Group Nirmal is a 1500 crore enterprise with state-of-the-art manufacturing for GI wires, steel wire, aluminum conductors, hot rolled products, and construction steel. Having over 1000 employees working in 5 factories and 1 office, they have a capacity of 1,80,000 TPA. They have recently entered the cable market with the brand Nirmal Cables which includes aluminum cables, and they plan to expand into copper cables in about 6-8 months. Their product range has expanded significantly, with a focus on innovation, including the introduction of Niznal™. Recently, Group Nirmal participated in Cable & Wire Fair 2023, and in interaction with Wire & Cable India, Mr. Varun Saraf, Mr. Prateek Saraf, & Mr. Parag Saraf, Directors, Group Nirmal, talked about the company, its history, and their product portfolio. They also talked about their new flagship product Niznal™, and their future plans.
Journey of Growth & Diversification
My grandfather started this business 60 years ago, starting as a small wire drawing unit. Over the years, our family, including my father and brothers, have been actively involved. Initially, our production capacity was around 200 TPM, but we’ve grown significantly, now standing at 15,000 TPM. Additionally, we’re planning to expand by an additional 6,000 tonnes next year. Our company has a rich history, spanning almost 60 years, primarily in the wire industry. In 1995, we diversified into producing welding electrodes under the name Shieldarc Equipment, followed by establishing a rolling mill for hot-rolled products under Shri Ambika Metalliks in 1996.
In a short time, we achieved success in the steel products sector, particularly in steel wires and rolled products. We ventured into aluminum conductors in 2003. Considering the technological advancements and network upgrades, especially in distribution, it’s evident that conductors in distribution will gradually be phased out, leaving only cables for LT lines, specifically those below 11kV. Consequently, we thought it was the right time that we should enter the cable market to remain competitive. Therefore, we launched Nirmal Cables. At present, our focus remains primarily on wires, particularly steel wires. We are cautiously exploring the cable market while concentrating on expanding our core wire business. With a substantial workload expected in the next 2-3 years, we anticipate a consistent flow of requirements and orders.
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Product Portfolio: A Comprehensive Offering
Currently, we have entered the market with aluminum cables, and we plan to expand into copper cables in about 6-8 months. Currently, our production capacity ranges from 12,000 to 15,000 TPM, encompassing various types of wires, including black wires and galvanized wires. In the black wire category, we serve diverse sectors such as mattress springs, meshes, and standard springs. In the galvanized wire segment, we supply both domestically to farmers and contribute to the country’s growth through the T&D sector.
Additionally, we are engaged in the production of conductors and cables. Our product range has expanded significantly, with a focus on cables, including the introduction of Nirmal Cables. Furthermore, we’ve filled a gap in the market by producing zinc-aluminum wire locally with the introduction of Niznal™, reducing the need for imports. We’re also planning to enter the specialized wire market catering to the automotive sector in the coming year. Currently, we primarily serve the distribution sector, focusing on low-tension (LT) applications due to our relatively new presence in the industry. However, as we gain more expertise, we may consider expanding into high-tension (HT) applications.
Market Footprint- Global Presence
The T&D sector, which is power distribution, has always been a significant sector for us. Additionally, we serve the agriculture sector where we provide all the fencing materials, as well as the materials required for poultry. In recent years our company’s exports have increased significantly with 60 percent of our products being exported all over the world including Japan, Sri Lanka, USA, Europe, etc. Our presence is well-established in international markets, and we maintain an extensive export network, currently spanning 42 countries. This robust network enables us to explore opportunities for exporting our cable products as well.
Niznal™: A Revolutionary Product
Group Nirmal is the first manufacturer of zinc aluminum-coated wires in India. Niznal™, our flagship product, was launched this year, and it took a lot of research and collaboration for its development. With better quality and performance, it surpasses the galvanized wires because it gives enhanced life, tested to give 6 times life. The combination of zinc and aluminum gives the wires superior corrosion resistance and durability compared to traditional galvanized wire. Since it provides up to 6X longer life, the overall life expectancy is higher. Additionally, it makes the product’s total life cycle cost much cheaper than galvanized wires. After installation, Niznal™ demands very little upkeep and delivers enduring efficiency, enabling users to concentrate on their endeavors without any concerns. This distinctive feature not only conserves time but also reduces labor and resource requirements, rendering Niznal™ the preferred option for individuals in search of dependable and hassle-free solutions.
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Priority Sectors for Niznal™
Niznal™ requires market awareness because people need to be aware of what they are gaining from using Niznal™ when compared to galvanized wires. So, our first move would obviously be awareness, getting our end customers aware of the benefits, and elaborating it further with more technicalities, which will be backed up by government laboratories. Additionally, we plan to approach the individual sectors. Some of the priority sectors would be the gabion market, fencing market, and agriculture. The agriculture sector has significant use of wires which are predominantly used for basic preplacing systems and for crop management as well. Border security is another key aspect where Niznal™ will have an important role to play. We are talking about fencing the railway and we see this as a very good replacement to some of the crash barbs and crash barriers that are being used. So, we put up a fence that lasts 6 times longer in a galvanized product. From strengthening gabion boxes to supporting crops in agriculture, from securing loads in shipping containers to providing strength in fencing structures, Niznal™ excels in every domain. Therefore, it’s a concept that comes with a lot of education and to and fro of discussion. The whole idea is now to take this further by first making people aware of the benefits, and pros of using Niznal™ over galvanized wires.
Outlook and Future Plans
India has an immense opportunity to become the next manufacturing hub. I think everyone has to go that extra mile and adopt new technologies. We need to come up with the concept of looking at the overall lifecycle cost rather than the upfront cost which is why if we evaluate Niznal™, it has eco-friendly features too, because if I say 6 times the life, I am reducing the steel consumption by 6 times. We need to start thinking holistically, as a team, and then I think the sky is the limit. We have started with AB cables, power cables, and service cables. But in the years to come, maybe in 6-8 months’ time, we plan to go into controlling, signaling, and installing signaling instrumentation once we start using copper as well. Only aluminum will not help us to go in all of these things. Once we start our copper facility, we can go into control cables, signaling, and instrumentation. And then the cable is a wide network, and it’s like a wide subject, you can use a cable everywhere. Wherever you see there is some sort of cable used in your life for example when you talk about your mobile phone you need a charger, you need to charge it, so there is a cable. You talk about EV vehicles or solar charging, EV charging cables are also pretty useful right now, and the demand will keep on increasing because charging stations will increase.
