One of the leading manufacturers of cables and wires in the 0.20 kV – 220 kV range across 11,000+ SKUs, Polycab India is continuing with its growth trajectory. In an exclusive interview with Manufacturing Today, Rakesh Talati – Executive Director at Polycab India Ltd shares how the company is leading the cables and wires industry in India and globally.
Here are the excerpts:
Talk us through the company’s manufacturing units and the future plans for expansion?
We are industry leaders with a market share of approximately 20-22% in the organized wires and cables industry in India. We have also established a distinct positioning on the global stage by being a leading exporter of wires and cables. Our leadership position in the industry is well augmented by our state-of-the-art manufacturing units having combined capacity to produce 42 lakh km of wires and cables annually, which is by far the largest of any other competitor in the domestic industry.
We have an in-house testing laboratory that has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). We have some of the brightest technical talents in the field of polymer engineering giving us the edge in our R&D capabilities. Our inhouse R&D facility is approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Some of the awards we received last year speaks about our efforts in raising the industry benchmarks.
Going forward, we remain committed to continuously innovate, bring greater value to our customers, and strengthen our hold as the nation’s most preferred end-to-end electrical solutions brand.
What are Polycab’s offerings for the industrial sector in terms of manufacturing?
Our offerings for the industrial sector cater to a wide spectrum of business requirements and the portfolio continues to expand. We deploy the most advanced and best-in-class capabilities in our solutions related to Power & Control cables, High Voltage cables, EHV cables, Optical Fibre cables and Instrumentation cables. We also offer Rubber cables, Fire Survival cables, Flexible cables, Telephone Cables, Co-axial cables, LAN cables, Solar Cables, Railway Signalling cables and other cables such as CCTV and submersible cables. In the wires segment, we are growing with House wires, Green wires and Speaker wires.
Our world-class range of indigenously manufactured wires and cables have varying applications across major industries like power, real estate, infrastructure, metro, railways, data centres, steel, cement, oil & gas, nuclear, automobiles, defence, chemicals, pharma, telecom, mining and other industries.
Can you please explain the concept of green wires and fire safety cables and how are they benefiting the environment?
Polycab’s fire survival cable is a result of continuous research and innovation in highly sophisticated and modern R&D centres. These cables are designed to withstand temperatures as high as 950o C. The wires can also maintain circuit integrity for a period of upto three hours for emergency safety circuits, fire alarm system, water sprinkler system and emergency lighting circuits. They have a low toxicity index (5%) and high visibility index (95%). This ensures safe evacuation, and lower smoke generation.
“We aim to achieve industry leading growth rate in line with marquee value creators and cement our market leadership in wires and cables.”
Rakesh Talati, Executive Director, Polycab India
These cables conform to BS7846 and BS6387, BS 8434-2, BS EN 50200, BS 8491, and are tested in leading labs that follow strictest and minute scrutiny. For instance, Polycab FS cables are LPCB certified. It is the most recognised certification across the world and is owned by only a handful of brands in the country.
Polycab’s green wires are highly energy efficient, recyclable, RoHS compliant. It has low smoke density and emits fewer toxic gases in extreme fire situations. Polycab green wires have a 20% higher current capacity and are manufactured in a green zone to avoid any external contamination. These wires have high thermal stability which enables it to resist high heat and hence, they have a longer life expectancy.
What are the challenges you faced due the pandemic and how are you dealing with those?
As with the manufacturing industry, the pandemic has resulted in supply chain disruptions. But we are optimistic of mid to long term growth potential.
As far as our company is concerned, we beefed up the value chain dynamics related to wires and cables business by distribution network expansion, portfolio augmentation, higher realisation, and improving macro environment.
We grew our market reach in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities and continued with our branding initiatives during the year to improve brand connect. Our experience centres were redesigned as Polycab Galleria to engage more meaningfully with customers and influencers and strengthen our presence in the consumer electricals segment.
Amidst the upheaval, we continued to remain nimble with unwavering focus on business execution. Consumer and market sentiments improved as crucial indicators, such as the infra investments, GST revenues, IIP, PMI, building materials consumption, among others began to indicate an economic rebound. In effect we realigned our brand promise of remaining connected with our customers albeit with a new normal world.
Talk us through various latest technologies that you are using as part of the manufacturing process?
Polycab is an integrated manufacturer and supplier of wires, cables, and fast moving electrical goods. We have an expansive manufacturing presence in India and a global operational presence, with 23 manufacturing facilities and 52 warehouses and depots that leverage some of the best technologies in the industry such as electron beams.
Our vast distribution network of 4100+ dealers and distributors and 165000+ retailers enable us to provide distinguished services to our customers.
We intend to offer a wide gamut of world-class products to our partners, which caters to rising consumers’ aspirations, while enabling channel partners to achieve long term sustainable growth as well.
We are also the first in India to obtain ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) Test Certificates for ISO 19642 cables for electric vehicle (EV) applications.
We have a wide range of product certifications for some of the renowned standards/agencies which includes ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, OHSAS 18001:2007, BIS, BASEC, IEC etc across our multiple product categories.
Our state-of-the-art, in-house R&D centre at Halol, Gujarat is certified by the Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India. Also, we are accredited by the National Accreditation Board for testing and calibration laboratories for our test laboratory in Halol.
We are also one of the few brands certified with Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) for public buildings, underground railways, and tunnel projects.
To serve the international market, we leveraged the UL certification which is accepted by certifiers, installers, and regulators in the local, regional, or international market. We are also certified with Construction Product Regulations (CPR) for all buildings (public and private) across Europe.
What are the key drivers of growth of Polycab as a brand in terms of manufacturing?
At Polycab, we maintain strong oversight over economic and industry developments and megatrends that shape our opportunity landscape.
Lot of the opportunities lie in sectors like infrastructure and renewable power. We can expect a strong infrastructure development and growth as the Union Budget revolves around infrastructure growth.
This coupled with an increase in the number of projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) indicates a balanced positive impact for the cables and wires industry.
Also, India is ranked sixth in the list of countries to make significant investments in the power sector. Growing population in India combined with increase in per capita consumption and increase in electrification will impetus the power sector. Other key sectors to focus on are defence, oil and gas, Indian railways, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles, especially electric vehicles.
We aim to achieve industry leading growth rate in line with marquee value creators and cement our market leadership in wires and cables.
To leverage these growth opportunities, we are heavily putting emphasis on enhancing our distribution presence in tier II and beyond Tier III cities, rapid product and process innovation, green efficient products and intensifying our efforts in terms of automation, digitization, and optimization.