Team WCI interacted with Mr. Gurvinder Pal Singh, Managing Director, AGH Wires Pvt. Ltd. to get the outline of his idea and plans for expansion, market overview and its future and above all the contribution to the industry.
He started the conversation by giving the synopsis of his business “our core business is of manufacturing air conditioners but recently we ventured into 2 businesses i.e. Aluminium Extrusion and Wire Business with total investment outlay of around 3 million Euros in machinery only while land and factory is separate. The final sampling of the extrusion products has been done and we are waiting for the clearances form our customers in India as well as overseas to start the proceedings further. To attain the highest quality standards we have sourced the technology from the world renowned suppliers such as RBD machine, Niehoff (Germany) and a 2 million Euros deal is signed with Sicme Italia Impianti for supplying 7 new EG series wire enameling plants, the most advanced technology in the world. It produces high quality magnet wire with low power consumption. It’s the only plant in world running on VD of more than 145 producing excellent quality aluminium enameled wire. The 2 machines are already being installed, 2 are scheduled to be deliver in end of August and 3 plants in end of November 2012. After this AGH Wires will have 22 lines altogether. The installed capacity will come out to be 80 to 100 metric tons per month. We’ll be producing 0.35 mm to 1.45 mm of diameter wire with all the three ranges of enameled wire like single coat, dual coat etc. We aim to cater the automobile industry, transformer industry and compressor industry. Eventually we have a plan to go for thicker gauges and strips also but that will be in phase two.”
Giving us the market overview and what kind of future he foresees he said “copper is a volatile product and today the prices have gone through the roof so everybody is migrating to aluminium. This trend is catching up faster because of which many products have been shifted from copper to aluminium like motors, mixer and grinders similarly distribution transformers are also being manufactured with aluminium wires as well as strips. Though in terms of conductivity copper is better but the factor that is driving this shift is price. Today the technology has been developed to use the aluminium magnetic wire instead of copper for the same application within the same size and range. And this has been accepted by the market very positively. Going ahead raw material will be an important aspect. To achieve good balance between the quality and price we have imported all the raw material. We are aware about the basic characteristics of the raw material so we’ll indigenize the whole process. Certain process we’ll do in-house and vis-à-vis will also develop local sources for the supply of aluminium rod. To get the desired mechanical properties we will provide our own chemical composition and then by doing the secondary process in house.
“Presently, in India the quality that is being provided to the customers is not up to the mark, so our basic aim is to bridge that gap and unless and until it is not completely bridged we would not like to sell our product in the market. We are committed to provide the same quality what our customers are getting from the overseas market. We have got major testing equipments from overseas to meet the best quality standards. We are the first company of India setting up manufacturing facility dedicated to aluminium magnet wire with European technology” he explained the USP of AGH Wires.
On the contribution to the industry he said “currently if we shift 50% of copper to aluminium the market size for aluminium would be around 2000 to 2500 MT per month in India. This constitutes the cable industry too and especially the people who make conductors. I think aluminium will play a vital role in the Indian market as well as in overseas market. In Europe many companies have started using the aluminium in the winding. The biggest example is that all the technology suppliers who earlier used to manufacture the machines which can be used for both copper as well as aluminium are now manufacturing special machine dedicated to the aluminium winding. As they have realized that there is a great potential for aluminium in the market. Down the line we are targeting to do 500 MT per month and with this vision we have built our manufacturing facility. As the market develops we will add more machines and have plans to build multiple factories across the country. Initially we are expecting 60 to 70% growth year on year basis as we are starting from the scratch and in the fifth year we’ll be able to touch around 15-20%. In the coming time we will also add some products related to aluminium only. In the long run we would like to cater the overseas market but first we will assure that we are at par with their standards. India is an emerging market and we have an advantage of being here. We have chosen overseas as our benchmark and will believe that we will be able to contribute substantial to the industry. We intend to make turnover of Rs. 80 to 100 crores in the initial years and presently achieve the turnover of Rs. 30-35 crores by the end of next financial year.”