We are launching a couple of new products. In cables, we have been primarily a house wire company, i.e. a low voltage cable company to say. Now, we are moving to medium voltage cables and other specialized cables, says Mr. Shreegopal Kabra.
RR Kabel, established in 1999, is a leading manufacturer, supplier and exporter of house wires, installation cables, panel wires, power cord cables, communication cables, armoured cables, etc. It’s one of the group companies of Ram Ratna Group (which is now RR Global Group) which is engaged in a wide spectrum of businesses like electrical, infrastructure, dyes and chemicals. The company has facilities at Silvassa and Vododara and employs more than 1200 people.
Recently, Wire & Cable India had a chance for quick chat with Mr. Shreegopal Kabra, Managing Director, Ram Ratna Group to know the new developments at the company. Excerpts:
Wire & Cable India: Tell us what’s new up your side.
Shreegopal Kabra: First thing first, we have acquired a new identity with a new logo for the group and the product board together. From Ram Ratna Group previously, it has become RR Global Group. For RR Kabel also, we have changed the logo which has infused lots of freshness into the look, and now truly stands for youthfulness, reliability, trust, and global outlook which essentially are the core of RR Kabel.
We are a truly global company with factories in Dubai, Bangladesh and India. This and being the largest exporter of electrical from India formed the background why we contemplated the change of identity. The hon’ble Power Minister has unveiled our group’s new identity and we are also fortunate and privileged to have been mentioned in ‘Make in India’ alongside companies like Unilever, Reliance, Sterlite, etc. This only confirms the sincerity with which people consider RR Kabel.
We are launching a couple of new products. In cables, we have been primarily a house wire company, i.e. a low voltage cable company to say. Now, we are moving to medium voltage cables and other specialized cables. We have also launched a futuristic product which is a replacement of cables for commercial and high rise buildings where power consumption is more. This product is also electrically safe. Recently when talking to Hon’ble Power Minister who were emphasizing on electricity saving, I said electrical safety is equally important alongside energy saving as 85 percent of all the fires around the world are electrical in nature where major culprits are substandard wires and cables. I also requested to all wire and cable companies and the members of IEEMA to take the aspect of electrical safety in due earnest.
WCI: Your views on the growth prospects of power and cable sector.
SK: I see a good future of both as two things which the Govt. is contemplating, viz. house for all and power for all, will lead to eventual growth of the wire and cable sector.
WCI: What challenges do you see to the industry’s growth?
SK: Challenges are always there in a business. But the biggest challenge that I perceive is getting addressed gradually, which is quality. People in the industry are increasingly becoming conscious of quality parameters and this is not happening here in India only, but this is global trend of which India is component. Owing to this quality awareness trend, the industry in the last decade has become more organized from being unorganized. The unorganized players are finding it hard to survive due to shrinking profitability, and this is an advantage for the industry.
WCI: Any expansion plan?
SK: We are expanding our capacity for low voltage and medium voltage cables. The planned investment is going to be Rs. 100 crores plus in this capacity expansion. We don’t need to invest in land as RR Kabel has land in excess of 100 acres already. The best part is that we are making our factories green for which we have already installed India’s largest roof-top solar panel of 1.6 MW.
WCI: Your targets for 2020?
SK: We are targeting Rs. 10,000 crore by 2020.
WCI: You wish to add something before we conclude?
SK: ‘Make in India’ is only possible when people would start manufacturing good product, selling good product and using good product, else it would just be a dream.
