Summer is not the only thing India’s air conditioning industry is looking forward to... they will now bet on startups. Blue Star has followed Voltas in joining the government to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on Tuesday announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Blue Star Limited to support startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs working in areas such as HVAC technologies, digital solutions, advanced manufacturing, and supply chain innovation.
This came a couple of weeks after DPIIT announced another MoU signing with Voltas, Tata’s consumer energy and AC arm, to "facilitate industry–start-up collaboration in the cooling and smart appliance ecosystem".
Under the latest partnership, selected startups will get access to Blue Star's R&D laboratories and testing facilities, opportunities to develop and validate Proof-of-Concept (PoC) solutions, structured mentorship from industry experts, and potential integration into Blue Star's supply chain and value networks, according to DPIIT.
Innovation challenges under the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge and hackathons focused on HVAC and digital manufacturing will be organised jointly.
The MoU was signed by Deputy Secretary DPIIT T. L. K. Singh and Blue Star Managing Director B. Thiagarajan. Speaking on the occasion, Joint Secretary DPIIT Shri Sanjiv said the collaboration "represents an important step towards fostering industry-driven innovation in the manufacturing sector," adding that such partnerships enable startups to "engage with real-world problem statements and scale solutions with tangible outcomes."
Blue Star currently holds about 14 per cent market share in room air conditioners and has publicly set a target of becoming a ₹20,000 crore company by 2030. To get there, it has earmarked ₹70 crore each for R&D, marketing, and manufacturing investments in FY 2026-27. Tapping the startup ecosystem for innovation, without bearing full internal R&D costs, seems to be a logical extension of that strategy.