“India has now become a preferred choice for many other countries to import goods from…”
Excerpts of the interview with Mr. Rajendra Ekbote, Director, Swaraj Technocrafts Pvt. Ltd.:
Challenges to reckon with:
The last year was a complete roller coaster as the outbreak of the COVID-19 brought a massive amount of challenges with it. Moreover, since the entire world has been affected by these challenges, it would be right to say that the impact will last longer than we previously imagined. Right from procuring the raw materials in the given course of time, to reaching our customers and partners in all parts of the world and delivering their orders, it was certainly quite challenging for us. Even in the coming year, we might face a variety of challenges due to the enormous impact created by the pandemic.
Since global travel has been massively affected, obtaining raw materials in the current scenario has posed some difficulties. Also, reaching out to our customers and partners around the globe would be a challenge. However, with strong strategies and expertise of our employees, we will be able to surpass the stress and challenges that the pandemic brought with it.
“In my view, the government should offer some ease of process in the policies for better import and export relations.”
Expectations from the Government:
The Government of India has extended a considerable amount of support towards the wire and cable industry. Their policies have definitely helped us in keeping our focus on sustaining the growth of our business. However, the impact of the pandemic and some restrictions is likely to slow down some aspects such as – technology exchange and innovation, which are essentially paramount for the growth of any industry.
Additionally, in my view, the government should offer some ease of process in the policies for better import and export relations. The industry is looking forward towards the upcoming union budget 2021 from the government as it may have a long-term impact on the businesses. We should also consider the fact that the impact ensued from the pandemic would last for years to come and it could only be subsided by introducing long term financial packages and policies. The government should also pay attention to minimize the fluctuating rate of raw material in the market as it has a direct impact on the profit margins.
Strategies to strengthen the economy post-COVID:
Just like every story has two sides, the outbreak of the pandemic has had drastic effects on the entire world, but these challenges have also brought massive opportunities for us as a country. India has now become a preferred choice for many other countries to import goods from and this is mainly because we manufacture high quality and European standard machines. Through the ‘Make in India’ initiative, a lot of companies will eventually invest more in Indian machines.
India has emerged as a potential market on a global level which will prove to be of great advantage for us as a leading Indian machine manufacturer. We currently have customers and partners in countries such as – Germany, Turkey, Czech Republic, UAE, Spain, Thailand, Nigeria, etc, which will be adding on to our advantage, and eventually enable us to stand out as the preferred choice over our competitors.
Fast forward to 2021 – the way ahead:
We highly rely on the fact that our team and all the employees have been the greatest support during these times which led us to minimize the downtime caused by the pandemic. Thus, my primary focus will be to empower our workforce so that they can enthusiastically deliver with the same commitment that they have portrayed so far.
We primarily aim at delivering high-quality products to our customers, without disrupting the time limits. We also aim to emphasize more on continuing our global operations as we did in the pre-COVID era. Furthermore, we are constantly working on enhancing our marketing strategy by introducing innovation so that we can reduce the touch points and focus more on offering remote access to our machines.
