Centre's losses from grey market TV sellers may swell to $2 billion: SPPL CEO

Time of India

a day ago

NEW DELHI: The Central government's losses from unregulated grey market television (TV) sellers may reach $2 billion (~₹17,200 crore) in the near future, according to
Super Plastronics
(
SPPL
).
The Noida-based firm is the brand licensee of
Thomson
,
Kodak
, and Blaupunkt in India.
'Organised brands such as SPPL, brands, and OEMs have a huge challenge to deal with. The government may have to bear up to $2 billion of tax loss in the near future. The government is undertaking measures, but unorganised trade is causing significant problems,' Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO, SPPL, told
ETTelecom
.
These grey market sellers, he said, primarily operate in the entry-level TV segment, where the top five market players have started coming under pressure.
'The government is also losing out on customs duties. The practices of unorganised traders are perfect for initiating regulatory actions by agencies such as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED),' he added.
Industry executives said such traders regularly import electronic components from countries such as China, assemble them in factories in locations such as Delhi's Lajpat Nagar, and sell unbranded televisions in rural markets, where consumer awareness about brand authenticity and related aspects remain low.
Marwah said SPPL has a 6% share in the TV market, which has a volume of around 14 million units, and expects this to grow to 7% in 2026, supported by premium, large-screen models backed by display and audio innovations.
Recently, Thomson launched new mini-LED TVs with a 108W speaker system comprising two integrated subwoofers, QD 4K displays, powered by Google TV, in the price range of ₹61,999 to ₹95,999.
The top executive said the TV market remained stagnant in the first half of 2025, but the upcoming festival season, combined with the replacement cycle, may drive recovery in the July-December 2025 period.
'One of the key reasons (for market stagnation) is due to the purchases that happened during the COVID pandemic. I think there was a saturation in the market, and there was no disruption in technology. Now, the time has come. The replacement in the market will start from H2 2025,' he said.
Counterpoint Research has projected that the Indian TV market may grow by a modest 4% in 2025, with a recovery anticipated in the second half following a sluggish start to the year.
'Due to the ongoing economic uncertainty and inventory issues across top brands, the market is likely to remain slow with a premiumisation trend as buyers begin to value performance and quality alongside affordability. The demand for premium and large-screen TVs will continue to rise, while shipments of smaller 32-inch TVs are expected to decline further,' Anshika Jain, senior research analyst, Counterpoint, told
ETTelecom
.
The research agency said that artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled smart TVs remain in the early stages of adoption, with major players gradually offering advanced features such as adaptive picture and sound, as well as multilingual voice assistants.