Manufacturers of refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners are set to launch a Make in India thrust, mirroring those in smartphones and televisions after the government increased import duties. Investments in excess of Rs 6,500 crore in the white goods sector have already been lined up for the next two years, with more in the pipeline, industry said.The manufacturing push follows hike in import duties on white goods and their components in September amid a decline in the value of the rupee and aimed at keeping the current account deficit in check. The government’s Make in India initiative is meant to encourage investments in manufacturing and generate more jobs.Germany's Bosch and Siemens , Turkey’s Arcelik, China’s Midea, Haier and TCL, Japan’s Panasonic and domestic brands such as Godrej and BPL are planning investments in manufacturing and backward integration into parts.Shanghai Hitachi Electrical Appliance Co., a joint venture between Hitachi Japan and Shanghai Highly Group of China, is expanding its compressor unit in Gujarat, while Guangdong Meizhi Compressor Co. is setting up a new plant to manufacture the devices found in cooling units, industry executives said.The Rs 30,000-crore appliances industry has typically manufactured entry- to mid-segment products locally while relying on imports for premium models and critical components such as heat exchange coils and compressors. In air-conditioners, for instance, over 50% of components are imported.“After the recent import duty hike by the government, it is no more a question whether to locally produce or import and sell,” said Gunjan Srivastava, managing director of BSH Household Appliances, which sells Bosch and Siemens machines in India.“We need to invest in local manufacturing and create a Make in India base, otherwise it will be difficult.”The Centre doubled customs duties on refrigerators, washing machines and air-conditioners to 20% in September to curb non-essential imports, while also increasing duties on compressors for airconditioners and refrigerators from 7.5% to 10%. This led to a 10% increase in the price of imported appliances.The government had increased import duties on televisions and smartphones in December last year to 20%, while those on their components were hiked this year.This led to a flurry of manufacturing investments from TV and smartphone makers.Panasonic India CEO Manish Sharma said the company has initiated talks with suppliers to manufacture components such as AC compressors.BSH is planning to invest 100 million euros (about Rs 800 crore) for setting up a refrigerator factory near Chennai after having recently started making washing machines. Earlier this month, the Midea Group announced a Rs 1,350-crore manufacturing investment, of which almost half will be for compressors. “This will be the Midea Group’s largest manufacturing investment outside China,” said India managing director Krishan Sachdev.China’s top appliance maker Haier has finalised plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in its new plant in Noida, thrice what it did for its existing unit in Pune. The Noida plant will manufacture components and premium models, said Haier Appliances India president Eric Braganza.TCL Corp will start manufacturing appliances and its components from next year at its upcoming Rs 2,000 crore plant in Tirupati where it will also produce televisions, said country head Mike Chen.Arcelik, which is entering India with a joint venture with Tata-owned Voltas, is investing over Rs 250 crore to start manufacturing in Gujarat, which will also include backward integration, said Voltas MD Pradeep Bakshi. “The investment will go up in phases,” he said.The white goods industry feels import duties may rise even further, as happened with televisions and smartphones, to intensify the Make in India pitch.Apart from the import duty hike, brands importing even from countries with which India has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) have realised that local manufacturing may be cheaper due to lower labour costs and not having to pay for high freight costs from overseas, said Kamal Nandi, Godrej Appliances business head and president of the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) lobby group.