New Delhi, March 10, 2010: Consumer electronics major Sony India on Tuesday said it will invest up to Rs 18 billion in the next one year on marketing and promotional activities to create awareness about its products in India.

"We intend to double the sales of flat panel display televisions in India to 800 units in the current year, and to achieve that we are also going to double the investment in promotions to Rs 14.7 billion," Sony India Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa told reporters.

He said, the company has invested over Rs 700 crore in promoting its 'Bravia' range of flat panel display Television, which contributes more than one-third of the total turnover of Rs 3,500 crore in India.

Besides, the company is also increasing investment of Rs 200 crore made by it on promotion of other products in the country by 25 per cent in the current year, Tamagawa said.

Last year, Sony sold more than 4 lakh (rpt) 4 lakh units of Bravia in India and in the current year it intends to double the sales to 8 lakh (rpt) 8 lakh units, he said.

"We are targeting a 30 per cent market share in the current year in the segment. The total market LCDs in the country is around 1.6 million units which is expected to grow up to 2.7 million units by the end of current financial year," Tamagawa said.

The company also announced that it is going to double its dealer network to 5,000 from 2,500.