Nagpur: The West Asia conflict is starting to show its impact on various sectors, including the cooler market in Nagpur. With exports worth crores to Gulf countries affected, local cooler manufacturers are staring at significant losses this year.Nagpur’s cooler manufacturers not only cater to the local market but also supply to places across Vidarbha and other states. Rakesh Awachat, director of Ram Coolers Private Limited which started exporting coolers to Sudan in 2016, said that the export season begins from the last week of January. “In Gulf countries, summer lasts from April to July. Accordingly, exports continue until the last week of March,” he said.According to Awachat, the cooler export has completely collapsed this season due to the war. “Nagpur’s coolers could not reach Iraq, Kuwait and Sudan. The war also hit negotiations with Saudi Arabia for supplying coolers. Exports worth approximately Rs2 to 2.25 crore have come to a standstill,” he said. Besides Nagpur, cooler manufacturers from Uttar Pradesh also export to Gulf countries in large quantities. “They too have been severely hit by the war,” said sources.With the meteorological department predicting rain in the coming days, manufacturers and dealers feel this too will impact cooler purchases. March and April are two important months for cooler purchases, they said.
