Happy Birthday KJ Jawa: Four decades of shaping India's air-conditioning industry

Jawa, now chairman and managing director of Daikin India, turned 67 on November 10

by e4m Staff
Published: Nov 11, 2026 12:16 PM | 2 min read

Happy Birthday KJ Jawa: Four decades of shaping India's air-conditioning industry

K.J. Jawa, now chairman and managing director of Daikin India, played a key role in revitalizing Voltas' cooling business in the early 2000s and has over two decades of experience in the air-conditioning industry.
He joined Daikin in 2010, shortly after the company established its first Indian factory in Neemrana, Rajasthan, and has since led significant expansions, including a research and development center and a second factory.
In 2018, Jawa became the first Indian to join the board of Daikin Industries in Japan and has overseen the company's air-conditioning operations across India and Africa since June 2024.
Under his leadership, Daikin opened its third major Indian factory in Sri City in 2023 and is set to establish a new compressor plant in collaboration with Taiwan’s Rechi Precision, aimed at serving both domestic and export markets.

When Voltas was looking to revive its cooling business in the early 2000s, K.J. Jawa travelled across India to ask retailers and distributors what they needed. In a 2004 interview with exchange4media, he recalled that his team had taken inspiration from Lagaan. The company’s ambitions that summer were captured in a simple campaign line, ‘Ab Har Koi Le Sake AC Ka Maza’.

Jawa, now chairman and managing director of Daikin India, turned 67 on November 10. By the time he joined Daikin in 2010, he had already spent more than two decades in the air-conditioning industry, with two stints at Voltas, senior roles at Carrier and a spell as managing director of Uniflair India.

Daikin’s first Indian factory, in Neemrana, Rajasthan, had been in production for about a year when Jawa took charge as managing director in September 2010. Over the next seven years, the company opened a research and development centre and a second factory in Neemrana. In 2018, Jawa became the first Indian to join the board of Daikin Industries in Japan. He has overseen the group’s air-conditioning business across India and Africa since June 2024.

The expansion under Jawa took Daikin to Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, where it opened its third major Indian factory in 2023 to make residential air conditioners and compressors. In February 2026, he was back in Sri City to break ground on a separate compressor plant with Taiwan’s Rechi Precision. The new plant is intended to supply other Indian air-conditioner makers before expanding to export markets.