Air-conditioning equipment manufacturer Blue Star Ltd on Thursday launched country’s first inverter split AC that gives cooling in decimals. At the launch of its new AC model, B Thiagarajan, joint managing director of Blue Star said these ACs are designed to set temperatures in steps of half a degree. “The room air conditioners market in India grew by 20 per cent in the period between April to December 2016, while Blue Star outperformed the market with a growth in excess of 30 per cent. There are strong indicators of a severe summer in 2017 and demands in Tier-III, IV and V towns continue to be good. Many customers are first-time buyers and are availing easy finance options in a big way. Post demonetisation, the market is getting used to new methods of electronic payment systems,” said Thiagarajan.