India heat sees boom in AC market

AARTI Verma is about to join the growing ranks of Indians installing air conditioning, scraping together savings to secure relief from sometimes deadly temperatures that can reach nearly 50°C.

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A record 14 million AC units were sold in India last year, with a ninefold increase in residential ownership forecast by mid-century. That will give millions safer and more comfortable conditions at work and home.

But it will also drive demand for electricity that is generated mostly by burning climate-warming coal, and increase the hot AC exhaust air expelled into the country's stifling streets.

For Verma, the priority is securing some immediate relief.

Her sales and marketing work means she must visit multiple stores a day, battling blazing heat.

"Coming home after a long day I want some comfort," said the 25-year-old, who earns 30 000 rupees (about R6 400) a month and will pay 50 000 rupees to install air conditioning in her spartan two-room home.

"Earlier I would sleep on the terrace, but these days it's so hot even in the night, AC has become a necessity," she said in a poor neighbourhood of the capital Delhi.

India is the world's fastest-growing AC market, despite only about seven percent of households currently owning units.

The boom could mean the world's most populous country needs to triple electricity production to meet demand, experts say.