Since its inception in 1965, the Ram Ratna Group has been pursuing simpler ideas for better living. It invests a lot in innovating products that can make life easy and safe.

The Group currently has a thousand-plus team of highly skilled professionals, serving its 4 manufacturing hubs and 23 marketing offices in India. It has its presence in 73 countries across 5 continents.

To have a better understanding of the developments that have taken place in the company and the Group’s new TV campaign, the Wire and Cable India (WCI) team recently had a face-to-face interview with Mr. Shreegopal Kabra, President, Ram Ratna Group. Here are some excerpts from this interestingly informative interaction.

WCI: What new developments have taken place in your company?

Shreegopal Kabra: We have moved into making specialised cables for automation and machinery. In this field, we are mainly targeting instrumentation cables wherein an investment of about Rs. 150 crore was made two years ago. We want to make our brand more powerful on the market and create a space for ourselves. We are not looking for any market shares from competition; we want to become a major player in the industry in new segments.

WCI: What are the factors behind the power of your brand?

SK: We believe in making products better than the ones made by others. We were the first company in India to make wire as a branded product and the first company in 2000 to come up with the whole range of house wire and the first company to start a range of HR PVC insulated wires, which was done after conducting our own research. HR PVC wires are high temperature wires. When electric current passes through a wire, it generates an ambient temperature of 40 degrees. Because PVC wires are high temperature wires, they do not burn, but this reduces the life of the equipment or gadget. We often say that items such as tube light, bulbs and other electrical appliances don’t last long, but what we don’t realise is that the life of such objects depends a lot on the kind of wire we use. If you use the right kind of wire, the life of your tube light or bulb will increase. Nowadays the government is very active in five star rating of appliances. They need to, first, rate the quality of the wire itself. Consultants, contractors and common people normally look for ISI, and we all know how ISI is manipulated. It is unfortunate that till date the halogen free wire in India does not have the ISI mark, because BIS has not upgraded its standards. Safety is given a lot of importance in health care products, but we don’t care so much for safety when it comes to wires. So, our company goes for making the best quality wires, because it knows that safety is important. We are the first company in Asia and the fourth company in the world to make unilay conductor wire and the first company in India to make halogen free wire. And we decided not to sell our product but to market them, because our products were new to the Indian market. We developed our products and told the public about how our branding was going on. Different bodies and companies are making efforts to spread this awareness.

I am pleased to tell you that people – especially in the urban areas – are becoming more and more aware of the need for using the right kind of wire. In villages, not many know about it. But in the coming ten to fifteen years this awareness will spread in villages as well. And we will have many people going for the right kind of wire.

WCI: What has helped your company to grow?

SK: Innovation, transparency and trust – these are the things that have helped us to grow. People trust us because we are clear in our effort and give them the right kind of products. We, therefore, have a huge responsibility towards our customers. Whenever we bring out a new product, we are very cautious, because our customers expect us to give them something new, something better than what the others have. Our intention is to keep producing better products.

WCI: How much importance do you give to research and development?

SK: We give a lot of importance to R&D. For this purpose, we have hired consultants from Europe. The entire team of these European consultants is in our factory; it is helping us with our R&D. Earlier we used to buy technology to develop cables, now we hire European experts… .

WCI: What are your comments on the current wire and cable scenario in India?

SK: The current scenario is not good, not only of wire and cable industry but all industries. It’s rather uncertain. When the government changes, there certainly will be some new development; because now in India the time has come when only those who perform will win. So, now the government that will come will have to work for development.

WCI: Which segment in wire and cable industry has been badly hit by the global economic slowdown?

SK: We are into low voltage cable, so I can speak only about the low voltage cable segment. This segment has been hit because the real estate sector is not doing well. People are not buying much. But India has a good future. A lot depends on the kind of policy the government makes. If the government does not focus on industrial growth, it will harm the business. The government is still the biggest bet. The new government may help the industry to grow rapidly. I also believe that recession will end in the near future, as it cannot last forever. Situations change.

WCI: What are your future targets?

SK: For one year we will not go for further expansion, because the expansion we have done needs to be sustained in a complete cycle. We have invested in expansion during the last three years – even when the market was not there. To remain as a leader on the market, you have to keep growing. At least for the next five years, we will be strengthening our existing product line.

We launched a TV campaign in the run-up to India’s elections that urged customers to “make the right choice”. The campaign centres around a conversation between an electrician and a sales clerk at an electrical store. In the ad, an electrician asks the sales clerk for some wire, and when the clerk reaches for a brand other than RR Kabel, the electrician objects, asking for RR. The shopkeeper then tells the electrician: “So you know which wire to go for, huh? I hope you’re going to choose the right leader too…”

“Sahi chuno” is a small initiative by us that not only urges everybody to vote but also urges them to choose the right government. We felt the need to contribute in a bid to educate the masses that their vote is equally important and their choices influence the nomination of the right government. The idea is to create a feeling that this is our country and that the chosen government has to be for our country’s welfare.

WCI: Are you planning to venture into totally new business segments?

SK: We are into making fans, switches and have entered into switch gear, lighting and geysers business… . Yes, we do want to venture into new business segments. We do thrive on the synergies across our group companies, but we don’t want to expand only our wire and cable segment. Diversification is the key to success. And we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. Wire and cable manufacturing constitutes 30 per cent of our overall business. In times to come, we will get into other business segments. Wire and cable business is a commodity business, where margins are low and investment is high… . We will gradually enhance our product line in all the segments. To provide for the growing needs of parking facilities in our country – especially in the urban centres – we have initiated a venture and brought the best available vertical car parking technology from Korea to our country.

WCI: In what way has technology fueled the growth of your company?

SK: We’ve got the finest machines. We’ve got the technical capability. Machines, technical capability and raw material are important, but what is more important is the desire to be the best in the industry. If you have money, you can buy the best machine, the best talent and the right kind of raw material. But still only a few companies are successful. It all boils down to just one question: Are you interested in volume or quality? We are not into the volume game. We are interested in quality. For us quality matter the most; quantity is secondary.

WCI: What opportunities does the wire and cable business currently offer?

SK: Wire and cable business has a lot to offer, mainly because people are moving from poor-quality to good-quality wires. The companies that give importance to quality will always get opportunities in this business. There are three types of people working in the company: first, there are those who get a specific salary and work less than what they are supposed to; second, there are those who work in accordance with their salary; and third, there are those who give much more than what they get – in terms of work and salary. There is competition in the first two categories, but there is no competition in the third one. We are in the third category. Those who want quality products come to us, because we believe in quality.

WCI: What is your quality policy?

SK: Our quality policy is based on commitment. If somebody makes wire that is better than the wire we make, then do not use our wire. This is what we tell our customers. We are the only company in the world to have been accorded nineteen international approvals for a single manufacturing facility. This achievement puts a lot of pressure on us to maintain quality. In the end, it’s the desire to excel and the importance we give to quality that matter.