Voltas Ltd, a Tata group company from India which controls 32 per cent of the country's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning market, has bid for the air-conditioning contract for Dubai airport's new terminals.

K.J. Jawa, the company's vice-president for operations and cooling appliances division, said Voltas, in which Tata has a 27 per cent stake, participated in airport air-conditioning projects in Bahrain, Sharjah, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launching of Voltas' premium cooling solutions in Dubai by Al Ghandi Electronics yesterday, Jawa said the company was also studying the possibility of assembling air-conditioners and and other cooling equipment in one of the free zones in the GCC.

However, he pointed out that the company had not set a time frame for doing so.

Voltas has a manufacturing alliance with Fedders International, the US maker of air conditioning eqjuipment.

Al Ghandi Electronics, with four showrooms in Dubai, two in Sharjah, one each in Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi, launched in the UAE the complete Voltas cooling solutions range: window air-conditioners, high wall and ductable splits, slimline and cassette air-conditioners and water coolers of various capacities. In the near future, the range will be extended by the addition of refrigerators, chest freezers, water dispensers and coolers.

S.N. Tripathi, executive director and COO of unitary products business group at Voltas, said the GCC offered huge potential for cooling solutions.

According to an estimate by Voltas for the Gulf, the market size for air-conditioners in Kuwait is around 90,000 units and in Bahrain and Muscat it is 150,000.

The market size of the UAE, said to be 600,000, also includes air-conditioners re-exported from this country.

Voltas has executed prestigious electro-mechanical and air-conditioning projects throughout the region.