“I hope to bring the same outlook towards the wire industry in India”

As the quote says “With great power, comes great responsibility”, to get the fine points of this quotes team WCI interacted with Mr. R K Soni, who has recently been appointed as the new Chief – Wire Division, India of Tata Steel, Global Wires. The first question was about the new script and how does he plans to take it forward. Further the interaction was switched on his stance on the global economy vis-à-vis Indian economy, its opportunities & challenges, importance of the human resource and at last the new developments at TATA Wires. Edited excerpts

Wire & Cable India: Recently you have taken over the responsibility as Chief of Wire Division at Tata Steel. How the new script is and what all does it contains and how are you planning to enact?

R K Soni: The role of Chief – Wire Division, India of Tata Steel, Global Wires is a big responsibility. Wire Division has been a pioneer in the manufacture and sale of “Steel Wires” in India. It is also a market leader and by far the largest manufacturer of steel wires in India. It has manufacturing facilities spread across India at Tarapur, Jamshedpur, Indore, Pithampur, Bangalore and multiple external processing facilities and a distribution network spread across the country. I am truly humbled to be a part of this organization and to ensure that it continues its journey of pioneering new products, technologies and processes and be a market leader to whom the wire industry continues to look up to and the customers enjoy doing business with. Together with this responsibility, I have recently also taken over the responsibility of the Chairman of Steel Wire Manufacturers Association of India (SWMAI) and I hope to bring the same outlook towards the wire industry in India.

WCI: The global economy is in the quest with major issues especially in the Euro zone and USA which has also shaken confidence in India, scaling down the growth story, According to you how this situation should be dealt with?

RKS: The global markets continue to be in turmoil, the European Union, USA, Japan, Peoples Republic of China, Middle East all of which have been the engines of growth and consumption are stagnating and each is facing their own challenges. Growth seems to be far away. But I see this state of global turmoil as a change for the future, for the better; but there will be lot of pain as the environment undergoes through this change. In the midst of this change, to survive we will need to be agile to adapt continuously to the changing environment and the new challenges that it throws at us. To become agile, we first need to cut our fat (our sluggishness), become lean by becoming more competitive in our costs and quality and continuously monitor our customers so that we are in a position to constantly offer new and modified products and offerings.

WCI: India itself presents a huge market and the growth of the Infrastructure, Power and other core sectors is at a nascent stage. What opportunity does it offers along with the challenges for the industry?

RKS: As compared to many other global economies, India is a shining star. The growth story continues. It has a growing middle class with increasing propensity for consumption. All sectors be it housing, automobiles, power (electricity), consumer goods, etc are still speaking about “growth”. Thus it is good news for many Indian companies; but we will face competition in the Indian markets from the global companies as they will look at India to sell their surplus capacities. Also India has its own unique challenges. The various corruption scandals that have rocked India have stymied its growth. The coalition politics, the 2014 general elections, the growing voice of the average Indian person supported by the “RTI Act” and other legal vehicles will each present its unique challenge, while attempting to meet the ever growing aspirations of the country men and women. Also as compared to many other economies, Indians have been “cost-conscious” buyers rather than “value-conscious” buyers; hence our products and offerings will need to be suitably modified to suit this buying behavior.

WCI: It is the people who run the show behind the screens. What possible actions industry should take to attract people / young brigade to minimize its dearth?

RKS: You are right, that it is the human resources that will finally drive the organization’s successes or failures. There is a dearth of good people especially in engineering industries and in the so called “Old Age” sectors like steel. The general perception in the minds of the youngsters today is that these industries lack the typical glamour associated with the new age business sectors. The buzz nowadays is media and retail while, the IT and finance sectors seem to have lost a little bit of their sheen. Fortunately the Tata Group, has laid an equally high emphasis on its people, its employees. We have laid great stress on training people, continuously upgrading their skills and knowledge, giving opportunities to grow beyond their lines of educational expertise and more importantly to have an open environment and create an atmosphere where employees enjoy their work and can thus contribute to the success of the organization. It has been a slow and long process and we will continue to invest into employee development.

WCI: Share some of the recent developments at Tata Global Wires, India vis-à-vis its future outlook?

RKS: The last year has been a year of consolidation. After the relocation of our mother plant from Borivali to Tarapur and Jamshedpur, we have now stabilized our new manufacturing facilities at both locations. Marketing & sales too have played a key role in ensuring that the plants are running at full steam. We are now ready to embark on the next phase of our expansion. We plan to set up a large capacity of Low relaxation PC Strands and PC Wires at Jamshedpur. We have plans to upgrade our facilities in Tarapur and Bangalore. Our Technology group and marketing & sales have been working to bring in new and exciting products into the markets; we are confident of launching them in the near future. The team at Global Wires, India is fully charged and as they say “future ready”.