors, but even indoors are severely polluted. “While we may be aware of outdoor air pollution, awareness of indoor air pollution remains low, which can be up to 10 times worse than outdoor air pollution. When sealing our windows and doors, it may seem like we’re shutting pollution out. But in truth, we’re shutting it in. Whether we’re sleeping, working, cooking, or exercising, we are potentially breathing dirty air,” Ginger Lee, senior electronics engineer at British brand Dyson — that sells one of the most premium products — said.
Companies say that air purifiers are now becoming a mainstream electronics product across many households in metros and bigger cities. “Air purifiers have become a staple in most households. In the past four-five days, we’ve witnessed a 15-20% increase in demand, as people look to tackle pollution. We anticipate that demand will continue to rise due to ongoing air quality deterioration, increased awareness about air purifiers, and a growing health-conscious consumer base,” Mahesh Gupta, chairman of Kent RO said.
K J Jawa, chairman of Daikin India, said cases of asthmatic attacks have been rising due to polluted air, and there are instances of long-term impact on health of many people. “Due to such pollution levels, demand has risen sharply and there is a rush to install them across homes and even offices.”
“The increased demand for air purifiers is not limited to the Delhi-NCR region but has also extended to Mumbai and the eastern parts of the country. Furthermore, we anticipate a further uptick in air purifier demand in the coming days, given the ongoing deterioration in air quality resulting from construction activities, along with the rising health consciousness among consumers, leading to increased use of air purifiers for multiple rooms,” said Deepak Bansal, VP at Havells India.