Started their journey as traders in winding wires, simple living and high thinking for better life has been the hallmark of Ram Ratna Group. In 1965 Shri Rameshwarlal Kabra moved to Mumbai from Indore and until 1986 they continued trading of winding wires and other insulating related material etc. In 1996 they set up their first plant in Baroda of winding wires. As a group in late 80’s and early 90’s they ventured into trading of chemicals too. As the trading has limit so they went to set up a plant in Dadra and Ram Ratna Wires Ltd. was formed which was later listed in 1994. In 1998 they decided to get into the cable industry with the establishment of RR Kabel, incepted to produce quality cables. This idea was arisen because the incidents of short circuit and fire were very often due to the use of low standard wires & cables and there was no quality cable manufacturer at that time. Mr. Shreegopal Kabra, President, Ram Ratna Group enlightened us about parameters of growth for wire & cable industry, challenges, opportunities along with 3600 view of Ram Ratna Group.

Quality & Technology Hub

Choosing between the volume business and quality business they chose the latter. Keeping in mind the long term vision of survival they decided to manufacture quality product. RR Kabel is the first company to have introduced the concept of lead free, low smoke and halogen free cables to the Indian market. The patented UNILAY technology has also been added to the quality of the wires that they provide to the consumers. The premium product Firex – HFFR and RR Unilay were specially developed with the latest technology available globally to offer better performing wires and cables and also ensuring safety for the users. During the establishment of RR Kabel they sent their team to Germany for training. Regularly studying the market and analyzing the need is one of the important exercises at Ram Ratna group. Sighting an example Mr. Shreegopal told “today the degree of bulbs & tube failure is very high. One reason to this is the bad quality of the product but more importantly is the wire used. We did a case study on this and luckily we got the opportunity to test our wires at Taj Mansingh hotel, Jaipur where they were facing the same problem of repetitive bulb failure, we changed their wiring and it was successful.”

Companies Strategy

They have a distinctly human angle, and the goal is to simplify life that’s why they invest in technology, quality, R&D, branding etc. They manage their human and technical resource very well. Buying world class equipments vis-à-vis training their employees is what they focus on. “We are a market driven company and because we have things to talk about our quality, it’s not just about marketing rather it’s more of communicating about what are the capabilities of the company and its products”, Mr. Shreegopal said proudly.

Marketing Spotlight

Marketing has always been the focus point at Ram Ratna group for which they geared up a team of almost 100 people for cable business, which helped them to take their monthly sale from Rs. 8 lakh in the first month to Rs. 1 crore in the 12th month. They still possess the biggest marketing team. Realizing the importance of corporate image they started branding and marketing their products through print ads, TV commercials etc. A glance at their product portfolio shows how innovative each of the group companies have been in their respective fields, bringing products that truly make life easier and safer.

Development, Modernization & Expansion & Plans Ahead

Dadra factory which is been the parent unit of Ram Ratna Wires Ltd., commissioned in 1995 has been modernized in tune with company’s policy of keeping in pace with the technological development prevailing at international level.

Out of 200 acre land in the new unit at Baroda, 26 acre has been chosen to set up a cable factory. The entire project is planned in 3 phases. In the first phase Rs. 100 crores will be invested in the wire & cable facility and an area of around 3 lakh sq.ft will be developed which is expected to be fully operational by March, 2012. The products to be manufactured will be building wire, panel wire, armoured cable, instrumentation cable etc.

Going further in another 3 years they have plans to double the capacity and to add some new products. Some tie-ups or joint ventures are also on the cards. Last year there turnover was Rs. 670 crores and this year it is expected to cross Rs. 1000 crores and by next financial year they target it around Rs. 1600 crores.

Existing facilities

The company’s manufacturing facilities are equipped with state of art equipments and technology meeting international standard with regards to safety & health of employees, contractors and visitors. Ram Ratna wires have got 2 factories with a joint capacity of 1000-1500 tons a month located in Dadra and in Rakholi. After the expansion they will move on to value addition products like fine wire, aluminium wire etc.

Growth Parameters

On Parameters of Growth he said “First of all we must understand that in last 3 years there is no development in the country, whatever the projects were announced in the last 3 years or before that haven’t been implemented whether in power generation or infrastructure etc. But certainly, India is bound to grow and is going to grow, whether the government is working or not but the private entrepreneurs in India want to grow and so automatically our country will grow.”

Trends

Elaborating on the trends foreseen he said, “It is going to be very competitive and tough because on the basis of the project announced by government everyone has expanded their capacities but the market hasn’t developed to that level. The domestic consumption has increased to some extent. Globalization will provide the impetus to the demand as more and more MNC’s are shifting their base to India. Presently the industry is operating at about 70% of production level which should be 80-85% but nevertheless in the next 2-3 years the gap will be filled.”

Challenge

Giving the brief outlook on the challenge he said “One is the unorganized sector where they use inferior copper, theft of excise tax, sales tax, power bill etc. Secondly, if the interest rate does not go down or further goes up then there is threat from imports because government is signing FTA’s. Another major challenge is the availability of the skilled labour which has deeply affected by governments politically motivated policies like NEREGA plus the new rules like the worker cannot work more than 8 hours a day have really hampered the work flow.”

Tribhuvan Kabra MD (Ram Ratna Group)