Could you briefly introduce Champion and share an overview of the company’s global presence, core expertise and the range of compressed air solutions it offers to industrial customers?

Champion is a more than 60-year-old brand already operating in America and Europe, with a strong presence of 500+ channel partners serving customers’ sales and service needs.

Champion is a globally recognized manufacturer of industrial compressed air systems, with over 60 years of experience, specializing in providing reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions for a wide range of industries. As a registered brand, following its 2018 evolution from the established Bottarini brand in Europe, Champion is now being extended and introduced to the Indian market from 2026.

Champion offers a comprehensive portfolio, including reciprocating, rotary screw, and rotary vane technologies, designed for both light- and heavy-duty industrial applications. With recent expansions strengthening its footprint in markets like India, its products are now supported by local, independent distributors, ensuring highly responsive and customer-focused support, with plans to have over 100 authorized sales and service resellers across all regions of India.

Champion has officially launched its operations in India. What strategic factors influenced the company’s decision to enter the Indian market at this stage of its growth?

The Indian compressor market is now becoming regulated, and the government is keen to introduce star ratings for compressors based on energy efficiency, similar to white goods. This presents an opportunity for established players like us to offer energy-efficient and highly reliable compressors, as opposed to low-quality imported compressors from overseas.

Champion offers both energy efficiency and reliability at an affordable price point that caters to all tiers of the market. Strategically, the entire Champion product range is globally proven, and the “Make in India” initiative further enables our factory to provide better local service, enhanced design control, and the ability to tailor products to meet the specific needs of the Indian market.

Compressed air systems are critical utilities across industries. How does Champion aim to position itself within India’s competitive compressed air market, particularly against well-established global and domestic players?

Champion is a proven brand across the globe. Our “Make in India” initiative for this range will make it more cost-effective, better designed, and regionally controlled, helping replicate its success in the Indian market, just as in other markets where it is already a proven brand and product.

Your philosophy of ‘Think Global, Act Local’ is central to Champion’s India strategy. How will this approach translate into product offerings, partnerships and service support for Indian industries?

The Champion range is built with reliability at the forefront. Since compressed air is essential and powers industries across various sectors and regions in India, it offers partners a default choice to collaborate with us over others.

We plan to have 50+ partners in the next two years in the Indian market, which will enable Champion to establish a presence across all parts of India and reach a wide range of industries.

Which industry sectors is Champion prioritising for its India market entry, and where do you currently see the strongest adoption of your compressed air solutions?

Champion is planned to reach all industry sectors. While trends continue to evolve, solar, power, and semiconductor are currently key areas of penetration for the Champion range.

Champion aims to serve sectors such as general engineering, textiles, cement, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage and automotive. Which of these industries do you believe present the biggest opportunities for compressed air solutions in India?

While general industry remains evergreen in the Indian market, textiles and F&B continue to be key focus areas as they are linked to everyday needs. Champion is planned to enter these two key markets with both constant and variable pressure machine requirements, which the Champion range inherently covers.

Beyond equipment, companies today expect strong service support and lifecycle value from technology providers. How is Champion building its service ecosystem and customer partnerships in India to compete with established players?

Service has remained our strength for many decades. Champion will provide direct service support to our channel partners through continuous training on troubleshooting and structured training schedules.

In addition, our service technicians will provide feedback online through our call centers, along with timely parts delivery enabled by a strong supply chain across the Indian market.

Looking ahead, what growth potential do you see for Champion in India over the next few years, and how do you envision the company contributing to the evolving manufacturing and industrial landscape in the country?

Champion is envisaged to achieve 2x growth over the next three years, and this journey is closely linked to India’s growth story. While affordable products are a market need, reliability cannot be ignored, which is the key mantra behind launching this range for the Indian market.

In the next phase, Champion will be upgraded to more futuristic versions, including variable permanent magnet motor models and smaller footprints through motor upgrades, along with 10-year warranty plans to provide customers with peace of mind.