Wire & Cable India Emagazine May-June Issue 2022

May-June, 2022

Vol. 11 No. 04

1000/-

Technology & Innovation: Empowering the Channels of Power Page No. 10

Cable & Wire Fair 2022 Concludes with Resounding Success....36

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n Inverted Drawing Blocks (IVD) n Vertical and Horizontal Bull Blocks n Rod Break Down Machines n Wet Wire Drawing Machines n Furnace-Wire Annealing, Patenting, Stress Reliving n Tubular / Skip Stranding Machine n Vertical Drop Coilers (VDC) n Dead Block Coilers (DBC) n Wire Spooling Lines - Multi / Single Wires n Wire Flattening Mills / Shaped Wire Mills n TIG Wire Straightening Cutting Machines with Embossing

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WORLD CLASS EXTRUSION SYSTEMS

Supermac – Global Solution Provider in Extrusion and Process Technology along with IIOT Applications Supermac Industries established in the year 1974 is a leader in manufacturing of high end systems and process technology for the wire & cable in Power and telecom sector and related Industries. The ISO 9001 and CE certified company specializes in offering customized and tailor made solutions to fulfil specific needs of the variety of customers all across the globe. With a highly skilled design team, with the best of manufacturing and highly talented commissioning team, trained experts in cable processes and technology , we offer design to process expertise to bring in the best product for you. Supermac has expertise providing on line commissioning from remote. Post commissioning customer service support is provided from both on site as well as from remote. In our endeavor to conform to industry 4.0 norms, Supermac has taken strong strides forward in implementing several digital initiatives and can provide IIOT enabled extrusion lines supported by Siemens Mind sphere software.

The company has three established and running units near New Delhi and we are adding another unit under our expansion program.

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CONTENTS TECH-TONIC

Technology & Innovation: Empowering the Channels of Power Page No. 10

Global Wires India Tata Steel: Embracing Open Innovation to Collaborate with Start-Ups and Subject Matter Experts....12

Viraj Profiles: Customising Offerings as per Customer Demand....13

Bekaert: Bringing in Digitalisation and CO2 Reduction to Create Enhanced Customer Experience....14

Systematic Group: Developed New Coating Process Resulting in Thicker Galvanisation Layer....16

Polycab: Adopted a ‘Cloud-First Strategy’ for Critical Business Applications....18

KEC International: Betting Big on Product Innovation and Development....20

Apar Industries: Commissioning 2 Additional CCV Lines and a New HV Lab to Meet Testing Requirements....22

Lapp: Focussing on Integrating Industry 4.0 into Operations, Developing High-speed Connectivity Solutions....24

Havells Marks a New Milestone with In-House IoT and AI Platform....30

Panasonic Life Solutions India: Increasing R&D Investment with Focus on IoT & Other Innovation Trends....32

CWF 2022

Cable & Wire Fair 2022 Concludes with Resounding Success....36 After a three-day run that threw light on the wire, cable and allied industries, Cable & Wire Fair 2022 concluded successfully. Organised by Tulip 3P Media Pvt. Ltd., the International Exhibition & Conference for Wire & Cable Industry registered a footfall of over 12000 visitors from India and other countries

GROWTH & FUTURE

INDUSTRY SPEAK

Runaya Group to Undertake Capacity Augmentation of FRP Rods Business....34

Avoiding the Degradation of Polymers and the Discolouration of Cables Exposed to Outdoor Conditions, Key Steps by Delta Tecnic....86

NEWS WIRE & CABLE

88

TELECOM & OFC

95 BharatNet Phase-II: TANFINET Partners with Pace Digitek for Package B in Tamil Nadu

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

SIKORA Receives ‘Germany’s Innovation Leader 2022’ Award

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Sterlite Power Wins Projects of INR 1600 crore across its Solutions Business

TECH-TONIC

Technology & Innovation: Empowering the Channels of Power

T

he role of wire and cable is indispensable in the electrical and electronic industry. Wires and cables, as the transmission medium of the power and data system, are like the blood vessels of the human body. They empower today's civilized societies.

availability, security, and affordable connectivity of IT infrastructure are enhancing the applications of wires & cables. Moreover, the need for next-gen gadgets and the rollout of 5G and 6G technology has increased the adoption of various types of cables including optical fibre.

According to a recent report by Transparency Market Research, the global valuation of the wire and cable market is projected to reach USD 285.05 billion by the end of 2031.

The demand for wires and cables depends majorly on the growth of the manufacturing industry and infrastructure in the power and telecommunications sectors. Hence, the government's initiatives to boost the real estate and domestic manufacturing sector are expected to generate a lot of business for the industry in the coming years. The growth of renewable energy, the expansion and revamping of transmission & distribution infrastructure, and increasing investments in the road, metro, and rail sectors are some of the important developments taking place in the country that will help propel a brighter future for the wire and cable industry.

Similarly, it is interesting to see the technological innovations happening in the wire & cable industry itself. Besides quality up-gradation, cable companies have started investing in R&D enormously. From manufacturing technology-driven products to implementing industry 4.0, the companies are taking every step possible to be technologically advanced and compete with the international market.

R&D and Consistent Improvements

With technology becoming increasingly integrated, cables are gaining prominence today more than ever before. The growing data centres and IT facilities for higher levels of

www.wirecable.in

R&D is important for the continual growth of all industries and wire & cable is no exception. A good R&D strategy can

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May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC motivates its employees at all levels and across all divisions to adopt innovation as part of their work and conducts frequent innovation workshops engaging most of the middle level and senior team members,” he said.

Implementing Industry 4.0 The modern global economy is at the threshold of the new industrial revolution that focuses on the use of digital technologies and internet technologies enabling the development of fully automated production processes.

Initially coined by the German government, the term 'Industry 4.0' is closely related to the concepts of the Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber Physical System (CPS), Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Enterprise Architecture (EA), and Enterprise Integration (EI). As the sector is in the midst of Industry 4.0, the level of automation has been increasing consistently owing to its positive impact on productivity and efficiency.

Panasonic Life Solutions India has recently built its first Industry 4.0 Standard ECM Manufacturing Facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. While talking about the advantages of integrated automation, Mr. Hemant Gadhave, Business Unit-Head of Wires & Cables, Panasonic Life Solutions India said, “These automated processes save time and are far more efficient in functioning. Automation in turn is also environmentally friendly and technologically superior.”

Meanwhile, LAPP is also targeting to pilot smart factories in different locations. “Our new corporate office at IBC Knowledge Park, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru is a uniquely designed modern workspace that incorporates the hybrid model of working. The office space is designed to fuel creativity and enable increased communication between departments, which we believe is the key to encouraging innovation and growth,” said Mr. Gary Bateman, Managing Director, LAPP India Pvt. Ltd. He further revealed that the company is actively working on integrating Industry 4.0 concepts such as smart supply chains into its operations and developing high-speed connectivity solutions.

lead to innovation in a workplace which can be in the form of a new product or an improved process.

While highlighting the development that recently took place at Global Wires India - Tata Steel, Mr. Anurag Pandey, Executive-in-Charge said, “Our technology journey is anchored to our strategy of moving into high technology products, making wire manufacturing more sustainable and leveraging digital technologies for simplification of processes to become agile.” He adds, “Accordingly, we have invested in a fully automated line for making Induction Hardened & Tempered (IHT) wire. We are deploying effluent recycling units to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge status for our manufacturing units. We are at an advanced stage of deploying the 'Digital Twin' concept for remote operation of the plants.”

Talking about the technology and business roadmap of the company, Dr. Mukul Saxena, President, and Chief Technology Officer, Havells India Ltd. added, “We are at the cusp of innovation when it comes to our consumer products. We are transcending traditional product boundaries to offer our customers new functionalities, improved reliability, better utilisation and enhanced capabilities. We achieved a significant milestone with the Havells in-house IoT and AI Platform. It is equipped with Connectivity and Control Hardware, Product Cloud, Havells Sync Unified App, and Voice Control with AI/ ML capabilities.”

Mr. VK Bajaj, Sr President-Business Strategy and Innovation, Apar Industries Ltd. feels that innovation cannot be achieved overnight and hence, it should be inculcated as part of the work culture and behavior. “Apar

With this Editorial Feature on technology and innovation, Wire & Cable India interacted with the key industry players to glean insights on the technological development, R&D, new products, and the indispensable role of industry 4.0 in the wire & cable sector.

www.wirecable.in

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May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

Global Wires India - Tata Steel: Embracing Open Innovation to Collaborate with Start-Ups and Subject Matter Experts “

Mr. Anurag Pandey, Executive-inCharge, Global Wires India - Tata Steel

We have invested in a fully automated line for making Induction Hardened & Tempered (IHT) wire. We are deploying effluent recycling units to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge status for our manufacturing units. We are at an advanced stage of deploying the ‘Digital Twin’ concept for remote operation of the plants.

” Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

Anurag Pandey: Our technology journey is anchored to our strategy of moving into high technology products, making wire manufacturing more sustainable and leveraging digital technologies for simplification of processes to become agile.

Accordingly, we have invested in a fully automated line for making Induction Hardened & Tempered (IHT) wire. We are deploying effluent recycling units to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge status for our manufacturing units. We are at an advanced stage of deploying the 'Digital Twin' concept for remote operation of the plants.

On the quality front, we are striving for zero defect manufacturing for which we are adapting the best processes from the auto industry. We are also exploring on-line preventive process controls using IoT so that we can graduate to predictive quality control. 'Zincometer' developed with NML is an example.

www.wirecable.in

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the Industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company

AP: Our innovation culture thrives on the 'Freedom to Fail' afforded to young minds. We are going deeper into our core processes of steelmaking, rolling and wire processing through our central R&D (e.g. high tensile wire rods for super tensile spring wires). At the same time, we are embracing open innovation to collaborate with startups and subject matter experts so that we leverage rapid progress in other fields to improve processes & build differentiation in our products.

Secondary coated 'Wiron Aayush' is an example of this. Besides, we are seeking to apply concepts of electrocoagulation in removing pollutants from treated water, ultrasonic for acid-free cleaning of wire and acoustic emission for monitoring die wear, which could lead us to breakthrough improvements.

AP: Tata Steel Global Wires has initiated to building a process digital twin for its specific manufacturing units under Industry 4.0 Initiative.

The objective of Process Digital Twin is to use mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing to optimise not only equipment but the entire manufacturing process.

Our strategy also focusses on downstreaming into fencing products (fixed knot fence, 3D welded fence) that will change the landscape of fencing in India.

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The approach for deployment is to use ready-to-deploy AI apps, which can be integrated with specific IoT platforms to streamline the manufacturing process end to end, deliver higher ROI and improve product quality. This is being done by creating process digital twins that connect and mirror the manufacturing life cycle, revealing cause-andeffect relationships between components, raw materials and processes.

The apps then provide predictions and actionable recommendations using machine learning and AI. We have also implemented end-to-end traceability in all our own plants to get

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

better visibility of material and provide a firm commitment to the customers against their orders. It is also helpful in tracing a particular consignment that has been sent to the customer and taking any necessary

actions as and when required. This has helped to improve customer sentiment towards our brand.

Under visualization, we are using Tableau dashboards for the majority of our reports and we are using insights gained from the same to take necessary steps towards achieving our goals.

We are also working on data analytics and visualization to improve our processes and systems.

Viraj Profiles: Customising Offerings as per Customer Demand “

As part of our commitment to ensure a seamless experience for our customers across more than 96 countries, we have recently deployed new ERP software to improve our delivery system and efficient use of the resources. The system encompasses all the activities starting from sourcing of scrap up to the last mile delivery of the products.

”

Mr. Neeraj Kochhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Viraj Profiles Ltd. Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

Neeraj Kochhar: Viraj has always been driven by innovation and timely adaptation to the changing market and demand. Our thrust upon innovation is driven by new technologies, changing consumer demands, and other forces like change in the global economic scenario. The company has made sizable investments in creating a robust infrastructure while strengthening the existing one. As part of our commitment to ensure a seamless experience for our customers across more than 96 countries, we have recently deployed new ERP software to improve our delivery system and efficient use of the resources. The system encompasses all the activities starting from

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sourcing of scrap up to the last mile delivery of the products.

On the manufacturing technology front, we recently started the HOT trial of our new straightening and shearing machine specifically for our profile range of products. The technology installed by Danieli Group (Italy) offers flawless performance at a much better speed and is equipped to handle up to 800 mm wide angles, channels and flats. The project just got kicked off but going forward, it will surely transform the way we manufacture products and will also help us in optimising our speed of manufacturing and delivery.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

NK: At Viraj, we follow an open door policy vertically as well as

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laterally. We have created an atmosphere conducive to innovation and where employees feel free to express their thoughts, ideas and concerns with their teams, colleagues as well as seniors. Our approach has always been customer-centric and thus, our pursuit for innovation is always fuelled by our quest for customer excellence. Our R&D department is constantly exploring new ways of solving a problem. Over the years, this has helped us in customising our product offerings as per the customer demand and also maintaining our leadership position in the global market.

At Viraj, we have also formed a special cell comprising of engineers who are fresh out of college and a mix of middle management and senior management staff from various departments. The core

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

function of this department is to focus on new product development, cost optimisation, innovative packaging solutions, data analytics, etc. This methodology has helped us in looking at the manufacturing process in a completely new light.

Access to advanced data analytics has improved our data-driven decision-making capabilities.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

inevitable for sustainable business operation and the stainless steel industry is no exception. The stainless steel industry is already lagging behind other industries when it comes to technological transformation. These challenges have only been exacerbated owing to the pandemic and the changes in the global market. On the brighter side, the pandemic has also taught us to focus on building a more agile work culture and be future-ready to tackle any challenge head-on.

NK: Embracing new technology is

Agility does not mean allowing

people to do what they want to do, rather it has to be linked to the ability of the organisation to reconfigure people's strategies, resources and structures to the most value-creating opportunities. Having said that, we also understand that achieving this can take a longer period of time and it's a gradual process. Going forward, Viraj aims to earmark a significant portion of its expenditure on innovation and R&D. We already have a couple of projects in the pipeline and by the end of this calendar year, we should be able to share more updates on this.

Bekaert: Bringing in Digitalisation and CO2 Reduction to Create Enhanced Customer Experience “

Mr. Srikanth Chakravarthy, Vice President Global Strategy – RR, Managing Director India, Bekaert Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or upgradation that recently took place.

Srikanth Chakravarthy: Bekaert is a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. We recently received the 'Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year Award' for BeCoFree, a solution that allows tire makers to remove cobalt completely from the tire while using a steel cord.

This is a significant innovation as it

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We recently received the ‘Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year Award’ for BeCoFree, a solution that allows tire makers to remove cobalt completely from the tire while using a steel cord. This is a significant innovation as it addresses both the challenge of performance and sustainability together.

” addresses both the challenge of performance and sustainability together.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

and future needs. Behind this, we continuously invest in our capabilities and talents and have been able to attract strong talent through various levels in the organisation that can stimulate the change needed.

SC: We see engagement with customers and suppliers as vital to innovation. Co-creation allows for much greater possibilities than creation alone, hence we engage heavily through the supply chain to find solutions that address current

To begin with, we always challenge the traditional ways of doing things, and apply boundary-less thinking to ideate, within a structured framework that takes us all the way from idea to industrialisation through various stage gates.

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May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

lightweight tire design. The ultra-thin metal fibres are a core material of sensor technologies. We develop innovative steel and synthetic mooring solutions for floating offshore wind turbines and our Bezinox wire protects submarine power cables against corrosion and energy losses. Our high-tech solutions for realising vertical cities include Acords for elevators, ultra-thin metal fibres to manufacture scratch-free smart glazing, Dramix steel fibres for concrete reinforcement and Murfor Compact masonry reinforcement.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

SC: Our roadmap depends on the application and portfolio of solutions. However, what is common is that all our technologies address the key questions on sustainability,

digitalisation, and innovative thinking.

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company.

SC: Bekaert develops ever stronger and thinner tire cords to enable

All our products are technologydriven. So either we are reinventing the product, or the process, or the application. Bringing in digital and CO2 reduction to create new and enhanced customer experiences are key characteristics influencing our innovation agenda.

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May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

Systematic Group: Developed New Coating Process Resulting in Thicker Galvanisation Layer “

We have taken several Industry 4.0 initiatives at our company. We have installed IoT sensors at our manufacturing facilities which help us to collect data about various parameters of our production process.

”

Mr. Sidharth Agrawal, Managing Director, Systematic Group Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

Sidharth Agrawal: Systematic Group has always been at the forefront of technology and quality development in the wire industry.

Recently, we have developed a new coating process that results in an even thicker galvanisation layer, thus ensuring better corrosion protection.

Additionally, we have also upgraded our machinery to ensure more precision in manufacturing. This allows us for better quality control and improved products. We have also bought additional plant and machinery to keep pace with the growing demand for our products.

All these factors together ensure that we are able to provide our customers with the best quality products at the most competitive prices.

The Systematic Group has always been dedicated to developing new technologies and improving the quality of its products. Recently, we have developed a new, more efficient method of galvanising wire, which results in a thicker, more durable coating. They have also invested in new machinery that allows them to

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produce higher-quality wire products more efficiently.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

SA: We believe that innovation and research & development are the keys to success in any industry. In order to foster innovation at our workplace, we have set up a dedicated team of researchers who work on developing new technologies and improving existing ones. We also encourage our employees to come up with new ideas and suggestions that can help us improve our products and processes. Additionally, we have a very strong R&D department that is constantly working on developing new products and improving existing ones.

WCI: What are your thoughts about the role of technology in the wire industry?

SA: Technology plays a very important role in the wire industry as it helps us to improve our products and processes. With the help of new technologies, we are able to develop better quality products that can meet the ever-changing demands

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of our customers. Additionally, technology also helps us to reduce our production costs and improve our efficiency. We believe that technology will continue to play a very important role in the wire industry and we are always investing in new technologies to stay ahead.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

SA: In the coming times, we plan to continue investing in new technologies that can help us improve our products and processes. Additionally, we also plan to expand our business by setting up new manufacturing units in other parts of the country.

We believe that these investments will help us to further consolidate our position as one of the leading manufacturers of wire products in India.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the Industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

SA: We have taken several Industry 4.0 initiatives at our company. We have installed IoT sensors at our manufacturing facilities which help us to collect data about various

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC parameters of our production process. This data is then stored in the cloud and analysed by our team of experts who use it to improve our

processes. Additionally, we have also implemented machine learning algorithms which help us to predict demand and optimise our produc-

tion accordingly. These initiatives have helped us to improve the efficiency and quality of our products.

Polycab: Adopted a ‘Cloud-First Strategy’ for Critical Business Applications “

Polycab's advanced wire & cable technology, computerised product design and stringent quality control help to develop highly engineered products that give excellent features beyond the standards.

”

Mr. Bhushan Sawhney, Executive President & Chief Business Officer (Cables), Polycab India Ltd. Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

Bhushan Sawhney: Polycab India manufactures best-in-class wires and cables using cutting-edge technologies. All units are equipped with advanced machinery and testing equipment as per national and international standards. We have established robust backward integration to ensure control of product quality, supply chain and reduction in operational costs. Polycab's advanced wire & cable technology, computerised product design and stringent quality control help to develop highly engineered products that give excellent features beyond the standards.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

BS: At Polycab, we are constantly

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gathering insights in new application areas and supporting them by developing new innovative products required to satisfy the underserved needs of our customers. R&D remains one of our key strengths which enables us to achieve product differentiation and offer a unique value proposition to our customers, distributors, dealers as well as institutional customers.

Our in-house R&D centre, located at Halol, Gujarat, is certified by the Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR, Government of India), and is continuously working on new product development in the wires & cables space. A large team of R&D and technical professionals support the manufacturing function through their expertise in the research process, design, performance and project management, and cater to evolving market requirements such as fire-retardant, fire survival, low smoke and multi-chemical resistant com-

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pounds. We also collaborate with various external technology consultants to develop many first-to-market technologies.

Polycab India Ltd. is the first company in India to receive Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) test certification on ISO 16942 cables for electric vehicles (EV) applications.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

BS: Polycab has always been at the forefront of leveraging technology to facilitate business growth. We continued to invest in digital technologies, which have helped us to improve operational efficiencies, aided better decision making, and created an immersive customer experience. To keep the organisation future-ready with the next generation technologies, we have adopted a 'cloud-first strategy' for our critical business applications

May-June, 2022

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TECH-TONIC and created a robust strategy for the same. Accordingly, we have migrated all instances of our ERP to the cloud and are in the process for other business-critical applications. It brings scalability, agility, security, and a lower cost of ownership. This is a stepping stone towards our journey of new edge technologies; AI/ML/IoT whenever and wherever required.

We have embarked on a multi-year transformation journey where we aim to achieve industry leading growth rate in line with marquee value creators, and market leaders in wires and cables and build a robust new age consumer electricals business. Project Leap is a multi-year transformational programme aimed at having the right building blocks in place which will enable us to achieve 200 billion of the top line by FY26.

It includes a range of strategic themes and initiatives focused on growth, profitability, and long-term capacity building for the organisation across B2B and B2C businesses Polycab's key themes and priorities for the coming year are: l

Go-to-Market - Digitise the entire distribution ecosystem Scale up in emerging India and alternate channels

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Customer Centricity - enhance visibility and control of secondary sales by significantly improving understanding end users

l

Winning with new products execute the NPD roadmap to drive market share gains as well as premiumisation

l

Governance - monitor progress of all building blocks towards clearly defining growth and profitability drivers

goods, utilities and telecommunications are being disrupted by Industry 4.0 technologies. As a major player in the wire & cables and FMEG industry, we are assessing the situation and devising our growth strategies accordingly.

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company.

BS: We are constantly working to upgrade the technology used in the production process and bring to the table customer-centric meaningful innovations. Polycab India manufactures halogen-free cable with energyefficient E-Beam technology facilitates high energy saving and reduces carbon footprint. The wires & cables produced from E-Beam technology are having excellent electrical, mechanical and fire properties with low production of waste and causing no harm to the environment. We have relaunched Polycab Green Wire with a new product proposition that emphasises the use of 5-in-1 Green Shield technology. Our products reflect a genuine sense of ecoconsciousness and are produced using environment-friendly materials and processes that conserve energy and natural resources.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the Industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

BS: We constantly strive to improve our operations through the adoption of the latest advanced technologies and digitalisation. We look at technology as an enabler and continue to invest in solutions aimed to improve efficiency, optimise inventory levels, and streamline the supply chain, thereby reducing dead stock with trade/company and improving receivables. We are leveraging digital to transform our business and using analytics to promote integrated business decision-making.

Meanwhile, the sectors that we serve, such as construction, consumer

KEC International: Betting Big on Product Innovation and Development “

Mr. Manjit Singh, Executive Director – Cables, KEC International Ltd.

www.wirecable.in

Our technology roadmap includes the development of new products for railway applications to cater to the demand from the railway segment. We have also been working on speciality cables for the Indian Navy to strengthen our product portfolio in the defence sector besides expanding our telecom portfolio.

” 20

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

Manjit Singh: At KEC International Ltd., we have a continued focus on innovation and new product development to cater to industry needs. Recently, we have developed a hybrid cable that integrates power cable with optical fibre cable for a few private utilities. We are also focusing on new product development in the field of railways, metro rail, defence, marine, telecom, etc., to penetrate further into the market and cater to wider business segments. Our in-house R&D centres in Vadodara & Mysore factories are now recognised by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

MS: Innovation and R&D is deeply ingrained in KEC's ethos. We are developing a special compound to be used in fire survival cables, which will be an alternative design for conventional fire survival cables. We

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are also developing formulations for special insulation and sheathing compounds to maintain quality. As a testament to our focus on quality and innovation, we have won several awards recently, which include 'Manufacturing Excellence' award by Frost & Sullivan and a runner-up award in 'Process' category at the All India Kaizen Competition organised

by Baroda Productivity Council.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

MS: Our technology roadmap includes the development of new products for railway applications to cater to the demand from the railway segment. We have also been working on speciality cables for the Indian Navy to strengthen our product portfolio in the defence sector.

Additionally, we are also expanding our telecom portfolio in line with the new investments announced for the sector.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company MS: We have taken various initiatives under industry 4.0 such as:

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Connected Machines l Real time OEE l Track & trace through RFID l Material consumption vs BOM Analysis RCCP -Digital planning l Predictive Maintenance l Optimisation (Real time DOE study for optimal CCV line speed) l

Smart Process l Proactive quality approach (In process parameter measurement) l Energy Monitoring & Control l Shop Floor Control (Digital work orders/Job card) Apart from this, we are also working on the development of software for cable size selection, optimum drum size selection and e-CRM for sales &Business Development.

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company MS: We have developed hybrid cables which are OFC embedded cables that enable utilities to optimise their costs. We are also developing overhead conductors for high-speed railway applications in view of the investments planned by the Ministry of Railways under the Mission Raftaar Scheme.

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

Apar Industries: Commissioning 2 Additional CCV Lines and a New HV Lab to Meet Testing Requirements “

Mr. VK Bajaj, Sr President-Business Strategy and Innovation, Apar Industries Ltd. Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

VK Bajaj: Apar Industries has always promoted innovation in product development & manufacturing technology thereby always upgrading its quality standards to remain ahead of the competition.

This has been well acknowledged by the customers and Apar products have been getting accepted by most of the customers. We are commissioning 2 additional CCV lines that will produce up to 72 KV cables, besides commissioning a new HV Lab to meet testing requirements.

We already had 2 Ebeam machines commissioned in 2012. Recently, we commissioned a new 2.5 MeV machine and another 2.5 MeV Ebeam machine is under installation.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

VKB: Apar motivates its employees at all levels and across all divisions to adopt innovation as part of their work and conducts frequent innova-

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We already had 2 Ebeam machines commissioned in 2012.

Recently, we commissioned a new 2.5 MeV machine and another 2.5 MeV Ebeam machine is under installation. We are also planning for additional Ebeam machines rating 5 MeV and 10 MeV in the coming years.

” tion workshops engaging most of the middle level and senior team members. Innovation is being inculcated as part of the work culture and behaviour and it cannot be achieved overnight. The senior management team takes responsibility to mentor the innovation and R&D among mid-level employees.

All necessary facilities, test equipment, input materials, and engagement with external laboratories and academic institutions are made available to achieve the objectives.

The marketing team remains in contact with the customers and coordinates with the works team to develop the products that provide technology solutions for solving customer needs.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

VKB: Apar cable division has been upgrading its manufacturing technology by replacing the latest models of equipment, upgrading testing equipment, and experimenting with raw materials, and alternate raw materials. Apar has been taking various international approvals like

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UL certifications, EN/TUV/IEC certifications besides several BIS certifications in an effort to get its products accepted in the global market. Apar cable division currently exports about USD 200 million, nearly 50 percent of its cable products to various customers in the USA, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and North Africa. Apar cables expect to continue with its efforts to go global to more geographies as our product demand is increasing. Besides the 4 Ebeam machines mentioned above, we are also planning for additional Ebeam machines rating 5 MeV and 10 MeV in the coming years.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the Industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

VKB: Apar has generally completed the assessment part of the industry 4.0 initiatives by conducting several workshops with prospective vendors besides external seminars and workshops. Apar cable division is currently in the advanced stage of implementation of Industry 4.0 Initiatives. Initially, we are focussing on productivity improvement and

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

power consumption management tools before expanding the scope further.

VKB: Few examples of Innovative products that Apar has developed include: l

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company.

l

LSZH Insulated Wires & Cables;

DRY Cure Low Voltage XLPE Cables using Ebeam CrossLinking Technology; Ebeam Cross-Linked PVC or

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35 KV Rubber Insulated Cables;

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High Tensile Strength Torpedo Fibre Optic Cables; and

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UL certifications for 18 categories of cables for export to the USA.

Lapp: Focussing on Integrating Industry 4.0 into Operations, Developing High-speed Connectivity Solutions “

Mr. Gary Bateman, Managing Director, LAPP India Pvt. Ltd.

Our teams are actively working on integrating Industry 4.0 concepts such as smart supply chains into our operations and developing high-speed connectivity solutions. We are also targeting to pilot smart factories in different locations of LAPP.

” Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place.

installing a 3 MeV electron beam accelerator to manufacture cables for renewable energy, building & infrastructure businesses.

Gary Bateman: As part of the initiatives to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into our various processes and functions, we have recently installed and commissioned a state-of-the-art tandem extruder with customised screw and barrel configurations to extrude compounds for speciality cable applications. Another addition to our facilities is a state-of-the-art compounding plant with speciality extruders for manufacturing PVC and other proprietary compound formulations. We have also been investing in the latest technology related to the development and testing of such proprietary compounds. Additionally, we are

We have recently obtained IS 17048 certifications for our HFFR singlecore and multi-core cables. We have also obtained 66 for safety fixture

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wire, UL 83 for thermoplasticinsulated wire and cables, UL 1277 and UL 2277 certification for tray cables and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for our laboratory in LAPP's manufacturing facility situated in Jigani, Bengaluru. The ISO/IEC 17025 certification provides the

May-June, 2022

THE SCIENCE OF CONNECTION

C O N N E C T I N G LIVES

OUR PRODUCT RANGE COPPER (DATA CABLES) Ÿ Networking Cables Ÿ CCTV Cables Ÿ LV Power, Control cables & Wires Ÿ RG Series Cables Ÿ Instrumentation Cables Ÿ LAN & Power Cable Assemblies Ÿ AISG Cable

OFC (OPTICAL FIBRE CABLES) Ÿ Single Mode and Multi Mode Cable Ÿ Indoor- Simplex /Duplex/Breakout Cable Ÿ Arial OFC Cable Ÿ Hybrid Jumper Cable Ÿ Multitube ADSS OFC Ÿ FTTH Drop Cables in different variants Ÿ Data and OFC Patch Cord

Orient Cables (India) Private Limited A-784, RIICO Industrial Area, Bhiwadi Phase-II, Rajasthan 301019 Email: info@orientcables.in Ph.: +91-9811009935

TECH-TONIC

assurance that the laboratory is delivering good services and consistent data.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

GB: LAPP's focus is centred on innovation. It is our guiding principle, and we are constantly working towards identifying evolving industry challenges and meeting customer requirements. Along with constant engagement with our customers, we are also increasing our presence geographically to be closer to our customers. We encourage our teams to think creatively and collaborate to develop innovative products and solutions. We have established a dedicated R&D team in India to develop products to meet the local market requirements. We also recently inaugurated our third Center of Excellence (CoE) at the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Bhopal, with the aim of partnering with young minds to innovate.

Our innovations and developments are not just limited to our products.

Our new corporate office at IBC Knowledge Park, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru is a uniquely designed modern workspace that incorporates the hybrid model of working. The office space is designed to fuel creativity and enable increased communication between departments, which we believe is the key to encouraging innovation and growth.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

GB: We target to become an INR 1700 crore company by 2027. Our strategy for the company is developed on two major pillars - business growth and understanding customer requirements. We will be focusing

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our efforts on certain customer groups and exploring the avenue of opportunities offered by joint ventures. We aim to continue setting industry benchmarks with our leading innovations and dedication to quality and unparalleled service.

Finally, we will continue to drive a family-oriented culture of mutual support and trust.

India is currently LAPP's secondlargest market, performing with double-digit growth and strengthening across various industries and applications. We are focusing on expanding our reach through various touchpoints across India and scaling up our local manufacturing capacity to meet the growing business demands. While we already have a strong presence in textiles, machine tools, automotive, railway, infrastructure and mining sectors, we are looking at adding more segments to our portfolios, such as EVs and pharmaceuticals. ÖLFLEX® CONNECT and industrial communication will continue to remain major business priorities in LAPP's journey as a one-stop solutions provider for all cable systems requirements. We are heavily investing in R&D for our Indian customers, and we will focus our efforts on manufacturing products locally- to continue providing products of global quality

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standards. In our endeavour to be closer to our customers, we will be tripling the number of LAPP's service points in India in the next few years as well as be available online 24x7 for our customers.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

GB: A preventive approach is always key in ensuring maximum productivity and efficiency. Building on this, LAPP has launched Health Check Service as part of the expansion of its service business - one of the first to be actively promoted for customers to use. With Industry 4.0 and digitalisation increasing the load on machine networks, the network technology should be as functionally reliable and powerful as possible, with permanent network stability.

With the increasing size and complexity of machine networks, the correct design and real-time monitoring of the network and the downstream evaluation of diagnostic data becomes a challenging task. Even though most active components initially clear up minor errors on their own, an increased accumulation of errors can cause the network to malfunction or fail completely.

This can be avoided by keeping a regular check on the network status

May-June, 2022

Skip Stranding Machine

ISO 9001-2015 Co.

Rigid Stranding Machine

Armouring Machine

With its presence for over 40 years in supply of machinery to the wire and cable sector the India-based Sarvasv Group has primarily been known to infuse its machinery with innovations so as to take care of a client's minutest needs.

SARVASV with time has earned the reputation of being the most reliable supplier and partner for supply of machinery for Wire and Cable Manufacturing. It has manufacturing units that are equipped with the most sophisticated and modern machinery and equipments, which is complemented by highly qualified team of professionals who are always striving hard to improve on the already attained success. It has also been exporting its machines to various countries across the globe like Middle East, UAE, Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran, Africa, Europe and Australia.

Our Product Range & Services

Drum Twister

• High Speed Skip Stranders (AI, Cu, Steel and Insulated Cores) • Skip Laying Machine for AB Cables • Rigid Stranding Machine. (Steel, AI and Cu) • Rigid Stranding Machines With Batch Loading (Steel, AI and Cu) • Armouring Machine.

• Core laying Up Machine.

• Armouring Cum Laying Machine. (Multi Purpose) • Special Planetary Stranders I Anti Torsion Machines • Double Twist Bunching Machines • Drum Twister for LT /HT Power Cables • Extrusion and Sheathing Lines. (PVC and XLPE) • Dual Automatic Spoolerfor Rod Break Down Machine (AI and Cu) • Rewinding Lines, Take Up Units, Payoff Units and Catterpillar Units • Taping Solution for PVC, Copper & Steel • High Speed Tubular Stranding Machine Upto 36 Wires (AI, Cu and Steel Ropes)

Auto Loading Machine

Sarvasv Machinery and Equipments Pvt. Ltd.

Regd. & Corp. Office: B-200, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, New Delhi-110020, INDIA Factory: B-194B/195, RIICO Industrial Area, Kahrani, Bhiwadi Ext, Rajasthan-301019, INDIA

Double Twist Buncher

Phone: + 91-11-66401582 / 83 Mobile: + 91 9871163831 Email: info@sarvasv.com • varun@sarvasv.com Website: www.sarvasv.com

TECH-TONIC

using our Health Check Service. This will allow customers to foresee any errors that may come up and take preventative action to resolve them.

constantly growing. Fiber optic cables are now an indispensable and irreplaceable communication medium. Our HITRONIC® fiber optic cables transmit large data volumes at unbeatable levels of speed and security. They are a versatile range of cables for indoor and outdoor applications and can withstand the harshest environmental conditions.

Our teams are also actively working on integrating Industry 4.0 concepts such as smart supply chains into our operations and developing highspeed connectivity solutions. We are also targeting to pilot smart factories in different locations of LAPP. l

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company.

GB: l

ETHERLINE® cables- Ethernet technology-based networks are playing an increasingly important role in industries. Our ETHERLINE® portfolio has been developed to offer comprehensive solutions for Ethernet networks.

These products help to avoid downtimes and expensive breakdowns. The systems are made up of durable and robust cables and connection components for passive and active network technology to deliver an effective solution.

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HITRONIC® - Single Mode & Multimode Fiber Optic CableThe demand for a fast and secure communication network is

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ETHERLINE® ACCESS- LAPP provides a range of network switches for Industrial Ethernet systems under the ETHERLINE® ACCESS brand. These products guarantee consistent quality with simple installation, high transmission rates in large temperature ranges and harsh operating conditions.

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l

ETHERLINE® GUARD- As part of the portfolio expansion of Industrial Communication products, we have introduced ETHERLINE® GUARD, a stationary and compact device from LAPP that monitors the performance of highly loaded ethernet cables at risk of failure and displays its current status which ensures seamless network connectivity.

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ÖLFLEX® CONTROL 277N and ÖLFLEX® CONTROL 277N CYThese are screened PVC power control cables rated 0.6/1 kV for tray exposed runs and wind turbine applications. Their application range includes industrial machinery and plant engineering. These newly launched products are costsaving, allow for fast installation omitting protection systems and provide electromagnetic field screening along with 75 °C WET rating + sunlight-resistant rating for outdoor use.

May-June, 2022

Add: No.555 Heting Street, Lin’an Economic Developing Zone, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (311305) Franks Shaw (franks@wanmaco.com) | Mobile: +86 13819125233 | Website: www.wanma-mm.com/en

Pioneer in Bringing Green Technology to Cable Industry...

Biggest cable compound expert in Asia Cable compound Capacity of 600,000MT per year • Headquarter Plant (Hangzhou City) • Huzhou Plant (East China) 4 Plants all over China: • Sichua Plant (West China) • Qingyuan Plant (South China) OUR PRODUCTS: • LSZH (Green Low Smoke Halogen Free Compounds Applied for Solar, EV, Nuclear, LV, HV cable) • XLPE • FR-XLPE • Semi-con • PVC CMR / CMP • TPE/TPU/TPV Indian Partner:

COMPANY ADDRESS: Plot A-14, 7th Floor Eco Towers, Sector 125, Noida, UP, 201301, INDIA

REGISTERED ADDRESS: 276, Nilgiri Apartment, Alaknanda, New Delhi - 110019, INDIA

CONTACT PERSON: Naval Singhal (navalsinghal@gmail.com) Mobile: +31-619253386 Abhinav Goyal (abhinav@navank-consultants.com) Mobile: +91-8860364748

TECH-TONIC

Havells Marks a New Milestone with In-House IoT and AI Platform “

During the financial year 2021-22, our R&D spending stood at INR 110.26 crores. The investment continued to be focused on capacity and capability building at our three core R&D centres at Noida and Bengaluru

” Dr. Mukul Saxena, President & Chief Technology Officer, Havells India Ltd. Wire & Cable India: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

us and continue to be a source of competitive advantage.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

Mukul Saxena: As a leading FMEG company, we manage a large product portfolio across both B2B and B2C domains at Havells India Ltd. The key to maintaining our competitive edge is strengthening our R&D capabilities. We continue to make very good progress on the roadmap laid down by us, a few years ago, for our R&D transformation. During the financial year 2021-22, our R&D spending stood at INR 110.26 crore.

The investment continued to be focused on capacity and capability building at our three core R&D centres at Noida and Bengaluru. The advanced R&D center at Noida continues to play a critical role in ensuring the Havells' brand promise of quality and customer value proposition.

MS: The FMEG industry has enormous growth potential, given the improvement in electricity availability and demand for comfort, convenience, and hygiene. This will exhilarate the need for a technologically-advanced overall product portfolio. Additionally, the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving a digital wave in home automation, making it imperative for brands to offer innovative solutions that will help customers in realising their smart home aspirations. Today, the consumer is far more aware and aspirational. Rising internet penetration has further accelerated the adoption of smart solutions.

As the world is coming out of the pandemic, our strong resolve in R&D has helped to navigate many challenges like material supply disruptions, cost escalations, and changes in customer preferences.

The wealth of knowledge and infrastructures created by us over these couple of years will stay with

We are at the cusp of innovation when it comes to our consumer products. We are transcending traditional product boundaries to offer our customers new functionalities, improved reliability, better utilisation and enhanced capabilities. We achieved a significant milestone with the Havells in-

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house IoT and AI Platform. It is equipped with Connectivity and Control Hardware, Product Cloud, Havells Sync Unified App, and Voice Control with AI/ ML capabilities.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the Industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

MS: At Havells, we commissioned the most advanced robotic manufacturing plant in Ghiloth, Rajasthan, in line with the 'Make in India' vision.

This is a washing machine manufacturing plant with the capacity to produce 3 lakh units per annum. A manufacturing Execution System (MES) has been installed to monitor the production cycle in real-time, improving operations and saving time.

The greenfield plant will significantly strengthen our production capacity.

As part of Industry 4.0, the embedded systems, factories and operators are connected over the IoT to work together in a synchronised manner, within an integrated digital and physical environment. The use of robots, backed with AI, are driving precision and quality, helping us make quality Indian products for the global market.

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC

The Industry 4.0 capability and the MES facility reduce reliance on manual monitoring and supervision, making all information about production data and loss-time, among others, available remotely in a paperless environment.

WCI: Please take us through some of the technology-driven products manufactured by your company.

MS: This year, we introduced a

retrofit module range, enabling our customers to convert conventional switches into smart ones, by connecting over Wi-Fi. We are creating a new range of switches, built with smart communication features and soft-touch operations, marking a new benchmark of increased connectivity and ease of operations in the functioning of switches.

integrated air purifier, upgraded with the 5-star BEE-rated BLDC motor technology. Other key smart products launched this year include Monza-i water heater and Signia smart switches and many more are planned for the coming year.

Through our Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, we are going beyond and deeper into making homes smarter and powering a holistic digital experience.

Under our appliances range, we built India's first ceiling fan with an

Panasonic Life Solutions India: Increasing R&D Investment with Focus on IoT & Other Innovation Trends “

Mr. Hemant Gadhave, Business Unit-Head of Wires & Cables, Panasonic Life Solutions India Wire & Cable India: Please highlight technology and quality development or up-gradation that recently took place?

Hemant Gadhave: As far as

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We have integrated automation in our manufacturing processes and adapted this in our latest manufacturing facility inaugurated in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. These automated processes save time and are far more efficient in functioning. Automation in turn is also environmentally-friendly and technologically superior.

” technology upgradation is concerned, our team at Panasonic Life Solutions India has consistently explored new opportunities where we can adopt innovative technology

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with machine control and enhance efficiency as well as quality. To ensure regular quality upgradation, we focus on customer delight through the quality of performance

May-June, 2022

TECH-TONIC of the products and services. At Panasonic Life Solutions India, we conduct regular training activities for our technical team and also conduct quality circles at all locations to improve the processing terms of output, quality, and cost.

Recently our test lab has received the NABL accreditation for testing as per IS 694 and IS 17048. This accreditation provides good access to the domestic as well as international market.

WCI: What have you been doing to foster innovation and R&D at your workplace?

HG: At Panasonic Life Solutions India, we emphasise on technology and innovation. We are increasing our spending on R&D with a strong focus on the latest innovation trends including the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), where interconnected devices are used in manufacturing and industrial settings.

We have recently built our first Industry 4.0 standard ECM manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. The manufacturing unit is constructed to support the growing infrastructure needs of the country.

We have also forayed into the home automation space where we have

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launched a high-tech range of smart solutions to facilitate innovation in the home and living environment of today. We, at PLSIND, explore the opportunities of R&D and innovation not only in products but also in our processes. Our technical team has also exhibited consistent effort in collaborating on innovative ideas and modifying imported machines.

WCI: What is your technology and business roadmap for the coming times?

HG: At Panasonic Life Solutions India we aim to accelerate our reach and expansion in the tier-II and subtier-II markets. We are planning to invest heavily in retail and distribution segments to expand our network in these markets and set up franchise-operated models. These exclusive brand outlets will act as experience centers for customers and will also allow people to associate and grow with our brand while assuring customers of superior quality and high-tech products. With the rise of digitisation, new digital communication channels are being developed, to maintain our link with stakeholders and the community at large. We are also focusing on exports of electrical wires, communi-

33

cation wires and PVC tapes.

Navigating and expanding into new markets in Asia will further increase our scope for new business opportunities.

WCI: Kindly elaborate on some of the industry 4.0 initiatives taken by your company.

HG: With the rise in focus by industries on digitalisation and rapid adoption of industry 4.0, companies big and small are fast taking to set up smart factories. At Panasonic Life Solutions India, we have integrated automation in our manufacturing processes and adapted this in our latest manufacturing facility inaugurated in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

These automated processes save time and are far more efficient in functioning. Automation in turn is also environmentally-friendly and technologically superior.

The Sri City facility is a first-of-itskind Industry 4.0 standard facility that supports highly automated processes and tech-based manufacturing for the products. This facilitates streamlined production and better results. Automation also decreases the number of accidents with workers and is increasingly environmentally-friendly.

May-June, 2022

GROWTH & FUTURE

Runaya Group to Undertake Capacity Augmentation of FRP Rods Business

R

unaya Group is a fast-growing manufacturing start-up that leverages best-in-class technology and relationships with international partners to create innovative solutions in the resources sector. Founded in 2017 with the vision to deploy cutting-edge technology in the manufacturing sector in India, the company aims to revolutionise the resources industry by creating innovative solutions. Runaya's FRP plant is a state-of-the-art UV technology pultrusion plant that produces both coated (EAA) and uncoated FRP rods currently with fully automated lines and advanced quality control systems. In a conversation with Wire & Cable India magazine, Mr. Naivedya Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Runaya Group, presents the new developments at the company, the demand for FRP rods, the expansion plans, and the market presence of Runaya Group.

Wire & Cable India: Could you please give us a brief overview of Runaya Group and the key accomplishments so far?

Naivedya Agarwal: Founded in 2017, Runaya has two main verticals – sustainability solutions and technologydriven niche manufacturing. Across both of these verticals, we work with technology providers, and joint venture partners – to create value for all our stakeholders.

Mr. Naivedya Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Runaya Group

On the 'sustainability' front, we have two operating businesses. In the aluminium rod processing business, we convert 2 percent of waste from primary aluminium manufacturers through our technology-driven processes.

We have been looking forward to doing the same in the zinc value chain, where we recover all of the minor metals like lithium, cobalt, antimony, and so on from zinc waste.

Within 'technology-driven manufacturing', we have two operating businesses. Firstly, within our joint venture with Minova International, an Australian company, we manufacture ground-support products for underground mining, infrastructure, and tunneling projects, including – rock bolts, resin capsules, injection chemicals, wire mesh and high-quality ventilation systems. These products are aimed for applications in metro tunnels, railway tunnels, highways, etc. For instance, we are now supplying these bolts to tunnels that have been built for the Char Dham Yatra.

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May-June, 2022

GROWTH & FUTURE

Additionally, we also manufacture Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Rods, which are considered the backbone of the telecom industry. These rods provide strength to the fibre optic cables enabling them to be deployed under tough conditions.

growth of the company and of the optical fibre cable sector, as a whole?

NA: Since the demand for optical fibre cables is already there and the advent of COVID-19 further accelerated the demand for digitialisation with the rise in work-from-home culture, we believe that the demand for optical fibre cables, in the next five-seven years, will go up to about 650 million fibre km. Moreover, the rise in OTT platforms means that people have started consuming more and more data on different devices, including smartphones, laptops, etc. The current demand for FRP rods in the present year is around 10 million fkm, and we expect it to be doubled in the next four-five years. Thus, I believe that there will be no obstructions and impediments with regard to the growth factor.

WCI: Kindly talk about the features of the FRP Rods and the manufacturing capabilities.

NA: Presently, in the FRP business, we have the capacity of one and a half million km of UV FRP. We are working to expand our production capacities to reach three and a half million km by the end of the next year.

Moreover, we are in the process of commissioning our Aramid Reinforced Plastic (ARP) facility with a capacity of half a million km in the next two months. Our portfolio is largely driven by value-added products. Thus, we provide and build out our solutions including rough FRP rods, flat FRP rods, water-swellable FRP rods, steel embedded FRP rods, along with our ARP plant which we are currently commissioning.

WCI: What are the recent developments at Runaya Group in terms of – capacity augmentation and market expansion?

NA: As mentioned, specifically under the FRP business, we are planning to add up to half a million km to the current capacity of one and a half million km. In the noncable business, we are also evaluating entering into other segments, including rare earth metals. And since again, ESG is at the core of what we do, it is very important for us to play a role in the localisation of the electric vehicle value chain. Considering the fact that rare earth metals play a critical role in that, we have now been working with the technology partners in China and Japan, to set up a new plant in the next year. In addition, we have also been in close partnership with a large Japan-based corporation, to manufacture gas atomized metallurgical powder in India, which will be used in a number of industries, including, automotive, Indian space and defence sectors, DRDO, etc.

WCI: Please elaborate more on the product development that the company has been undertaking.

NA: We, at Runaya Group, believe in constant innovation, and we have set up a dedicated innovation cell across our future power businesses. For FRP, we work directly with our customers to see what new products could be relevant for them. Some of the new products under development include medium FRP and oval FRP rods, amongst others.

We also use our innovation cell to improve our quality parameters and make sure that there is great customer retention. We are the first in the industry to actually deploy artificial intelligence-vision control systems, across our production lines, to ensure that the quality is monitored without any cumulative errors. And that there is no ambiguity regarding whether the product is fit for the customers or not because if the system has accepted, that means the customers will not have any complaints.

WCI: What is the current market presence of the company?

NA: In FRP, we currently cover 18 percent of the domestic industry, and 20 percent is taken up by the export industry.

Going forward, as we increase the capacity, we have a commitment to supply to our domestic customers, because, as a group, we always believe that India comes first for us.

We will start looking at export markets when we expand our capacity.

In line with our ESG focus, the cell also works on how we can minimise our scrap and waste. We believe that we are already at the benchmark level of 1-1.5 percent as per the industry benchmarks.

WCI: What are the future plans of the company?

NA: In the future, we will increase our focus on the six businesses that we have, and once we expand our initial capabilities, we will look forward to continuing ramping up our presence in the industries, where we are already present. Additionally, we have also been looking forward to doubling up our top-line growth in the next few years.

WCI: Since FRP rods are primarily for the telecom sector, and there has been a notable surge in the telecom sector with the rise in demand for optical fibre cables with some national-level initiatives like Bharatnet; how do you see these trends propelling the

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Cable & Wire Fair 2022 Concludes with Resounding Success

Inauguration

A

fter a three-day run that threw light on the wire, cable and allied industries, Cable & Wire Fair 2022 concluded successfully. Organised by Tulip 3P Media Pvt. Ltd., the International Exhibition & Conference for Wire & Cable Industry registered a footfall of over 12000 visitors from India, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Ghana, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Zambia.

Shreegopal Kabra, Managing Director and Group President, RR Global, Mr. Anurag Pandey, Executive-inCharge, Global Wires India - Tata Steel, Mr. Vijay Karia, Chairman & Managing Director, Ravin Group and Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, Managing Director, Paramount Communications Ltd. and Mentor-Telecom Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Electrifying Future Ahead

The 4th edition of the Cable & Wire Fair was held from 18th to 20th May 2022 at the newly constructed halls at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi offering the best opportunities for networking & marketing of new technologies, latest products and innovations in the wire and cable industry. After receiving an overwhelming response from the industry, the event, this year, showcased the products of around 200 exhibitors from different countries across the world.

Mr. Anil Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, KEI Industries Limited

Meanwhile, the conference kick-started with the inaugural session addressed by key dignitaries - Mr. Anil Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, KEI Industries Ltd., Mr.

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Mr. Anil Gupta set the tone for the proceedings and said, “It is a very momentous occasion for the wire and cable industry. As we all know, we have been through two very tough years of operating in an environment caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the frequent disruptions in the factories as well as the products' side, which means the user sector.

As I see the current scenario of the wire and cable industry, it is quite challenging due to the sharp rise in the inputs'

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costs, and the supply chain disruptions due to the unavailability of containers for imports and exports. For similar reasons, the execution of projects, whether in large-scale projects, or house constructions – both have suffered due to lockdowns and the lower availability of skilled manpower, either at factories or at sites. This led to the slower execution as many of the contracting companies suffered because of the firms' contracts taken from the government and the private utilities.

infrastructure investment of INR 7.5 lakh crore this year in various sectors of the economy, which is further supported by an uptake in private CapEx in the industry as well as supported by the construction and the Real Estate sector, in particular, the Prime Minister Awas Yojana. This has become possible due to corporate balance sheets becoming deleveraged and revival of many sick plants due to their resolutions through insolvency and bankruptcy.

Many sectors such as real estate are giving ample confidence to the investors, through strict regulations like RERA. The prospects of private CapEx are further boosted by the lower interest rates offered by the banks and the Production Linked Incentive Schemes offered by the

However, on the positive side, we are witnessing a good pipeline of projects, from the government CapEx as well as the private CapEx, with a very broad-based growth across all the sectors. The Government of India has announced an

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government in the infrastructure projects and private CapEx.

'Atmanirbhar Bharat', the wire and cable industry will go a long way, and will become a significant player in the country's economic growth.

The pipelines of the government's infrastructure projects in the Oil & Gas sector capacity upgradation and the fuel upgradation, the metro rail, and the sub-urban rail projects, the underground cabling projects of the transmission & distribution, including the conversion of the overhead transmission lines into underground cables, and the construction of the new airports, roads, and highways. This has led to a significant improvement in demand in the wire and cable industry.

This is almost an INR 70,000 crore industry, at the moment. And if we are able to grow by at least a CAGR of 15 percent, in the next four years, we will be able to reach a level of INR 1.5 lakh crore, which means being in an industry of USD 20 billion - hence, becoming a significant part of the economy, driving the growth.

I am sure that these milestones will be achieved, given the scale of the economy and the boost in infrastructure that the country is witnessing and going to witness.”

Further, as a future outlook, I may emphasise that due to the 'China plus one' policy adopted by most of the developed countries, the Indian wire and cable industry can benefit from exports to Europe and North America, and other developed markets, if they strive to obtain necessary quality certifications, in those countries. In most countries, the solar and wind farms are leading the CapEx, which can benefit and boost the demand for the wire and cable industry. The industry can also benefit and grow rapidly if they scale up investments to make their manufacturing plants internationally viable, and with international quality of plant and machinery, and the quality management systems in the production, and also invest in the automation of their factories. The challenge of the industry is to develop a strong skilled workforce, technical manpower, and consistent innovations in developing new products, with respect to the market demand in India or overseas markets.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shreegopal Kabra emphasised on the quality of wires that should be used. “To become a global player, as a country, we need to focus on quality and safety.

Of all the fire accidents, about 70-80 percent are electrical, and out of these electrical fire accidents, about 70-80 percent Mr. Shreegopal Kabra, are due to the wires and cables.

Managing Director & Group In the future, only the compaPresident, RR Global nies which have been focusing on the right quality are going to grow. It is high time for the entire electrical industry to come together and really work for the safety of the nation and the people,” said Mr. Kabra.

Mr. Anurag Pandey appreciated the government's focus on the infrastructure, auto sector, and the rural economy which is boosting the growth of the steel wire sector, “In the last two years, there has been a huge disruption in the way the businesses were done. Health and safety have become the prime concerns. Earlier, while we used to talk about

The industry can also explore the opportunities out of free trade agreements entered by the government in many developed countries, on seizing new opportunities.

I am sure that with the COVID being the past, and looking at the large opportunities ahead and for building an

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health, it referred to physical health, but now we mainly talk about mental health. While we all were working from home, the concerns which were there pointed to the significance of caring for mental health.

The second fundamental shift is towards the focus on sustainability. I think safety is one aspect which is being focused upon, but the concern of sustainability – the government's focus on emissions, the usage of various kinds of acids, which we have in our industry and which are easily accessible.

But going ahead, in the next decade, if we want to compete with the international players, it would be imperative that we start talking about sustainable operations. The newer technologies which are coming up need to be adopted in our systems.

As we aspire to become a USD Mr. Anurag Pandey, Executive- 5 trillion economy. The export in-Charge, Global Wires India would play a critical role. We - Tata Steel all look towards the western world, for some of the critical equipment. That is where the challenges lie and the government is trying to incentivise through the PLI schemes.

Our Prime Minister keeps on talking about that 5-0 percent of our population comprises women. We, at Tata Steel, which is part of the Tata Group, have a significant number of women in the workforce, which is even growing. There has been a paradigm shift which is happening in the industry. It is not only the white collar jobs for which we can hire women, but we can give them equitable opportunities to work in various kinds of job roles. We should realise that the issue of diversity in the workforce is going to be an important factor in the future.

But I think it is a fundamental change that we all are trying to make quality products because we want to become an export-oriented economy.

As a representative of the wire industry, I would like to talk about the government's focus on the infrastructure, auto sector, and the rural economy is playing a fundamental role. The wire industry is the closest to the customers, in the steel value chain; we are very close to the end-consumers, whether it is with regard to the fencing wires, or tyres. And we expect that the growth rate is going to be in doubledigits.

Last but not the least, I would like to talk about the issue of digitalisation – whether it is Industry 4.0, internet of things, data analytics, big data, robotics are disrupting the way we used to work earlier. It is important that we start investing in digitalisation and digital innovations. After the easing and lifting up of COVID-19 lockdowns, we started to realise the importance of the digital way of working. These are the fundamental shifts which have happened in the last two years.

We need to focus on the quality products and exports, while the domestic industry continues to be dominant. When we are talking about the future outlook, and we have to compete with the international players, we need to produce products of international quality standards as well. When we design and develop technologies, the global markets and their standards have to be kept in consideration.

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I think the Indian wire and cable industry is at the cusp of becoming an international-level player. In the next ten years, I think, when we talk about buying technologies and

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machinery, the way Indian startups are coming up, we will have a scenario that the people will come up and shop from India for their requirements of high-end machinery,” he said.

Mr. Vijay Karia, Chairman & Managing Director, Ravin Group of Companies

being big issues, another constant issue in the industry is making quality products, which are sustainable as well.

The concept of 'sustainability' is not just about the environment, but it means that the company or the industry is able to sustain itself.

Mr. Vijay Karia from Ravin Group highlighted the safety and sustainability issues and requirements in the wire and cable industry, “We talked about various issues of the industry like safety and sustainability, as well as the growing markets, and the future outlook.

As we go along, we are going to see a lot of changes. The industry needs to get together and work towards the improvement of the products and services. All in all, I think that we need to be happy with the way the industry has grown. The wheel has turned a full circle. Today, we are getting a lot more projects from the government sector. The private industry has shrunk a bit. I am sure that with the pace picking up, we, the people of the cable industry, are set to have good times. So, I am sure that we will only get better.

And by the next edition of Cable & Wire Fair, I hope that some of these issues are being addressed and resolved in the industry. We look forward to associate for a bright and electrifying future!”

What we need to do and realise is that the issues of safety, sustainability and the mode and the method of doing business should be internalised. I think the safety of the industry starts from ourselves, from the way we conduct our business and the way we do our businesses. Similarly, sustainability does not imply that one becomes a zero emission industry or a zero emission company, but the idea of sustainability starts when the business is sustainable in all respects. When the company is able to do business on its own terms and is able to get money on time.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal added, “Today, I am representing the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is a very old industry body – one of the initial and first industry bodies in the country. We are an apex chamber, representing about Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, 1.5 lakh people – companies – Mentor-Telecom Committee, directly or indirectly. As an PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry and MD, Paramount association which looks after the interests of all the compaCommunication Ltd. nies in the economy, we wish and want to work together for the upliftment of the

The industry, despite all this, has grown and reached a global level as the industry exports to a lot more countries than it was exporting to, a decade or two ago. Our markets have witnessed significant growth. This has been made possible because of all the people, who are a part of the industry. The industry has grown and become very innovative in terms of doing businesses, attracting customers, and so on. Along with affordability and price sensitivity

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economy and the industry, in a way that we reach the goal of becoming USD 5 trillion economy, which has also being propagated and talked about by the Hon'ble PM of the nation.

right quality, the right product for the right purpose, to make sure that the projects we put our efforts into, bring in the desired results. Then, the industry will be able to benefit the economy and vice-a-versa.

Very soon, we will be seeing about 2.5-3 lakh crores of CapEx and O&M into the telecom sector. The govt. is planning to invest 1 lakh crore into putting optical fibre cable networks to the last village, and FTTH to every single institution of importance in every village. This is going to prove to be a game-changer and revolutionary.

As an industry body, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry is working hard towards the growth of the industry and we have seen that the ease of doing business is a major concern.

The biggest problem that we are seeing in the industry is the PSUs delaying the payments of the industry. We have been having meetings with the PSUs in the telecom sector – the chairman of BBNL, the chairman of BSNL, the secretary of Telecom, and so on.

The net worth of the Indian industry is around INR 75,000 crore. And the CapEx being done by the government in the Budget 2022-23 is INR 7.5 lakh crore. Along with the investments being made by different Indian states and various industries, with the National Infrastructure Pipeline 2025, the government's aim is to invest INR 113 lakh crore (~USD 1.5 trillion) into our economy, that is, the capital investments of – the infrastructure and the social investments.

In our meeting with the Finance Minister, we suggested a new kind of PBGs (Performance Bank Guarantees), which is an insurance-based PBG, and she welcomed our suggestion. It is going to be a game changer and lead the industry towards saving thousands of crores, in the performance bank guarantees limits from the banks.

With the proposed investment of USD 1.5 trillion into the economy, it is evident that the wire and cable industry would be the biggest gainer. Today, the wire and cable industry accounts for about 0.4 percent of the GDP, it means the Indian wire and cable industry is about INR 75,000 crore.

Thus, the banks have been charging heavily to the industry, and in many cases, charging 100 percent as back up money with them, especially with the small and the medium scale industries. This is really going to change the way businesses are done, because the industry will have funds-free to do business, rather than to keep them as FDs in the banks.

But in the infrastructure segment, it is 2-3 percent, and since this huge investment of USD 1.5 trillion will be infused in the next five years, we are going to see a huge leap in the scale of the companies in the domestic wire and cable industry.

We are also working on the duty reduction. In the last two years, we have seen that the prices of the basic materials – copper, aluminium, PVC, steel – have all gone up by 100200 percent. Right from April 1, 2020, we have seen these kinds of incessant increase in the raw material prices. We have recently proposed to the government that the duties levied on all these materials should be made zero, consider-

The government, in association with the wire and cable industry, will have to ensure that they are producing the

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ing their high prices. This is what is needed to make India into a USD 5-10 trillion economy.

the discussion included Mr. Ashish Chaturvedy, Head of Marketing and Communications, Ducab, Mr. Benoit Lecuyer, CEO, Prysmian India, Mr. VK Bajaj, Senior President-Business Strategy and Innovation, Apar Industries Ltd. and Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd.

If we are paying heavy custom duties, we become inefficient in our exports. Seven out of ten companies in India are not able to import duty-free raw materials, even though they can, because of the volumes, and other factors. The duty reduction will not impact your sales or your balance sheet or the bottom-line growth.

Renewable Energy - A Growing Segment Mr. Ashish Chaturvedy began his speech, saying, “Ducab is owned by the Government of Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, with 50 percent equity respectively.

However, we are very proud to have our roots ingrained very well within the Indian subcontinent. We are a diversified Mr. Ashish Chaturvedy g roup of wire and cable Head of Marketing & business. The metal brand that Communications, Ducab we rechristened about two years back – called DMB, holds the pedigree from the parent business.

While we are able to import duty-free materials, it is when you price your product; you are pricing it based on dutypaid costs, because you assume that 80-90 percent of your buyers will buy it on full duty. Therefore, we are importing into the country. And the imports are harming our economy, while your sales are also reduced by that much amount.

Conglomerates like Sterlite, Reliance and Hindalco are also going to grow in sales and size with the reduction of duties to 0 percent. If the Indian economy moves up, if our sales go up by 2-3 times, your sales will go up by 3-4 times.”

The vote of thanks was presented by Mr. Priyank Jain, CEO, Tulip 3P Media, the organiser of the event- Cable & Wire Fair 2022, “It has been an overwhelming situation for the organisers to host the event after a gap of over two years, caused by the pandemic. In fact, we could sense a feeling of excitement amongst various exhibitors as well as visitors coming to the event. And we are happy with the same!”

Both the plants for the wire rods as well as the copper rods and the aluminium rods are based out of the UAE, but we have presence in about 40-45 nations all across the world, as far as Far East Asia, Australia, parts of Northern Europe, and Northern America, are the areas which we are supplying. Thus, we take utmost pride in the fact that our products are being produced within the UAE, but are being used and supplied in each of these markets, including the Indian market.

The inaugural session was followed by the first panel discussion on ‘Wire and Cable Industry Outlook’. The session discussed the success stories and how they can shape the future of wire and cable industry. The panelists in

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Ducab Copper Rod business has 180,000 tonnes capacity.

The plant is based in Abu Dhabi, running on the south wire technology for the last twelve years. We have been producing high-quality ETP rods that have been indeed supplied to many of our friends in the Indian market for many years now.

going to remain with us for an uncertain period of time.

Therefore, the uncertainty in our markets is continually going to remain. And that is one of the biggest challenges for the industry to manoeuvre and find ways to operate within these challenges to the best of our ability and overcome these challenges.

The prices of metals like copper and aluminium is something that each one of us is struggling with. We don't know which direction this will be heading towards. The point is that the volatility in the commodity market, whether it is the COVID-19 lockdown in China, whether it is the Ukraine War or is it the overall supply chain glut, this is

Coming to the wire and cable market globally, the industry is thankfully still being benefitted. The industry has been growing and it continues to expand in areas where we hadn't heard in the past. We are now looking at about USD 220 billion of wires and cables globally. Out of which, the Middle East region happens to be taking just under 5

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percent. Thus, the Middle East market is about 900,000 tonnes. To put this into perspective, our studies estimate the size of the Indian market to be around 1.4-1.5 million tonnes of wire and cable consumption.

also in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, in times to come. For a quick background, 5 percent is the yearly rise in the Middle East. By the way, with regard to the per capita consumption of energy in the world, Kuwait and Qatar are sitting right at the top. This is because of these major reasons, there are enough subsidies available, far greater in any other part, and also because of the propensity to spend, and the disposable income available in those markets, for huge revenue that these countries would generate from their hydrocarbon sales to the rest of the world – as one of the reasons. But consciously, they have been making a lot of efforts to try and move away from the dependency on hydrocarbons, and try to invest in a cleaner future. And that is the reason why you'll see none of these figures are in megawatts and most of these are astounding figures, in gigawatts.

The subset of the Middle East is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – union that consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Within this segment, Saudi Arabia is found to be occupying the largest share, followed very closely by Turkey, and then Iran, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and so on. In terms of the overall production of the region, it is a fairly robust self-reliant industry.

When we look at the energy pipeline in terms of the requirement of the wire and cable, renewable happens to be one of the fastest growing segments, and that's where a large component of demand for wires and cables are coming in. Saudi Arabia takes up the top position. A huge number of projects in solar and wind energy are being planned. Several of them are well underway. All in all, there are enough awarded and unawarded projects, largely in the renewables domain. But taking a step back, this hasn't happened by default. This is all happening by design, where the leaderships of each of these countries have been working on these plans for several years now.

I would like to conclude my session by referring to the deal signed between the Government of India and the Government of UAE. And thanks to the leadership of both these countries, the target for 2030 in terms of bilateral trade is expected to go up from about USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion. Also, about 90 categories of products and services are going to be tariff-free, between both UAE and India. However, given the announcements that both the governments have made so far, there are enough and more opportunities for both the UAE and India to be able to invest, and import/export, and develop in many other categories and industries which have been hitherto restricted by the types of tariffs, or the import/export barriers which may have been created in the past. And this applies to a wide range of products and applications, not just the electrical domain.”

When we look at the clean energy targets of each of these countries, they are phenomenal, and by no means, they are belittling any of the targets in wider, more advanced economies, and developed parts of the world in the West.

You will witness a huge amount of solar and wind power generation and subsequently, its transmission and distribution, which are going to be available not just in Saudi, but

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Speaking on the occasion, Mr. B e n o i t L e c u y e r , C E O, Prysmian India said, “I would like to talk about some of the trends applicable worldwide and very much in India. It is the need of the hour which is to consume less and better. We have only one planet. We need Mr. Benoit Lecuyer to think of the next generaCEO, Prysmian India tions, and we need to be carbon-neutral! The Indian government is very much ahead and is leading the world. With the strong engage-

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ment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26, the vision of India being carbon-neutral by 2030, which means being twenty years ahead of some countries, was put forth.

To some extent, sustainability, which is an overriding concern for us, is very much in place worldwide and in India.

I have tried to emphasise upon sustainability in three main KPIs, including, renewable energy, decarbonisation, and grid resilience. For solar energy, it is clearly a success in India. We know that we are already having 40 GW of solar energy. The aim has been laid to take this to 200 GW by 2030, including the solar rooftop. We are blessed in India to have 300 days per year of sunny days. It is a very clean

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energy. By the way, renewable energy means that it is limitless, it renews by itself, and it is free of charge, and what costs us is in the means of harnessing and storage. A lot of efficient solar parks are in India, such as, Bhadla Solar Park, Kurnool Solar Park, Kadapa Solar Park, to name a few. For the cable industry, this brings a lot of potential for further growth for various segments like – DV cables, Low Volatage (LV) cables, High Voltage (HV) Cables, and so on. There are a lot of excellent EPC companies in the country including JSW, Adani Transmission, etc. We have superb potential in front of us.

marvellously. India is blessed to have about 7,516.6 km of coastal areas. Of course, there is the challenge of onshore renewable land acquisition. But I think the government has laid down some policies for this to be extremely precise and clear now. There are huge wind parks operational in states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, etc.

The potential is immense, that is, 300 GW of onshore, and 200 GW of renewable energy. This also comes with hybrid energy models, comprising both wind energy and solar energy. The cable industry is altogether favourable of the Indian government's policies. There is a lot of potential not only in control and instrumentation cable segments but in

As regards the wind energy segment, India is performing

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power evacuation as well, which could be either underground or underwater.

extreme pressures/temperatures.

Now, I would like to touch upon the tidal energy segment.

Here, it is noteworthy that the pressure of the water in low and high tides is 80 times more than the air of the renewable energy. Thus, it will be much more efficient if we tap onto this energy. In this, we need high quality cables like submersible cables, power cables, etc. It is already effective in a few countries like France, where an area called Lagos is totally supplying tidal energy to the town. This can also be symmetrical to what we call – hydropower.

Geo-thermal energy is not that apparent in India, although we are blessed to have a lot of tectonic plates in the country.

It is a pure renewable energy. And it is one country in the world which is already tapping 30 percent of the energy.

We all know that as deep as we dig into the earth, the hotter it is, and the challenge is to tap this energy. The countries like Indonesia, Philippines, and Japan, are already working into tapping this energy. It may happen in the future in the country. In the cable industry, there are a lot of challenges regarding innovation, quality, and ability to withstand

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About decarbonisation, I feel that there is a lack of awareness amongst people. But this is already quite prevalent in

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India. Since carbon emissions are one of the leading problems worldwide, we have different ways to use energy that can emit less carbon. There is also this technology wherein mega fans are installed to absorb the carbon from the air, and recycle in order to get some carbon pellets. And after that, the town is cleansed. This is utilised in the country by Tata Group, which is the first company in the country to use this concept. The downside of this is that it is often installed by the oil & gas industry as they strategically store the carbon in the earth in order to extract more oil.

and so on. For instance, on a sunny day, a factory may not need to be connected to the grid. But to do that, a smart grid is needed. Also, for charging stations, a smart grid can anticipate when one needs to charge. So, the smart grids have a huge future. It is already being implemented in many countries around the world, including India. It is based on having predictability in order to reduce the stress on the grid.

Then, one element which is crucial in the grid resilience is passive discharge identification of the cables. We all manufacture excellent quality cables. But we all know that due to third parties, there could be any kind of damage which may result in the passive discharge. Thus, to protect our assets, we need to do preventive maintenance in order to anticipate along with the 24/7 monitoring on the grids, about where to change/repair the cables.

For the electric vehicles segment, we all need to be powered up! There are about 500-600 electric buses. It is a reality!

We already have 500-1000 three wheelers. Also, India is the first country worldwide in terms of electric rickshaws. I have observed a lot of food delivery platforms using electric vehicles for their food delivery services. It is a very smart move by ISRO to manufacture lithium batteries in order to not be dependent upon imports. Combined Charging System (CCS) is a standard technology well in place. And for electric buses, a lot of companies have already implemented it.

The cable industry is blessed to have a number of opportunities for the next twenty years. Some of the industry segments are already well-positioned. And the future is bright for the coming generations. Innovation and Imagination are essential in order to fulfill the common goal that I had mentioned at the start of my talk, which is – sustainability, because there is only one world.”

Grid resilience simply means how the power generation, transmission, and distribution can withstand the huge natural catastrophes like typhoons, storms, etc. The grid resilience means to do preventive maintenance, inspections, etc. Also, it means installing a lot of intelligent monitoring devices that notifies of the fragile points.

Mr. VK Bajaj, added, “It is true that the Indian cable industry is about USD 10 billion. In the next five years, it can go up to USD 20 billion. But we will have to compare it from the rest of the world. Therefore, it presents us with the opportunity for the Indian industry which I feel, has matured enough, with a lot of competitiveness, quality consciousness, and also the expertise and the technical skills available. Now, I think it is the right time for the industry to look beyond.

Smart grids are basically the communication exchange between the utilities and the users, viz., home owners, industries, smart cities, etc. This is in order to predict and collect data in order to plan in advance the energy distributions, for some thermostats, smart devices, smart meters,

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The opportunity has been presented by a number of factors including, negative sentiments against China as many nations around the world have been banning or putting some hurdles/barriers like tariff, duties, and so on. Thus, India seems to be very wellMr. VK Bajaj, Sr Presidentpoised to take this advantage.

Business Strategy and Being quality-oriented is really Innovation, Apar Industries Ltd. important and this approach should be there in the whole hierarchy of an organisation, be it, the top management, or the workforce. The need for introspection and looking for ways to correct ourselves is really important.

very essential that the quality culture should be ingrained in us. Also, I think that the industry is not paying that much heed to the aspect of packaging. Also, the people involved in the shipping also need to be educated properly that the packaging is important in the eyes of the customer.

On the raw materials side, we have to work closely with the raw material suppliers. And factors like Industry 4.0 and automation are playing a huge role in this regard. My suggestion to the key stakeholders will be to start looking global. It is true that the demand in the Indian market is growing, but many international markets are way ahead of us in terms of the demand in the industry. Thus, I am sure that we can grow in a much better way.

Considering the fire-related incidents in the country, the cross-linked zero halogen wires are the true solution to this menace. It is very necessary that the wire should be crosslinked and not thermoplastic. If it is so, the probability of fire will reduce drastically. Secondly, when we are discussing fire safety, it is important to consider that the conduit should also be a zero halogen material which ensures that there is no smoke. These are some of the considerations which are

In the last five years or so, we were doing about exports of about INR 100-150 crore. In the previous FY, we did about INR 762 crore of exports, and now, we are expecting to do exports of about INR 1500 crore. The amount we are going to attain for exports is also constrained by capacities. It is

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essential from the safety perspective. These are the basic parameters with regard to the quality of the wire/cable.

reached the mark of INR 2100 crore in the previous FY. Now, we are hoping to attain the mark of more than INR 3000 crore in the current year, backed up by a lot of exports.

We have a very vast product range, perhaps, one of the widest in the wire and cable industry. As an industry representative, I would say that we have a lot of opportunities available and we should work in this direction to tap onto the growth opportunities.”

Thirdly, I came across a study report from an independent source which showed that the wires and cables which are being supplied in the domestic market have significantly compromised quality. This is where the management and the top stakeholders should take into account that these issues should be properly acknowledged and addressed.

Mr. Abhishek Gupta, added, “India is definitely on a big growth trajectory, and we all are experiencing something really phenomenal. And not just in India, the growth is phenomenal outside India as well. The Indian wire and cable industry is definitely very robust, resilient, as well as playing a very pivotal role. I am Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Joint going to briefly talk about the Managing Director, Gupta industry – the challenges, and Power Infrastructure Ltd. the opportunities. As per the recent reports, the electric wire and cable market is poised

The customers have become increasingly cognizant of environmental concerns and have been asking for sustainability reports from companies in the industry. This is another area where companies should make more efforts.

We also publish our ESG report to inform our customers and people all around about our efforts in this regard. Moreover, we always strive to improve on this front, and reduce our carbon footprint. In the direction of Sustainability', we also do a lot of projects regarding the reduction of carbon emissions, and being more sustainable. The customers are actually demanding these requirements from corporations, and this is all the more significant in the international market.

In 2009, we were an INR 100 crore-company, and we have

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to grow by USD 1.65 billion during 2021-25, progressing at a CAGR of almost 4 percent.

are related to the quality of the wires and cables as well as the standards followed in the Indian wire and cable industry. Also, there is volatility in the prices of raw materials like copper, aluminium, PVC, and other components. There is a lack of awareness regarding eco-friendly wire and cable to reduce carbon footprint.

The domestic wires and cables industry has registered robust growth over the last five years led by the government's focus on providing power to all and gradual pickup from the housing market and the EV market. The market is expected to be driven by factors such as the growth in renewable power generation in India, the expansion and revamping of transmission and distribution infrastructure in India, and increasing investments in metro railways, data centers, and smart metering.

The future of the industry is green energy! The world is now looking at India to gear up as an alternative to China.

Especially, the manufacturing industry of India and the growth of the exports, I am foreseeing a phenomenal growth in the demand. India can be the world's factory.

Now, the onus is on us – as a manufacturer, as an industry, and as an economy – to make the most of this window of opportunity. We are facing the fourth Industrial Revolution - “Industry 4.0”. Even if the growth takes up, the domestic wire and cable industry will not be able to cater to the demand that is there, until and unless they undertake significant expansions. What we have been doing over the years, it is a shining time for all of us in India.

The government initiative like 'Power for All' has given a huge boost to the wire and cable sector. Moreover, the industry has grown sustainably over the past few years and the growth has continued in a significant way.

Significant investments in smart grid technology have resulted in an increasing need for grid interconnections.

Smart grid technology is the future. Moreover, rising investments in underground cables in the SMART CITY and the growth of renewable energy are set to escalate the adoption of wires and cables. The smart cities will be like a model that is coming along, and when you would see a developing country and the best practices being adopted. In fact, India is telling the world that we are not far behind.

Since the transportation sector is growing very fast, the railway industry is playing a vital role in this growth, and railways are the important sector that consumes wires and cables on a large scale. The Indian Railways has set a target of 100 percent electrification of its network by December 2023.

Wire and cable demand is directly dependent on the growth of the manufacturing industry as well as infrastructure in the power, telecommunications, residential, and commercial sectors. The industry is now looking forward to supplying cables for solar and wind power.

The future of data centres relies on proper cabling solutions.

The increasing number of data centres and IT facilities for higher levels of availability, security, and affordable connectivity of IT infrastructure would increase the applications of wires and cables. In addition, 5G is projected to have a mass impact across many industries and change the lives of

About the challenges, I would say that the major challenges

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billions of both consumers and suppliers worldwide.

ganised sector to being a sector with a large number of organised companies which have performed consistently over the years. And that has been a very positive trend in the industry which we have seen.

The demand for EV charging cables surged as governments around the world increasingly encouraged changing to low emission fuel vehicles. The rising demand for high-speed charging stations has compelled manufacturers of EV charging cables to develop advanced technology cables.

The COVID period has taught us the importance of 5G technology, fibre-optics, etc. The EV market in India will be a USD 206 billion opportunity by 2030 if India maintains steady progress to meet its ambitious 2030 target. This would require a cumulative investment of over USD 180 billion in vehicle production and charging infrastructure. If we look at the EV market from any angle, any investment into this segment would be fruitful.”

The whole geopolitical scenario has had a very deep impact on Mr. Parth Aggarwal, the industry and the way our Director, Paramount Communications Ltd. industry functions today. In the last two years, we have seen how our supply chain has been disrupted, from the availability of the raw material to the cost of the raw materials, and even the supply chain up to the customers. We have faced hurdles in all these arenas. When we talk about the raw materials today, the volatility in the prices of the metals that we have seen – has had a deep impact. The challenge comes in the consumer market, where we are working on relationships, and where we need to cushion our large channel partners against deep shocks. And that is where the large companies in India have shown, which have supported the channel partners in India really well, and have helped them survive this shock over the last few months.

The second panel discussion threw light on emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the future. The eminent panel included Mr. Parth Aggarwal, Director, Paramount Communications Ltd., Mr. Sameer Agarwal, Managing Director, GK Winding Wires Ltd., Ms. Sonal Gariba, Executive Director, Ravin Group and Chairperson, IEEMA Cable Division, Mr. Varun Sawhney, Member (Core Management), Cords Cable Industries Ltd. and Mr. Sanjeev Atri, Head of Group-Plant Engineering, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. (TPDDL).

The other challenge that our industry faces is from the government's side, related to the payments. This definitely needs to be addressed from the topmost level, till all the PSUs, discoms, etc. There needs to be a solution for the industry to sustain and survive.

Digitalisation - A Megatrend Mr. Parth Aggarwal from Paramount Communications said, “The wires and cables industry is an industry which has grown consistently in India over the last twenty five years or so. It has taken a major leap from being an unor-

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Today, we have been working upon quick turnaround time.

It is essential that the wire and cable industry becomes efficient, and the efficiency can only come with quick

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turnaround time from the payments' side. There have been some improvements, but I feel that there is a further scope of improvements in the electricity, and power discoms segment. And we are hopeful that with the huge pipeline of projects and the work and the investments that the government has been coming up with – they will take care of this as well. Now, if we talk about the trends, the key factor behind being a successful wire and cable company is being efficient. The industry has grown from the approach of profit margins to being scale-oriented. The better the scale, the more efficient you are! The aspects like client management, and customer relationships – are totally dependent upon our ability to service them.

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Today, it is not only about the product that we are delivering but we have to give them good service, good turnaround time. And most of the companies are even giving them the execution services along with the products. Thus, the efficiency is a combined result of the supply chain, and a number of other factors. The supply chain should be clean.

Then, the quality of the raw materials need to be sustained, and should be up-to-the-mark so as to be able to maintain the standing of the product in the market.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we cannot depend 100 percent on the manpower being physically present in the factory. We need to have developed, better

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ways, and better models of working.

All over the world, be it Australia, Europe, North America, South America, and so on, a lot of companies have explored and set up strong markets. And companies of good positions themselves, in the tough times of the last three-four years, have been reaping benefits.

We are very positive and aggressive on the growth of telecom in the country. We are expecting about 2 lakh km of overall optical fibre cable requirements to come through different routes, such as PSUs, PPP models, and many projects that are coming up in the next two-three years. And that is going to give the industry the much-needed relief.

When it comes to the railways sector, the railways have been a consistent buyer, and a consistently good demand generator. However, the industry has faced its own challenges over the years.

Regions like the Middle East, the European markets – both have booming demands, especially in terms of the telecom sector. We are seeing large requirements coming in, especially with the China plus one policy.

Another trend that is coming in is the GDP growth coming back into the picture. There have been a lot of industrial expansions, be it private or public, in industries such as steel, cement, automobile sector, EV, etc., we have been seeing huge expansions happening in the private sector.

And this is a large opportunity for the wire and cable industry. That is an overall scope and we are hoping that with the USD 2 trillion investments proposal that has come out, we will be able to meet our requirements and we will be able to meet our growth targets.”

And we are hopeful that with more stringent checks and requirements, and the emergence of more private players, the industry will perform even better. The Indian Railways has also been moving towards the PPP model, and with that, we are hoping that the standards of cables being supplied will also improve.

Regarding the opportunities, there is a USD 2 trillion infrastructure project in the pipeline that the government of India, under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi, has been planning.

And the wire and cable industry stands to benefit the most in this infrastructure pipeline. This needs to come with proper systems, and the projects need to be well-financed as well as well-executed on a timely basis. If we are able to do this, we can easily become a USD 20 billion industry in the next few years. Another opportunity that has opened up for the Indian wire and cable industry at an overall level is on the exports' side.

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Mr. Sameer Agarwal Managing Director, G.K. Winding Wires Ltd.

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Talking about his company, Mr. Sameer Agarwal said, “We manufacture winding wires, which is the industry I represent. It is slightly different from the cable industry since it is basically used for winding applications, wherever you w a n t t h e c o nv e r s i o n o f electricity from one form to another.

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India has a per capita consumption of 600 gram of copper per person. And copper is considered to be ubiquitous, having presence in cables, appliances, automobiles, and so on. In China and Russia, the per capita consumption is around 5 kg. The developed part of the world including the USA and the European countries, we look at the per capita figures to the tune of 10 kg. And it is a known fact that we are one of the most populous countries in the world, which means that the growth opportunity is huge for us. We have to grow ten-fold and we have a huge population to back that kind of growth.

standard or recycled copper. The substandard or recycled copper results in higher power consumption, and what the consumer doesn't realise is that if he is paying a few hundred/thousand rupees lesser for a home appliance, he is actually ending up paying thousands, in terms of the higher power consumption. The government is cognitive of this, and is now introducing star-ratings in many products, including introducing star rating on ceiling fans, which is planned for this year.

Another very interesting thing that has happened in the winding wires industry is that since the copper prices have shot through the roof, there has actually been the shrinkage of quantum of the winding wires that was manufactured in the unroganised sector, because the unorganised sector does not have a banking line. And with the way the commodity prices have doubled, they cannot survive or service their customers without a banking line.

The Indian market for the winding wires is about 300,000 tonnes of copper, and for aluminium, it is about 40,000 tonnes. The Chinese market is almost 5-6 times our size, and it is still growing at a very stable pace. Thus, we are just one-fifth the size of China. To add to this, the trauma of the Industry today in India is that almost 60 percent of what we make is the lowest grade of the winding wires, which is the polyester grade, class-130. Whereas the rest of the world has only 8 percent of the winding wires consumed – which is of this lower grade. What this goes to show is that the Indian market is extremely price-sensitive. For us, cost mostly overrules quality, and we are not really looking at the upgradation of the product. But we are looking at just making sure that we stay afloat and stay cost-competitive.

Our market is also very fragmented. Thus, fragmentation, also in itself implies even higher price-sensitivity in the market.

Another major reason that the sizable market is in the unorganised sector is the overall nature of the scrap supply chain. Thus, the scraps are available in the market, but scraps with proper billings are not available in the market.

The winding wire association has already given this representation to the government. And if something like a reverse charge mechanism comes in terms of the sales of scrap sales/purchase, it will really help if more of the market shifts toward the organised sector. Our government has realised that economic growth is the key to a happy population. We all know that revolutions and uprisings have mostly happened around the globe in times of economic distress.

At times, manufacturers are cutting costs at the cost of the consumer. Just like the cable industry, the winding wire industry faces a similar situation of the prevalence of sub-

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With the recent surge in the PLI scheme which is an opportunity that we ourselves are yet to understand, for the winding wires sector, and the cable industry alike, is phenomenal. The quantum of copper being imported into India by indirect means in the form of a complete motor, or a compressor, or a coil, is huge. And the PLI scheme will open doors for us to dream of achieving economies of scale, like countries like China, can dream of today. Because with the recent surge in Request for Quote (RFQ) that we have started receiving over the last few months, it seems to be like the next big opportunity that we should be having. The challenge in the situation for us is ensuring that the supply chain is equipped to handle the growth that we might see. I think that from 2023 onwards

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to the next decade will be a golden period in the field of manufacturing. Another very interesting fact is that the current per capita income in India is about USD 1900 and it is internationally well-researched that as soon as this number goes up to USD 3500, there is an inflection point. There is a sudden surge in terms of consumption and economic growth. Since, at the end of the day, it is the lower class or lower middle class section of the society whose salary actually affects the standard of their living. And if he has more disposable income, his consumerism and his ability to purchase will rise significantly. Thus, India projects that we are expected to reach this USD 3500 of per capita income by 2028.

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According to me, there will have to be rapid digitisation which will not only enable us to manage better but it is also going to help us fill the vacuum of the right kind of talent.

The fact is that the manufacturing industry still lacks in terms of attracting the right talents.

With rapid urbanisation, the emphasis has shifted to a multi-pronged requirement. This would mean that there should be a paradigm shift in technology, which means great opportunities for the wire and cable industry.

With regard to the opportunities in the cable industry, there is a huge scope in the Electric Vehicles (EV) industry segment. So, the accessibility of the general public to the EV charging stations puts a lot of added responsibilities to the cables and wires wherein a need for upgradation in technology intertwined with safety and theft prevention.

However, it is a very nascent industry which needs a lot of propagation and work that needs to happen in the domain.

In the FIPC/hybrid cables, the use of telecommunications is in conjunction with HV/EHV links. Further with Artificial Intelligence and optics, we can now gauge the performance of the cables. For the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC), there is a huge scope in the High Voltage (HV) and Extra High Voltage (EHV) segments with the push in infrastructure development. This will be seen in terms of – materials, cables, accessories, and also, installation practices.

We, at GK Winding Wires, have tied up with a company which is enabling our digitalisation. We have been seeing amazing results out of this association. It is important for India to have a shift in thinking from thinking about costs to thinking about quality, from thinking about today to thinking on a long-term basis, from being 'penny-wise and pound foolish', from paper to digitisation – we need to have a paradigm shift from lagging behind to leading innovations in terms of manufacturing, rather than being followers and simply doing what everyone else in the world has been doing. I can really see this happening and I think the next decade in manufacturing is going to be something that we all need to watch out for, and actually be prepared for!”

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Sonal Gariba said, “The industry has quite evolved over the years with a number of significant changes. Not only in terms of materials, but also the number of applications. We have been moving towards customisations in the cable Ms. Sonal Gariba, Executive industry, which now helps the Director, Ravin Group buyers to choose tailor-made (Chairperson, IEEMA Cable products that are apt for their Division) applications. Be it, defence, railways, or any other industry, each of these is having their own specialised products. It not only enables saving money but enables the product with the experience. The shift has already happened.

We are moving from low voltages to higher voltages. And the transmission losses and distribution losses in the power sector will significantly come down if we shift towards HVDC cables. This is another area of opportunity for the industry.

Superconducting cables is another product in which a lot of work has been happening for quite some time, but it is not yet completely taken off-ground but we see this as one of the opportunities that lie ahead for the wire and cable industry in the future.

With regard to materials, there have been a lot of innovations in terms of nano technology, nano filled polymers, which holds a great scope in the future. Apart from this, there are sustainable, environmentally-friendly products that have already been developed that emit less smoke and emissions, and also improve visibility. In addition, there are smart electric highways wherein the smart roads combine physical infrastructures such as sensors and solar panels with software infrastructure like AI and big data. The smart road technology will enable in improving the visibility, generate electricity, communicate with autonomous and connected vehicles, and monitor the road conditions.

Although it is a very expensive technology and it is still uncertain how useful it will be for our country – but we should still look towards this in the future. Speaking of expenses and technology, we should not forget a majorly important factor, i.e. safety.

The world is moving towards infrastructure growth in a manner where the fulcrum of everything is electricity. The terms “transmission” and “distribution” now implies a single term, which is “delivery”, that is, the power which is generated needs to be delivered. This is why transmission plus distribution equals delivery.

Most of the power is being generated through fossil fuels, coals, natural gas, etc, and to some extent, even nuclear energy. But now due to climate change, we are moving towards a more “sustainable” world. Hence, there has been a rise in solar, wind, biomass, and the latest in this trend is the growth in 'green hydrogen'. However, from whatever source or form of electricity which is generated, it needs to be delivered to the end-user, for which the wires and cables are needed. Hence, it is very essential that we have innovations in the wire and cable industry.

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On this note, it brings us to the challenges. The Indian market has always been a very price-sensitive market.

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Hence, the biggest challenge that lies ahead of us is in terms of meeting affordability. We, as an industry, must ensure that we do not compromise on the quality while trying to make the product affordable. Safety should be of prime importance. In this regard, we have made various representations to the government that we should move away from the price-alone concept to a holistic approach in the procurement policy. We are in a paradox here that on one hand, we talk about price and affordable products, then, on the other side, we also talk about packaging as being the first impact on the customers, which is the acceptable norm in the consumer market.

charging stations, we have about 8000 public charging points, and about 7000 private charging points. This is a very small number, considering the size of the country. As per Niti Ayog, the aim regarding electric vehicles is about 10.2 crore by 2030. This will be a Mr. Varun Sawhney, Member massive jump. For this, we (Core Management), require the infrastructure of Cords Cable Industries Ltd. charging stations, which is not there in the country. The charging infrastructure will be in three forms – firstly, it will be in the offices and homes, i.e. building complexes, secondly will be in the public charging stations, and third will be the mass-fleet charging. Thus, India is lagging behind drastically in the segment.

Presently, another major challenge is that we are not focused on R&D, and I would like to suggest that all companies must invest in R&D. This will not only foster innovations but will also help in being ahead of the technology curve.”

As per the estimates from the IEEMA, we require about 5-6 m of cable per charging point, and as per Niti Ayog, for those 10.2 crore vehicles by 2030, we require about 29 lakh public charging points. Now, about 70 percent of charging happens at homes/offices. Thus, just 29 lakh converts to 1.5 lakh km of cables in the next eight years for the EV

Mr. Varun Sawhney added, “With regard to the topic of this session, I have four trends in mind. Firstly, the growing trend of the Electric Vehicle (EV) segment. As per a research in January this year, we had about 9.1 lakh of EVs on the roads in India. As for the infrastructure of the EV

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charging infrastructure. I believe this is a huge opportunity for our industry! And globally, the EV charging infrastructure market should reach around USD 3173 million by 2028.

there are around 1000 circuit km of HV network in the overhead lines. The power transformer capacity is 5000 MVA and 5400 MVA is the distribution transformer capacity. In addition, 1255 circuit km is of medium voltage (MV) overhead network, and 1000 circuit km of HT ABC. Whereas, the underground cable network takes up about 2900 circuit km of MV underground cables, and 2 circuit km is covered by conductors of medium voltage.

In my opinion, some of the challenges include – the requirement of land in cities to build these charging stations, and power load. Currently, the charging stations serve about 7.5 kW. We will need to attain 60-70 kW in the future. This is another challenge that we are going to face in the country. I believe that the wire and cable industry needs to gear up for these growth trends. The opportunity of 1.5 lakh km of cables is a huge requirement just for 30 percent of the market.

We have made a few initiatives directed at improving reliability, including, scheduled tree trimming, installation of silicon line spacers, installation of insulation sleeve on insulators, installation of capacitive animal repellant guards, and installation of sheared of PG connectors.

There are a few challenges in bare overhead power line networks, such as restriction of tree trimming>50 mm dia, no dedicated corridor of electric utility, declaring green zone in vicinity of o/h line, and plantation of high rise plant by horticulture authority near o/h lines. Additionally, there are issues like reliability hampers in rains, storms, earthquakes, etc., and safety clearances due to encroachments. We have been discussing this with the horticulture authorities to do plantations which have lower growth rate in terms of height near the power lines.

Second emerging trend which I would point out is the advent of digitalisation, and e-commerce in our country.

We know that we are having massive investments in the segment in the last several years. In fact, the e-commerce space is also having new industrial players, comprising of players who serve the industry, including the wire and cable industry. In my understanding, in the wire and cable industry, the challenge is to convert the distribution channels for the e-commerce side. Thus, for the traditional or older players who have their presence in the B2C segment, it will probably be a little difficult to convert those channels towards the e-commerce side.

In order to improve the reliability of HT ABC, we finalise the installation process as per SANS 0198-14, and the specifications have also been revised as per SANS standard 1713. Now, we are very much satisfied with the reliability indices of the HT ABC cables. However, there are certain challenges in HT ABC cables like – non-availability of Indian Standard of Design of HT ABC, non-availability of Code of Practice for installation and maintenance of HT ABC, and there are span length restrictions.

The third emerging trend is the entrance of lower quality products in our industry. I think IEEMA should play a very active role in this because there is a very serious challenge for our industry to become a quality-conscious market in the future. I would say that the fourth trend will be moving from C to C++, which is, from cables to cables++.

Many players are moving towards the EPC side, either towards the side of substations or automation. Some are also moving towards the FMEG side while others are moving towards the electrical bulk requirements. I believe that the quality players in the wire and cable industry now need to move ahead well, and to differentiate from the lower quality products, they need to invest in segments such as EPC, FMEG, etc. This would be the key for the future.”

Mr. Sanjeev Atri, Head of Group-Plant Engineering, Tata Power DDL

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We have installed a 3 km medium voltage covered conductor as per EN 50397 standard as a pilot project in FY 21-22.

As the ongoing trend is to cover the bare conductors to covered conductors, we have been still observing this situation. As per standards, the covered conductors are not touch-proof and they must be treated as bare conductors with respect to electric shock. The covered conductors can protect tripping against accidental contact with other phased conductors and with grounded parts like trees.

Also, planned maintenance required for tree trimming for preventing permanent touching of tree branches.

Mr. Sanjeev Atri, said “Tata Power-DDL is a joint venture of the Tata Power Company Limited and the Government of Delhi. The consumer base is 1.8 billion, we are supplying power to 510 sq km, and the peak load is 2119 MW. We have brought down the AT&C losses from 53.1 percent to 7.8 percent. As for the network,

In the MV UG cables, heat dissipation is enhanced by 20 percent by designing co-extruded duct cables. The MTTR is reduced by 35 percent and the installation costs are reduced by 15 percent. In the Medium Voltage Underground cables, external damages are one of the major concerns. The challenges in the MV UG cable network is that there is no dedicated ROW for utilities

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while assets are being damaged by different utilities. It is a major concern for the industry. Moreover, there is a high road restoration cost involved.”

ment and delay in the work related to the project. Now, those projects have been started again. This governmentdriven project is aimed at bridging the urban and rural digital divide which has been there, and this has been in the form of broadband connectivity to rural population in a big way. This is for the benefitting and upliftment of the rural populations. In the beginning, we were an agriculturebased economy. Hence, by increasing the broadband reach to every nook and corner of the country, the GDP will further grow. This will also result in the growth of entrepreneurship and business development. In this way, the economy will certainly be benefitted.

Day 1 concluded with an interesting panel discussion on 'Promising Road Ahead for Telecom Sector and OFC Industry', which had Mr. R. Sridharan, CEO, Birla Cable Ltd. and President, Vindhya Telelinks Ltd., Mr. Naivedya Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Runaya Group, Mr. Vipul Nagpal, Founder & Managing Director, Orient Cables India Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Sivakumar Nagarajan, Commercial Director, Corning India as the eminent speakers.

In this domain, the role of the government is to facilitate the rollout of the optical fibre network, and also promoting the concept of e-governance. Within the concept of egovernance, the first step is to ensure the availability of broadband connectivity with high-speed networks. This necessitates the need of proper optical fibre cable infrastructure, and for getting the proper connectivity. As I mentioned, our economy is primarily agriculture-based, thus the farmers should be empowered with the knowledge about various aspects related to farming like the monsoon patterns, and the soil quality, etc. For masses, factors like birth/death certifications are important. Then, healthcare

OFC - Backbone of Digital India Mr. R. Sridharan said, “We all know that without telecommunications, the movement of data, and information is not possible. It has been proven in the last two years and due to the pandemic, we all faced a number of challenges and problems. And work-fromMr. R. Sridharan, Chief Executive home culture has actually Officer, Birla Cable Ltd. and President, Vindhya Telelinks Ltd., enhanced the growth of the Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) M.P. Birla Group segment. This concept has grown in India like the western world. Thus, it is certainly true that the optical fibre industry has grown, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indian optical fibre and accessories market is valued at around USD 461 million in the year 2018. It is slated to reach almost USD 1066 million by 2026 with the clear CAGR of about 17.2 percent. Thus, there is a good growth rate which is being projected, and which is happening also despite the pandemic.

There are a lot of growth opportunities which I would like to touch upon regarding the role of the Indian market and what different countries around the globe have been achieving. Thus, we also need to reflect upon what kind of projects could enable us in achieving this kind of exponential growth. Firstly, the government-driven projects which are the backbone of the 'Digital India' initiative – which is the 'BharatNet' project. This is going to impact the growth of the entire industry, and the entire country.

What the Prime Minister of the country has envisioned is that in 1000 days, all the villages in every nook and corner of the country should be covered with optical fibre cables.

Thus, it is a huge program which obviously has been impacted due to the pandemic resulting in the postpone-

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– e-Medicine/e-Healthcare is one of the major concerns of e-governance in the country. During the pandemic, it has been proven that e-healthcare can be made possible as the people, who needed healthcare consultations, were speaking to the doctors through video conferences, telephone calls, etc. during the quarantine period. This was made possible through good broadband networks, 4G connectivity of which the backbone is optical fibre cables.

also coming up with their own projects under BharatNet as well as their own projects. The government has given a special spectrum for 4G and the government-owned enterprise is going to foray into 4G very shortly. Also, a homegrown 4G technology has been introduced for which pilot tests have already been undertaken.

Indian companies have been working in this domain so as to reduce their dependence on any other country with the goal of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. All these programs, including the PLI scheme which has already been started, are going to benefit on a large-scale and a long-term basis.

Thus, this year can be regarded as having brought stabilisation to both the public-owned and private-owned companies in the sector.

In addition, e-Education is also an important consideration in this respect. All the school/college children studied through digital mediums during the pandemic-led lockdown periods. In this way, the proper connectivity and proper FTTH networks are required. Although it was available however, there are still more miles to cover in our country. In Tier-2, Tier-3 cities or in villages, the network coverage is a huge issue. People are relying on mobile broadband and large-scale fibre connectivity is required.

Also, the 5G services are going to come in a big way. The 5G is going to be a game-changer for a lot of technologies.

There are some issues in 4G technologies like call drops, low speed, poor network connections, and low bandwidth.

This is going to be addressed when we talk about the futuristic 5G technology. The impending introduction of 5G technology in mobile communication network will truly be possible with the enhanced deployment of optical fibre cables by four-five times as compared to the existing route length of optical fibre network for latest technologies like – machine-to-machine communication (M2M), artificial intelligence, IoT, autonomous cars, smart city applications, intelligent traffic management systems, data centres, Scada control systems in public utilities like – power generation, power transmission, and power distribution, water supplies, cross-country oil & gas pipeline system. All these mentioned high-speed, high-bandwidth transmission mediums in 5G technology are possible only by using optical fibre networks.

Thus, this government program is aimed at enhancing the high-speed internet networks, the broadband connectivity, high bandwidth applications, and so on. For instance, the rural-based populations have also been looking to book their tickets to travel in a much easier and convenient way.

And if they don't have the network connectivity, they would be required to stand in queues at the ticket booking counters at railway stations, bus depots, etc. Thus, highspeed bandwidth networks are a big requirement. Optical Fibres are the enabler for these requirements! Optical fibre cables will be a game-changer in this respect. The government has been making huge efforts and strides in this direction and we should look forward to more such announcements of relevant schemes.

In the next five years, on a pan-India basis, the government is planning to lay more than 20 lakh route km of optical fibre cables under this ambitious BharatNet project. This will act as a backbone for the 'Digital India' program. In the next three-five years, the government has been planning to undertake this expansion in a very big way. Thus, it definitely augurs well for the optical fibre cable industry and the masses at large.

Last but not the least, the 5G, especially mobile communication can happen with fiberisation. Right now, the fibersiation of cell sites in towers is around 32 percent or so, which should be increased to 80-90 percent. This offers huge potential in the deployment of optical fibre cable in the cell sites. To summarise, the fibre km per capita consumption is very low in India as compared to the rest of the world, which is 0.09 while it is 1.35 in Japan, 1.34 in the USA, and 0.87 in China. Thus, it presents us with a huge scope of further development and growth opportunities.

With regard to the private telecom operators, the existing service of the 4G technology played a huge role in the pandemic. Considering the private telecom operators like Jio, Bharti Airtel, etc., they can play an even bigger role in the fibre rollout. Now, since the beginning of this year, the fibre rollout program has again been picking up. The demand has been picking up. It is going to go up even further. Coming to the government-operated BSNL, the performance was not that good, thus, a lot of governmentdriven stimulus packages were given. Now, it is on a growth path with the stabilisation of the operations, and they are

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With this, I would like to conclude my session and as I had already discussed that the pre-COVID consumption in India was less than 18 million fibre km. We are targeting to reach 30 million fibre km this year and 40 million fibre km in the next year. A lot of expansion is happening in all the countries around the world. Now, the consumption of OFC is expected to increase multi-fold due to the impend-

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ing network expansion in both government-driven projects and private telecom operators. This is further expected to improve by various network rollout programmes of internet service providers (ISPs), power utilities, and oil & gas sector.”

Mr. Naivedya Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Runaya Group

Now, we have also been seeing more productdiversifications with more value-added products for various applications. For instance, the flat FRP rods are used for cables with high fibre count. As we go into more last-mile connectivity, ARP rods are increasingly used. For underground cables, water-swellable FRP rods are used, and medium adhesion FRP rods are used for the easier installation of FTTx connections. Then, there are also steel-embedded FRP rods and oval rods.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naivedya Agarwal said, “I would begin with an overview of Runaya Group which is a startup in the industry. We are one of the fastest-growing manufacturing startups in India, with a very strong focus on sustainability and providing technology-driven solutions in India with the global best practices.

At Runaya, we have also been closely working with all of our customers to develop this entire range of value-added products to ensure that we can be a one-stop destination for solutions for our customers, as well as work directly with them to increase their efficiency. We have installed a small solar rooftop plant and we are committed to be completely powered by solar energy by 2024. We are minimising our resin and scrap emissions. We have also installed AIbacked vision cameras to monitor the quality of our solutions and reduce the wastage of any materials.”

Specifically, we have the current capacity of 1.5 million fibre km which we will expand to attain 2 million fibre km by the end of this year, and 4 million fibre km by the end of the next year. This is of course driven by the expansion we have been seeing in the OFC manufacturing industry.

The growth in OFC demand directly translates into the growth of the FRP demand. The rapidly growing OFC market is expected to reach 650 million fibre km by 2025.

The three main areas of the OFC consumption include the long-haul cables for inter-city development, the submarine cables for inter-continental or trans-national data transfer, and access cables for inter-cities which play a role in data centre connectivity, and smart city projects being driven by the Government of India. Of course, the biggest demand push is going to come from last-mile connectivity, and this is where we see the exponential growth of FRP demand with surge in FTTH penetration.

This is also being driven from more data consumption and the rise in OTT platforms. Moreover, there has also been an emergence of smart buildings along with IoT, A.I., and so on.

Talking about his company, Mr. Vipul Nagpal added, “Orient Cables started its journey in 2002. We were one of the earliest companies in India which started experimenting with the manufacturing of LAN cables. Over the years, we have kept our focus Mr. Vipul Nagpal, Founder & very specific into the IT and the Managing Director, Orient Telecom sector. I am happy to Cables (India) Pvt. Ltd. share that about 15 percent of our sales have been from exports in 2021-22. Now, we are very bullish regarding growth in the next two years with very significant expansion plans.

Cables are like silent performers for the networks. While they are always taken for granted and rarely seen or noticed, they play a major role. In fact, cables can be considered as an equivalent of the nervous system in human bodies, which keeps the devices running, and is precisely engineered at every inch.

Now, coming to the FRP demand, the FRP demand is directly proportional to the demand for OFC. The average global ratio is about 48 fibres to 1 FRP rod, with Europe and the USA being taking an average of 60+ fibres to 1 rod, and the developing countries taking 25 fibres to 1 FRP rod.

This also demonstrates that India is still far behind in terms of its fibre development, and FRP manufacturing requirement, and that ratio is likely to increase in India as well. As most countries including India look for more localisation of the supply chain to reduce the dependence on China, we see that the prime focus of our manufacturing will also be India-based.

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When we talk about the global trends, it is very much aligned with the trends that we have been seeing in India. In 2021, the optical fibre cable market was sized about 9.20 billion, and it is projected to reach USD 23.40 billion at a CAGR of 17.7 percent. All in all, it is a great time for the OFC Industry and the growth has been driven by BharatNet project, 5G deployments, and Smart City projects.

Considering the LAN cables which is one of our largest

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verticals, we see the market growing but not as aggressively as fibre cables. The research report says that in the period of 2022-2031, the global LAN cable market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.02 percent. The threats or challenges to the LAN cable market are – the growth of the wireless segment, the optical fibre cables are getting cheaper, and the advancement of the 5G technology. Moreover, there are also opportunities for the LAN cable market segment, including POE smart devices, IP CCTV cameras, more data centres, and automation systems. Thus, the potential is very high and this opens up a lot of possibilities. The IP CCTV cameras operate on the LAN cable systems. Also, there will be an emergence of a lot more data centres with the demand for cloud computing is expected to go up exponentially. Besides, the automation systems are also operated using LAN cables.

health, economy, and personal crisis. As social distancing became a new norm, telecommunications played a key role in keeping us all bonded, and informed. This also enabled us to connect all of us virtually, and bring us all closer to one another.

India has transformed itself rapidly to be a digital-first economy, and we should be proud of this! We are truly touching human lives and making a real difference, for instance, the concept of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and Aadhar Cards. India launched the UPI service in 2016.

It has changed the way Indian businesses are doing their businesses today. UPI reached every nook and corner of this large, and diverse country. The growth has been phenomenal.

In 2017, there were about 145 million transactions which happened and within a year, it quadrupled to reach almost 620 million in 2018, and 1.3 billion in 2019. Then, it almost doubled to reach 2.2 billion in 2020 and it again doubled up by reaching 4.5 billion in 2021. Now, we are almost through half of this ongoing year, and 5.5 billion transactions have been registered up until the month of April, 2022. This is an absolutely phenomenal growth in terms of digital transactions.

I would also like to take this opportunity to present some of the problems being faced by our industry. For instance, in LAN cables, we have an inverted duty structure which is pretty bizarre considering the kind of pressures we are operating under. If we import a finished box of LAN cable, the import duty is zero. However, considering the import of the raw material copper which takes up about 70 percent of the raw material, the import duties would be about 5.5 percent. Domestically, a similar price structure is followed.

I am first-hand aware of some companies who shifted their manufacturing elsewhere than the country, for instance, China, to manufacture and bring these cables in the country. This is one area that the government must pay heed to!

Next comes the Aadhar Card systems. There are very few systems, like Facebook, or Google, in the world with billion users. Aadhar is the one and only non-USA-based system globally that has broken that 1 billion threshold. Today, almost 1.5 billion Aadhar cards have been issued, and this system has been developed by the public sector in India. For instance, in a rural area, a mother is eligible to be endowed with school fees-related subsidies for her son/daughter.

Then, she was required to fill in the form and get it verified from the nearest government office, and then only will she be given the cheque amount for the subsidy. Now, all these processes have been made much simpler, by simply linking Aadhar Card with the Jan Dhan account. The process happens so swiftly that it completely eliminates the tedious steps and the hardships a consumer has to go through. This has made the process so much faster, and efficient.

Regarding fibre cables, it is my opinion that the import duties on raw fibre should be decreased. I truly believe that for the industry to flourish, it is very important to get good quality fibres at affordable prices that should be made available so that we can offer our manufactured optical fibre cables to the world at competitive prices. Today, the prices of fibre have risen by almost 70 percent in one year.

Thus, the domestic manufacturers are not able to meet the demand. Moreover, we also need more capacities and more cost-effective prices.”

Mr. Sivakumar Nagarajan Commercial Director, Corning India

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This is the power of telecommunications! And here comes the necessity of optical fibre cables into the picture. The light that goes through the optical fibres – is going to light up the lives of 1.3 billion people of this country. These are just a few examples which I have cited. And there are many such services which have been made possible through digital platforms. The demand for such services is always in an upward trend. This is further pushing the need for the demand for the bandwidth. Yes, India needs more bandwidth and such phenomenal growth needs good mobile networks. Further, a good mobile network will need a good

Mr. Sivakumar Nagarajan, Director, Corning Inc. said, “The growth of the telecom and OFC sector has been the need of the hour after we have faced the severe pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed us all into an unforeseen crisis at multiple levels, including

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optical fibre cable network. The future outlook for the demand for optical fibre cables in India is very promising.

The Day 2 of the conference focused on the steel wire industry. The trends in the industry were discussed by Mr. Mahesh Poddar, Chairman, Miki Wire Works Pvt. Ltd., and MP (Rajya Sabha – Jharkhand), Mr. Nirmal Saraf, Managing Director, Nirmal Group, Mr. Sidharth Agrawal, Managing Director, Systematic Group Of Companies and Mr. Dheeraj Dev, Managing Director, H D Wire (P) Ltd. The session was moderated by Mr. Nirmal Singh, Director, Assomac Machines Ltd.

The 'National Braodband Mission' provides very clearly stated policy objectives. It aims to provide broadband connectivity to over 6 lakh villages in India, and double up the OFC network from 20 lakh fibre km to 50 lakh fibre km, and double up the mobile towers from 7 lakhs to 15 lakhs, and increase the fiberisation of those towers from 35 percent to 70 percent.

The growth prospects of the steel wire industry depend on the future of the primary steel industry, which looks quite promising over the years. Steel has contributed immensely to the development of the Indian economy. The government has approved a production linked incentive scheme for specialty steel with a five year budget outlay of INR 6,322 crore, which will not only boost domestic production of steel, but will also attract potential investors, generate employment, entice the existing companies to add capacities and promote technology, and also upgrade the sector.

However, there are some challenges in this regard, including the uniform implementation of Right of Way (RoW) policy for speedy network capacity. Then, there is the Common Duct policy is another effort to bring significant cost savings in the country. We need to strengthen our networks to our towns and villages that enable the majority of our young population.

As fibre is the fundamental building block in the telecom network, the choice of the fibre plays a critical part in the network, as well as the cost and the performance. Fibre does not add up costs to any Greenfield or Brownfield network. If you look at the overall scheme of things, the fibre costs become less than 1 percent.

The discussion in the 'Steel Wire Conclave' threw light on some interesting insights on the market trends, opportunities, challenges, and future outlook of the steel wire industry.

Nevertheless, if one starts choosing sub-optimal fibres, it contributes to a higher loss right from day one which shortens the network's life and makes it less suitable for future technologies. Thus, it increases the cost per bit for the service providers. At the end of the day, cost per bit is everything for the industry.

Steel Wire Conclave Mr. Nirmal Singh set the tone for the proceedings and said, “We welcome you all to this very special session on steel wire industry, the future and the challenges which we all are facing. We have got a panel of knowledgeable speakers that are all big-names in the Mr. Nirmal Singh, Director, i n d u s t r y. ” A f t e r a b r i e f Assomac Machines Ltd. introduction by the moderator, Mr. Mahesh Poddar, Chairman, Miki Wire Works Pvt Ltd. began his speech.

The Return on Investment (ROI) on the network depends a great deal on the choice of what you make of that one percent on the network – i.e., on the optical fibres. Making a right choice on that one percent will give a ninety nine percent impact on your performance costs, i.e., the performance of the network and the cost per bit for the telecom carrier. And it is a very easy problem to address by the capable Indian OFC industry. With these words, I would like to conclude what should be the next step forward for the next phase of growth in the next decade. I think all the stakeholders in the industry have a part to play in this. As we know how to use technology for the betterment of our lives. In my opinion, OFC will remain an inherent and sustaining part of this dream! The National Broadband Mission will provide a very strong framework for growth. It is the time for us to focus our energies on implementations and policies to put India firmly on the global digital map. In turn, the OFC industry will be tasked with continuing to innovate and deliver superior products. The industry first deployed low-loss fibre fifty years back. Today, the industry can deliver 100 times better innovations than before.”

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“It is a great pleasure to be here at this critical time when both industry as well as the overall economy is facing a challenging time. There are some indicators saying it is doing very well, but then, there are some shadows which says that there are areas of concern,” said Mr. Poddar.

“There are some reports from the Bank of England, IMF. If they are to be believed, we are heading towards global recession. We must try to analyse and visualise that to what extent further aggravated by the Russia-Ukraine war and still we are not able to come out of it. As a matter of fact, nobody's able to predict, where we are heading. I'm sure that most of you have experienced a contraction of

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demand, as well as worsening cash turnover issue. Despite this struggle, we have plenty of reasons to be hopeful.

used to build up the demand of the country, which is being catered by the new capacities.

There should be Vyapar credit card along the line of Kisan credit card for the small traders. It can be a social support system to such small, micro and nano traders who are otherwise forced to borrow high interest borrowing.

Everything possible is being done to keep agri sector active and growing. But now, the political parties are also emphasising on the MSME sector which includes not just the manufacturing factory but any business.

MSME is one of the crucial sectors that will allow us to wait through this crisis. In the last global recession of 2008-09, Mr. Mahesh Poddar, Chairman, when all the economies faced Miki Wire Works Pvt. Ltd., and tough times, India was still MP (Rajya Sabha – Jharkhand) growing and it was all due to the MSME sector. The beauty of the MSME or the decentralised economy is that one single failure at one big point doesn't make it fail in all kinds of situations. The government has recently included even the street vendor under the MSME sector.”

The government has already expressed a serious note of confidence in the private sector. The way the businesses were happening and projects were being executed is now totally changed. Almost everything is now done on a turn-key basis where the government sets a target and the entire engineering, procurement, and execution is done by the contractor.

The government is setting out the target, has clarity in thought, determination to do it, and availability of funds.

The private sector has taken over. And the opportunity is there to compete in price, quality and growing volume.”

Talking about the history of the steel wire business, he said, “Till 1970s and 80s, there was a period of controls, quotas, and there were very big houses. They had one steel wire making unit on the sides and each unit was making all kinds of products. The volume was small but the profits were very high because the profits were driven by the raw material quota. And on the sides, there were people making some small needs, and thus, making little profit just to survive, without aiming at growth. As the economies liberalised, things become simpler. These small ones started growing, focusing on one or the other particular type of wire. And today, after 30 years, you find that in each wire segment, there is a leader.

“The PLI scheme is another instance where the government is trying to level the playing field and give our firms a chance to compete globally. They're expanding into new products and new areas. However, PLI schemes should also take advantage of existing infrastructure of a particular unit. The government will consider that down the line.

There will be a conflicting role between the bigger ones and the smaller ones because it's a free economy. Lastly, the most important question we should all ponder over is how to increase India's share of exports in the wire and cable market. In the cable sector, we are largely dependent on imported raw materials and in the steel wire sector; we are dependent on the domestic raw material. The exports need a different kind of approach because the days are over when the people used to think that export market is a very profitable market. The time has come when you have to realise that the export market is more competitive than the domestic market. As a matter of fact, now, the domestic market is more protected compared to the export market because the players as well as the economies and their priorities have become big. The geopolitics has come in.

Despite having such a strong domestic industry, we are not able to export to the world and the wire rods are still not good enough to be exported to Japan or Korea.

Over the years, a company has picked up the technology that is rightly required for its market or product. Eventually, as the space opened up, specialised small players began to emerge with a different type of wires, cables, ancillaries, and simultaneously, the people also started looking into the foreign markets. Even with a very strong economic and administrative and management base, we could not export when the big ones were the players, because the economy gave them enough comfort to make money with a small quantity.

We have achieved from 14 million in 1991-92 to 114 million tons in 2021. This kind of steel availability has been consumed and picked up by most of the players in the MSME sector across the country. People who were seriously into the steel wire business have become the big players and are not a part of one big group making easy money. Another big change could be seen in the way the government works and the projects are executed. In the last 80 years, no Greenfield Public Sector unit has come up. Even the existing ones are under threat of survival if not working efficiently and their resources, which were not previously productive, are now

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Every crisis is an opportunity and we should make this our chance to learn and compete with the world. The focus of our large players should be improved R&D for more exports of both basic steel as well as finished steel. Our government is committed to export value added product.

The export of manufactured goods by MSME must be

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around 70-80 percent because the overall share is about 49 percent. I feel there may be some materials or minerals that we export. If you exclude that, the share of MSME is really big in the manufactured goods and services.”

lacking. Hence, we are still importing high value-added steels. We need to look into it, upgrade our processes, and understand our customer's expectations from us.”

Today we are poised to grow in the export markets. People are willing to accept us. Though the pandemic was very distressing, it threw up a big opportunity in terms of people considering India as the alternative to China. I see more and more people abroad are more willing to do business with India. They are willing to work with Indian companies to develop products which are suitable for them. The system of trade is very similar in most of the world compared to India, which is not the same with China who comes out as the major competitor. But we have to be aware that along with China, the Southeast Asian countries are growing very fast.”

He cited the example of a detergent bar introduced by Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) which was named 501 because TOMCO chief Jal Naoroji felt it could do one better than a soap called '500' which was imported. “We should increase domestic production, no matter what the cost is. While it is true that the big fish would always eat the smaller ones, I feel big players of India should try to compete abroad and let the small players do business in the country,” he concluded.

Mr. Nirmal Saraf from Nirmal Group pointed out that the pandemic has taught us to look after our people. “The employees need to be secured. They need to have a lot of internal strength so they can perform to the fullest without any worries.

We've seen people hesitant to Mr. Nirmal Saraf, come to work and people not Managing Director, being allowed to come to work Nirmal Group because people in their communities wouldn't allow them. We have overcome that difficulty and going forward, we should focus on employee wellbeing. Ultimately, they are the ones who do all the work and add value to our enterprise. With that as the main theme, I would go on to elaborate on what's happening in the industry today. India has now become a net exporter of steel, and we are exporting semi-finished goods like billets, wire roads, etc. If we are able to export raw materials, what inhibits us from exporting finished products?” asks Mr. Saraf.

He further pointed out that big companies are trying to outprice smaller companies and undercut rates. “The companies are able to sell the end product at the prices of raw materials, which is unthinkable. Our competition laws are not that strong that we can call that antitrust pricing. I think it's a disservice by these big companies who try such practices because they're not creating value, they're killing value. They should be in fields where the MSME units find it difficult to access the technology and scale required to put up the plants.

We don't even export a fraction of what China exports in finished products. And there's a huge opportunity there. I would stress on two things - look after your people, build up your capacity to export and meet the customer satisfactions if you want to survive in the long run.”

“The same should hold true for the aluminum industry as well, as India is an exporter of aluminum. We need to go deep and think about what inhibits us. Adding value means more jobs for the country, more revenue, and more foreign exchange earnings. However, we are still importing a lot of finished goods and we have to find the reason for it. I believe Atmanirbhar Bharat - Make in India and Make for the World is the motto which we have to follow. Make in India and make for the world is what is going to propel us forward. No growth can happen without exports because the market becomes huge when you're exporting.”

M r. S i d h a r t h A g r a wa l , Managing Director, Systematic Group Of Companies, started his speech with some interesting information on the steel wire sector. “As of now, we produce around 6.2 million tons of wire rods in the country.

Out of that, 0.07 million tons is Mr. Sidharth Agrawal, being imported and some Managing Director, Systematic quantities are exported from Group Of Companies India. The total wire rod, which goes to the domestic market, is 5.8 million tonne.

Out of this, total wire rod for wire drawing is around 5.2 million tonne. Some of the quantities are used by the captive wire manufacturer. So, total wire production in India is estimated to be about 5 million tonnes.”

“In India, we were in an economy of shortages for a very long time. Prior to 1990, the one who got the allotment of raw materials made money. The USP required to run an industry prior to liberalisation was your ability to procure raw material. It has changed now and raw materials are thankfully available now in quantities although, the quality is still

Elaborating on a business cycle of any successful industry, he added, “First stage comes is competition, then comes cooperation. The next is co-operative conquering. We have to come together and sell in India to ensure that an international customer gets the complete package if he comes to India.

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The global steel market size is projected to grow from USD 93 billion in 2020 to USD 124.7 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.0 percent between 2020 and 2025. The non-rope form is the fastest-growing form of steel wires, in terms of value.

Such steel wires find wide applications in various end-use industries. Some of the major applications include a wire for tires, hoses, galvanized wires and strands, ACSR strands, and armoring of conductor cables, springs, fasteners, clips, staples, mesh, fencing, screws, nails, barbed wires, chains, etc. The increasing demand from these applications is expected to drive the non-rope steel wire market during the forecasted period.

The panel discussion was followed by a technical session in which Mr. René Stoeckl, Sales Director at Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH, Mr. Dipal Parikh, Commercial Director – AMEA region, Polymer Solutions BU at Orbia, Alphagary Compounds, Dr. Priya Rakshit, Research And Development Manager, Shakun Polymers Ltd. and Dr. Parasu Veera, Vice President, Head Technology & Business Development, SCBU- UPL Ltd. were the speakers.

Technical Session Rosendahl Nextrom is known for their continuous investments in R&D and comprehensive customer service. They h ave a l s o i m p l e m e n t e d Industry 4.0 technologies such smart automation, IoT, and intelligent manufacturing in their workplace. While talking Mr. René Stoeckl, about how downtime could be Sales Director, avoided through preventive Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH m a i n t e n a n c e, M r. R e n é Stoeckl from Rosendahl Nextrom said, “We have an extruder equipped with a screw, which is clearly identified with an RFID chip. And the system knows right from the moment when the line was started, what performance this screw can bring. Over the time, the performance is changing and the system recognises in what direction the performance goes. And you can define parameters how much time before the end of the lifetime of this rearing part; you want to have information that it needs to be exchanged.

Stainless steel is the fastest-growing type of steel wire, in terms of value. The stainless-steel wire products are mainly used in industries such as shipbuilding, agriculture, petroleum, automobile, welding electrode, and bright bars & household applications. In the energy sector, stainless steel wires are used in nuclear reactors, transmission lines, heat exchangers, and desulfurization scrubbers. The increasing demand for stainless steel wire products from spring steel products and oil & gas applications is expected to drive the market during the forecast period. Stainless steel products are used in applications where products need to be used in corrosive and harsh environmental conditions.”

He further revealed that the 1.6 mm to 4 mm thickness segment of the steel wire market is the fastest-growing segment, automotive is the fastest-growing end-use industry of steel wire (in terms of value) and Europe is the fastest-growing steel wire market.

Talking about the current scenario, Mr. Dheeraj Dev, Managing Director, H D Wire (P) Ltd. highlighted that India was net exporter of finished steel during October 2021 recording a net trade surplus o f 0 . 6 8 M T. H e f u r t h e r pointed out that the new Mr. Dheeraj Dev, Vehicle Scrappage policy will Managing Director, help in reducing the steel H D WIRE (P) Ltd. prices since the policy enables recycling the materials used in old vehicles and added that uncertainty about future market requirements, volatility in rates, managing of supply fluctuations on account of heavy exports, and restoration of production capacities to the fullest extent are some of the major concerns to be dealt with. Other concern highlighted by Mr. Dev includes the fact that petroleum and gas products are not covered under the purview of GST. “Also, we need to work jointly with the government for assured payment cycles,” he concluded.

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Another example of big data is when your local line is connected to your MES system and exchanging data. The line knows exactly which batch of raw material was used and what the production parameters were. It stores all this information together so that whenever you want to find out what was not correct with this product, you can scan the barcode or put the ID number to the system so that you get the information about old production parameters.

Dr. Priya Rakshit, Research And Development Manager, Shakun Polymers Ltd.

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Dr. Priya Rakshit, Research And Development Manager, Shakun Polymers Ltd. introduced her company.

“Cable Jacket comprises of polymeric material and on continuous exposure to UV sunlight – degradation and deterioration is observed on

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account of UV rays, Water droplets, contamination etc termed astracking & erosion. Degradation of the polymeric materials tends to cause dielectric breakdown of the insulating material. Therefore, to increase the life of the cable – cables are covered with or protected with track resistance material/compound.”

product range from Shakun and Alphagary, getting it together, and then expanding these to markets beyond India, from the manufacturing facility. We are already expanding at Shakun. We have taken a new land addition to that and we are building a new site there. With both these sites together, we will soon have a capacity, which will be more than 80,000 tonnes per annum. We'll bring in a total range of Alphagary products which will be made in India soon. We'll be offering our halogen flame retardant compounds and then beginning next year, we will also provide the PVC FRS compounds.

Talking about track resistance test as per IEC 60587, she said, “This test has been performed on different KVs, that for 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 KV, how much contaminant liquid has to be inserted onto it. Then once we have all the test parameters, testing methods and all methodology standards, we got the information that we can test this material on high voltage inclined plane testing erosion tester. At Shakun laboratory, we equipped this instrument during December, 2020 with two stations where we can equip for the cable sample as well as for compounded sheet.

D r. Pa r a s u Ve e r a , V i c e President, Head Technology & Business Development, SCBUUPL Ltd. talked about his company focussing on its strong record in sustainability and safety and introduced bitteR masterbatch for protection against rodent and Dr. Parasu Veera, Vice President, termite. The product provides Head Technology & Business excellent protection to cables Development, SCBU- UPL Ltd. from damage due to chewing by rodents and from termite infestation.

Mr. Dipal Parikh, Commercial Director – AMEA region, Polymer Solutions BU at Orbia, Alphagary Compounds talked about CPR. “It's a safety standard, and a requirement which has been set up by the European economic area so that there is movement of Mr. Dipal Parikh, Commercial goods across the industry. CPR Director – AMEA region, stands for construction product Polymer Solutions BU at Orbia, Alphagary Compounds regulation, as it mentioned. So any material which you want to supply to the construction and building industry needs to be approved under the construction products regulation standard. It covers every material. Be it a door, window or communication cable, it needs to meet those standard or regulation, which are set up. There are two parts to it. One is the EN50575, which talks about the requirements which a cable needs to fulfill to pass through that. And the EN50399, is the test standard. So it gives various test protocols under which the cable needs to be tested and then needs to pass through it.”

All the panel discussions were hugely appreciated by the audience. Held amid strict COVID-19 safety measures, Cable & Wire Fair 2022 gave the industry the much-needed impetus at a time when people were desperately waiting for a networking platform. The 4th edition of the event had Assomac Machines Ltd. and Parovi Machines as its principal partners and Tata Wiron, Kkalpana Industries (India) Ltd., Ddev Plastiks Industries Ltd., Innotech Advance Machine Pvt. Ltd., and KLJ Group as its copartners. It also had Waldies Compound Ltd., Corsis Technologies and Gloster Cables Ltd. as its associate partners, and Shakun Polymers Ltd. (part of Alphagary, an Orbia Company), Walson Woodburn Wire Die Pvt. Ltd., Tomer Machines, 3R Polymers Pvt. Ltd., Rosendahl Nextrom Gmbh, Ducab DMB, Niknam Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. and Conoptica AS as other partners.

Talking about the CPR testing, he said “The key performance criteria for any cable to pass through this is flame spread, heat release rate, total heat release, smoke production rate, total smoke production, fire growth rate index, flaming droplets or particles and acidity of gases involved” and elaborated each of them in detail.

Like the previous edition, the 2022 Fair included Innovation Pavilion wherein premier companies from the industry including APAR Industries Ltd., LS Cable & System Ltd., KEI Industries Ltd., Paramount Communications Ltd., Birla Cable Ltd. and Cords Cable Industries Ltd. showcased their latest and upcoming products.

Discussing about the acquisition of Shakun by Alphagary, he added, “It's already a year since we have partnered with Shakun and this has brought in a collaboration in terms of bringing the technologies from Alphagary and Shakun together bringing the whole

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The next edition of the Cable & Wire Fair will take place from 6th to 8th October 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi covering three halls, with a plethora of value addition for the industry, which will make the show 1.5 times bigger.

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Cable & Wire Fair Exhibitors’ Testimonials “This has been our first experience of attending and exhibiting at the Cable & Wire Fair. It has been an exciting opportunity for us. The team of organizers has done a phenomenal job in terms of attracting good speakers for the conference as well as the companies which have participated here. We have been able to meet a lot of our key customers in one place which we hadn't been able to do before, because of COVID. Also, with regard to finding newer suppliers, and newer customers who have approached us at the event, this has been a really nice and engaging experience.”

exceptionally good. We received an amazing response and reviews. The show was organized pretty well and the visitors and buyers were sincere.”

– Mr. Vineet Sachdeva, Partner, Parovi Machines

“The Cable & Wire Fair exhibition has been a great platform for our company.

In this three day event, we could network with a great number of our existing and prospective clients. We hope that we will be fully occupied with new business opportunities because of this exhibition. We look forward to participating at the next edition of the exhibition as well.”

– Mr. Naivedya Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Runaya Group

“I think that Tulip 3P Media has done a great job and we have received great service from the organizers. I am happy with everything. All in all, it was a great experience. The turnout of visitors has been exceptionally great.

We are very happy to have participated at the exhibition.”

– Mr. Mohan Narasimhan, Operations Manager, Abrol Engineering Company (P) Ltd.

“It is the third time that we participated at the Cable & Wire Fair. Over the years, we have expanded the scale of our participation with each passing edition of the exhibition. The show has been amazing. Even in our previous participation, we had received a phenomenal response, and this year has been even better.

There were numerous people from the wire industry and the cable industry who visited us. It was especially very nice to meet everyone after three long years. It was a wonderful experience. We are now planning to participate in the next edition of the show, wherein we will participate in an even bigger way, with a bigger booth and presence.”

– Mr. Kjell E. Johnsen, Head of Wire & Cable division, Conoptica

“I would really like to express my gratitude to Tulip 3P Media for a great exhibition this year. The experience has been even better than our expectations. We had a very good first two days and equally good third day as well. Our stand has good focussed footfall. We wish the team of Tulip 3P Media the very best for the next edition of the exhibition as well.”

– Mr. Ronak Shah, Director, Kemtree Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.

– Mr. Ashish Tyagi, Director, Assomac Machines Limited

“Our experience at the Cable & Wire Fair was extremely good. The footfall at our stand was quite outstanding and very appreciable. Basically, we were able to get a new kind of an experience as it was our first time participating at

“It is high time for the wire and cable industry to adapt to the innovations in the way they operate and do business. As always, the experience at Cable & Wire Fair 2022 has been

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the exhibition. In fact, this has proven to be a motivation for the company to be a part in the future edition of the show as well.”

“This has been our second time participating at the Cable & Wire Fair.

The event has been fantastic and has exceeded our expectations. It has been a great opportunity to showcase our recent product launches, and new developments for the wire and cable industry. The whole event is in sync with where we want to reach as an organization. The building and construction industry has been our focus area and wires and cables play a significant role in that. We are really confident that the contacts we have established in the industry will be advantageous for us in the coming future. We would love to participate in all the subsequent editions of the Cable & Wire Fair in the future.”

– Ms. Yukti Bhatia, Sales & Marketing Coordinator, Rajnandini Metal Limited

“As ever, the Cable & Wire Fair has been a great event for us. After such a long time, this has proven to be an event which has brought the whole industry together. It has been wonderful to be here and it has been a good experience to meet our customers, and acquaintances after a long time. We definitely look forward to participating at the next edition of the exhibition as well.”

– Mr. Sandeep Vadakattu, Senior General Manager Sectors & Marketing, Domino Printech India LLP

– Mr. Ashwani Gupta, Director, Vividh Wires Limited

“Right from the initial editions itself, Cable & Wire Fair has been a great platform for the wire and cable industry. We hope and wish that the coming editions of the exhibition prove to be even more successful. The footfall at the show was really great and there were quality visitors. We are really satisfied with our participation at the exhibition.”

“I think the Cable & Wire Fair is a fantastic platform for companies like us who envision growing in the fibre optics, data cables, and power cables industry. The response we received has been phenomenal. We are really happy with the way the show has come around, set up, and organized by the team of Tulip 3P Media. We are looking forward to participating at the next edition of this exhibition, and we hope that the show is even bigger, better, and stronger than this year.”

– Mr. Amit Goel, CEO, Innotech Machines

“It was a nice experience participating at the Cable & Wire Fair, after such a long time, especially after the two years of COVID-19. We got to meet all the buyers, vendors, and the organizing team was extremely cordial and helpful in every respect. We would like to participate in the coming edition.”

– Mr. Naval Singhal, Director, Navank Consultants

“The exhibition has been so good that all the visitors and participating companies at the Cable & Wire Fair 2022 are significant industry players and business professionals. While we participated for the first time, it has proven to be a very good exhibition as far as our experience is concerned. We got the opportunity to meet and network with our existing clientele and different people in the industry. It is a very good platform to create awareness of the product developments as well as the different companies in the wire and cable industry.”

– Mr. Tushar Nagdev, Managing Director, Sobotech Industries Pvt. Ltd.

“It was a fantastic experience participating at the Cable & Wire Fair.

Overall, we witnessed the great efforts by the organizers. The exhibiting companies were really good as well as the visitors of this show were quality visitors. We are looking forward to getting some good business from this exhibition.

– Mr. Ashwani Kumar Soni, Assistant General Manager (Marketing), Waldies Compound Limited

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– Mr. Vishal Mehta, Managing Director, Aquent Advance Material Technologies Pvt Ltd

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“The Cable & Wire Fair is a good event for the industry, wherein we participated for the second time. Our previous experience at the show was great which is why we came to this edition of the exhibition as well. Overall, the response was good. Since it is organized in Delhi, it gives a great platform to meet and interact with the existing and potential buyers, vendors, and leading industry names, at a single platform. We look forward to getting good business opportunities. Our company will mark its presence in the next edition of the fair.”

“Cable & Wire Fair show has been very good for us and has provided us with a platform where we could carry out oneto-one interactions with the customers from India as well as around the world.

We got the opportunity to meet prospective customers from Uzbekistan, which wouldn't have been possible otherwise. The Cable & Wire Fair gives us the opportunity to meet new people, make new customers, and explore new markets, being in India, in the comfort of our own country. The show has exceeded our expectations. For manufacturers and product innovators like us, such a platform to market our products and solutions is a great requirement. We hope to be a part of this platform in the future as well. Keep up the good work!”

– Mr. Nishant Garg, CEO, Maiden Forgings (P) Limited

– Mr. Ankit Bagaria, Director, Ruby Mica Company Ltd.

“Post COVID-19, this has been one of the first events for the wire and cable industry. The kind of exhibitors who have participated and displayed their products/services, are also very diverse. Moreover, the footfall of the visitors was more than the expectations. Overall, we are very happy with the exhibition.”

“The Cable & Wire Fair is a good platform and it was a great experience to interact with the industrial colleagues, after a long time, and to showcase our product range. We look forward to participating again in the next edition as well. Hopefully, we would be encashing on the leads that have been generated at the show. There was a good footfall to our exhibition booth, which is really encouraging. Also, the best part is that the show was organized in the newly built halls of Pragati Maidan. It is really futuristic.”

– Mr. Karan Shah, Director, Lifeline Technologies

“It has been a great experience to mark our presence at the Cable & Wire Fair show. We got the opportunity to interact with a large number of our existing customers as well as the suppliers.”

– Mr. Mohan Pandit, Director: Sales and Marketing, LMI India

– Ms. Shikha Khandelwal, Business Head, Corsis Technologies

“Cable & Wire Fair 2022 has really exceeded our expectations. Now, we look forward to increasing our presence in the market with many new business opportunities we could get from this show.”

“This edition of Cable & Wire Fair has been the platform where the wire and cable industry could come together once again and meet in-person after a long gap of two and a half years or so.

Everyone was super excited, including us, about the idea of meeting at one platform. We introduced new products at the fair which have been appreciated by the visitors. The team of the organizers is very cordial and supportive and they addressed any queries and challenges we had, on an immediate basis. We are glad to be a part of the exhibition, and hope to be a part of the exhibition in the future.”

– Ms. Rasleen Kaur, Business Development Manager, Ganpati Corporation

“The exhibition has been a great platform for us. We got to witness many new innovations in the wire and cable industry. Moreover, we also had quality visitors at our stand.”

– Mr. Sumit Dhingra, Director, Dhingra Polymers Pvt. Ltd.

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– Mrs. Gurleen Kaur, Managing Director, Kay Kay Industrial Corporation

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“We had an excellent experience with our participation at the Cable & Wire Fair 2022. The environment at the show was really good. The way the exhibition was organized was really good. We are grateful and appreciate the efforts of the team of the Cable & Wire Fair for putting together and organizing such an outstanding exhibition.”

“The Cable & Wire Fair is definitely a good platform for the wire and cable manufacturers to exhibit and demonstrate their products and the customers can select the products as per their requirements.”

– Mr. Amit Jain, Creative Managing Director, SSI Cables Pvt. Ltd.

– Mr. Satyapal Sharma, CEO, Krishna Polychem

“It has been a wonderful experience of exhibiting at the Cable & Wire Fair show. Although we participated for the first time, we received an amazing response and the show has exceeded our expectations in terms of the number of quality visitors.”

“In the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition, we definitely had a very good exposure in terms of the manufacturers who are offering their equipment, their different products to further enhance our manufacturing capabilities, and bring efficiency into our systems. It was a very good platform for us.”

– Mr. M.S. Negi, Proprietor, Marvel Wires

“Participating at the Cable & Wire Fair has been our first-ever participation at any exhibition. This has been a really good experience and now, we look forward to participating in the future years as well.”

– Mr. Anish Kukreja, Asst. Vice President, Laser Power & Infra Pvt. Ltd. “This has been our first experience of participating at the Cable & Wire Fair.

We think that this exhibition has been a very interesting platform. We received qualified business leads.

Moreover, we got the opportunity to meet several of our existing client base and many new potential customers. The exhibition was very successful. We would like to come and participate in the future years as well.”

– Mr. Harshad Chauhan, Executive Engineer (Business Development), Suyog Electricals “It is a good platform for meeting all the new and the prospective buyers.

We are very grateful for the opportunity to exhibit at the platform. We could meet many new customers, and we look forward to the upcoming editions in the coming years.”

– Mr. Zoltan Kadar, Business Partner for Hungary & Serbia, K.D. Engineers

– Mr. Deepak Takkar, Managing Director, Takkar Polychem Pvt. Ltd.

“We have participated for the first time at the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition and we have received a good response.”

“Cable & Wire Fair is an excellent platform. With our first-ever participation, we have received a very good response. The team of organizers was really nice and supportive.”

“We have exhibited for the first time at the Cable & Wire Fair and this has been very productive for the industry and for our company as well. The presence has been phenomenal. We have received a very good response from the customers, and the feedback has been quite positive. The arrangement made by the organizers has been really good, and we look forward to participating in the next years as well.”

– Mr. Ankit Patel, Director, Quality Industries

– Mr. Kunal Gupta, Director, Himachal Wire Industries

– Mr. Vinay Mishra, General Manager – Sales & Marketing, Gloster Cables Ltd.

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“Cable & Wire Fair has been a very good platform to meet the senior company representatives from the l e a d i n g c o m p a n i e s e n g a ge d i n different segments of the wire and cable industry. It is better that the exhibition is a focussed event for the industry, which makes it easier to look for the company of a particular application in the industry.”

“We have received a fairly good response at the exhibition and some very qualified business leads from some very good quality visitors. We are looking forward to participating at the next editions of the show as well.”

– Mr. Bhrigav Jain, Director, Monarch Graphics India Pvt. Ltd.

– Mr. Prateek Bansal, Director, Surya Masterbatches (P) Ltd.

“This was our first-time participation at the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition.

We have received a lot of good inquiries, and got a good response from the visitors at the event.”

“We have been participating at the Cable & Wire Fair since its third edition, which was organized in 2019.

We had received superb response and we could partner with some of the leading industry players. In consideration of our experience from the previous edition of the show, we participated at this edition as well which has even surpassed our expectations and the experience at the previous year. I heartily congratulate the organizer – Tulip 3P Media for putting together an event for all the industry players to come together. It has been really good and the footfall at the show was excellent. The event helps in encouraging and furthering the growth of the businesses in the wire and cable industry.”

– Mr. Maharshi Patel, Product Head, Mehta Cad Cam Systems Pvt. Ltd. “We have received very good responses at the Cable & Wire Fair show. There were a good number of visitors at our exhibition booth. Further, we received a good number of inquiries generated at the show.”

– Mr. Pramod Arage, Sales Manager- Key Accounts, IEEC

– Mr. Vivek Sharma, CEO, Bharti Plastchem

“We had a great experience in the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition. We met and interacted with many new buyers and had opportunities of showcasing our new product range to our existing buyers as well.”

“We participated for the first time at the Cable & Wire Fair 2022. We interacted with a number of our existing clientele and could also meet our potential clients. The response we received was really good.”

– Ms. Kalpana Thareja, Director, Hanumant Polymers Pvt. Ltd.

– Mr. Bhagat Singh, Manager, Techno Machines India

“We exhibited for the first time at the Cable & Wire Fair 2022, and we had a ver y good experience with our participation. We have been getting a lot of orders and interacting with a number of clients. So, it's been a good experience.”

“We are quite happy with the way the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition has turned out to be and we have seen an active participation from the companies. We are looking forward to the business conversions from the people we could interact with and who visited our stand.”

– Mr. Pramod Chandra, Director, Tecop India Pvt. Ltd.

– Mr. Seshadri K., General Manager – Industrial Sector, Domino Printech India LLP

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“We have participated in the exhibition for the first time.

We had heard a lot of praises and commendations of this

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show from a few of our clients which encouraged us to book a stand at the exhibition. We have received a good response from our clients. A lot of visitors came to our booth and we hope to convert the leads into sales.”

small visitors, and a profound view on the Indian market, as well as competitors and all necessary aspects.”

– Mr. Hady Hamouda, Product Manager, Kaustik-Europe

“Cable & Wire Fair has been an extremely good platform to meet everyone in the industry. We discussed the new market developments, and we interacted with every leading industry name at one place.”

– Mr. Pankaj Mahajan, Director, Tula Digital (India) Pvt. Ltd. “With our participation at the Cable & Wire Fair exhibition, we have received a fairly good response, and we thank the team of organizers.”

– Mr. Anup Chhaperia, Director, Chhaperia International Company

“We are really grateful to the organizers of the Cable & Wire Fair for providing us with the platform. We got the opportunity to interact with a lot of our existing customer base, and a lot of different leading industry names.”

– Mr. Vinay Sharma, Founder, Weltech Industries Pvt. Ltd.

“This has been our first time participating at the Cable & Wire Fair. We found the event to be very useful, and we interacted with a number of people at the show. We received some good inquiries. Our company was introduced to a number of people – who could be our potential customers. This is the advantage of the exhibition.”

– Mr. Shrikant Shetty, Country Manager, Aztec Fluids & Machinery

– Mr. V.R. Mulye, Vice President- Sales & Marketing, Premier Industrial Corporation Ltd.

“We, KAUSTIK-EUROPE, were so honored and delighted by our participation in the successful exhibition – Cable & Wire Fair 2022. As for the organization, we were met by care and fast response whenever we needed.

The organizers strived hard to fulfill all our needs and demands on time. The services included a very wide scope of work and offers ranging from standard and basic equipment to extra and more luxury equipment, furniture, installments, provision on a daily basis which delighted us and made us comfortable and focused on our aims.

As for the event itself, it resulted in many successful contacts and inquiries that are being materialized and actualized. It was a great opportunity to build contacts and for networking with many participants and visitors from India and from all over the world. The exhibition also offered a great opportunity to meet the major and key players in the field of wire and cable industry. Moreover it provided us with the contacts of the participants, major and

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INDUSTRY SPEAK

Avoiding the Degradation of Polymers and the Discolouration of Cables Exposed to Outdoor Conditions, Key Steps by Delta Tecnic The effects can be summarised into two concepts: lightfastness, which covers exposure to light, and weathering which, apart from light, covers factors such as temperature and humidity.

H

ow can we prevent outdoor conditions from degrading our cables? Many companies ask this question on seeing how their cables fall victim to discolouration and the polymers lose their mechanical properties. Outdoor cables suffer the consequences of exposure to outdoor conditions such as light exposure, and changes in temperature and humidity.

These effects can be summarised into two concepts: lightfastness, which covers exposure to light, and weathering which, apart from light, covers factors such as temperature and humidity. We need to distinguish between these when looking for solutions, as pigments that offer good lightfastness may not work adequately at different temperature ranges or levels of solar radiation.

Prevention is better than cure. The behaviour of pigments outdoors can be measured with a test that acceler-

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ates the state of exposure of plastics under different sunlight, temperature and humidity conditions. In other words, there are effective ways to know what kind of behaviour to expect from outdoor cables, which facilitates the selection of pigments and, therefore, the prediction of the life expectancy of the cable.

reaction resulting in the degradation of the visual appearance of the cable, its shine and its surface, as well as its mechanical properties, all limiting its useful life.

Preventing photodegradation in cable polymers

For this reason, installations dedicated to energy or wireless networks require a cable whose design and applications can withstand photodegradation. Industries that operate with medium voltage cables, photovoltaic cables for solar panels, power cables for buildings or fibre optic cables, seek to avoid this cumulative and irreversible process.

There are three strategies for mitigating polymer photodegradation. The first involves using additives called UV filters, which have the ability to absorb ultraviolet light that causes degradation. In this way, when sunlight comes into contact with these additives, they react and prevent the light from reaching the polymer, as if it were a parasol.

To better understand this, we need to be aware that ultraviolet radiation (UV) causes photooxidative degradation which leads to the breakage of polymer cables. This generates free radicals, which start off a chain

It can also be done using Hindered Amine Light Stabilizer (HALS), additives that react to free radicals, blocking them and avoiding breakdown of the polymer chains. When ultraviolet light strikes and the free

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should, from the outset, select the correct pigment or combination of lightfast pigments.

radical is generated, the HALS act to stop the degradation process.

Synergistic combinations of these two additive families are also used with very good results. The addition of anti-oxidant additives is also common to avoid polymer degradation due to thermal stress.

Thirdly, the process can be stopped by using carbon black, with which a high rate of ultraviolet radiation absorption is achieved. The advantage of carbon black is that it

captures the energy and prevents it from reacting with the polymer. The most effective carbon blacks are those with the smallest particle size since they present a greater surface to trap solar radiation.

At the same time, an in-depth study of the behaviour of the pigments in the different types of polymers used in the cable industry (PVC, HFFR, TPU, XLPE, EPDM, etc.) under outdoor conditions is required.

Having this expertise and in-depth knowledge is the key so as to ensure the stability of the cable colour over its useful life outdoors. Collaborators and partners are able to provide advice and solutions. n

And what about the colour? There is no additive that protects the colour of the cable as it does the polymer.

The solution, in this case, is to formulate the colour using pigments prepared to withstand outdoor conditions. In other words, we

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May-June, 2022

WIRE & CABLE

SIKORA Receives ‘Germany’s Innovation Leader 2022’ Award For this award, the number of patents and their relevance was evaluated, and SIKORA received the award in the “Measuring, Testing” category.

May 24, 2022 IKORA AG was awarded as "Germany's innovation leader 2022" by the F.A.Z.-Institut. The worldwide patent applications of companies operating in Germany were analysed for the study. As a leading company for measuring and control technology, the company is among the winners of the study.

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The survey evaluates patent families from over 500 technology and knowledge areas. Not only is the number of patents filed in the last ten years evaluated, but also their relevance. In this way, index points are given for the companies analysed. These take into account whether the invention influences other inventions and how often a patent cites another patent family. The less often this is the case, the more innovative the patent is perceived. SIKORA received the award in the category “Measuring, Testing”.

SIKORA X-Ray 6120 PRO.

and cables, hoses, tubes, pipes & sheets, optical fibres, or plastics.

Every year, SIKORA invests about 10 percent of its turnover in research & development of new measuring and control technology as well as inspection, analysis, and sorting systems for quality control during the production of wires

With around 350 employees in Bremen, Germany, and its 15 international subsidiaries, the company offers innovative solutions and customised customer service. n

Remee Wire & Cable Introduces New Line of Renewable Energy Cables For wind towers, Remee provides cables for blade grounding, cabling from the nacelle to the intermediary collection point, and collection cable. For solar power, the company offers photovoltaic cables for interconnecting solar arrays, collection cables, and medium voltage cables in copper or aluminium.

June 2, 2022

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emee Wire & Cable has introduced its newly expanded line of Renewable Energy Cables, branded as Renewables™ by Remee. These cables have been specifically designed for power collection and distribution in solar and wind power generation systems.

Remee's experience in manufacturing rugged cables for use in many types of harsh outdoor environments provides assurance of signal integrity and continued performance.

For wind towers, Remee provides cables for blade grounding, cabling from the nacelle to the intermediary collection

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Image Source: Remee

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WIRE & CABLE point, and collection cable from the many intermediary collection boxes to the substation. For solar power, Renewables™ by Remee include Photovoltaic (PV) Cables for interconnecting solar arrays; Collection Cables to connect the panels with intermediary collection points; and Medium Voltage Cables in copper or aluminium to transmit power to substations.

l Fibre Optic Cables – Interference-free Fiber Optic

cables are available with loose tube construction featuring gel-free AquaLock™; available with and without armour. Fibre in duct available upon request.

l Bare Stranded Copper Ground Wire – Available per

custom requests.

Renewables™ by Remee comply with all applicable requirements of the following standards:

Renewables™ by Remee include the following cable families:

l ICEA S-94-649 – Standard for Concentric Neutral

l Solar Array Cables – Copper PV wire rated at 2000V with

Cables Rated 5 through 46 kV

cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) jackets for durability.

l AEIC CS8 – Specification for Extruded Dielectric,

l Collection Cables – Aluminum PV wire rated at 2000V,

Shielded Power Cables Rated 5 through 46 kV

also with cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) jackets for durability.

l UL1072 – MV90 and MV105 – Standard for Medium-

Voltage Power Cables

l Medium Voltage Cables – Both the Aluminum and

l CSA 68.10 – Shielded Power Cable for Commercial and

Copper MV Series are rated 35 kV; they feature treeretardant cross-linked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) insulation and a cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) jacket. The cable is designed for use in three-phase systems with voltage not exceeding 35,000 volts phase to phase and conductor temperatures not exceeding 105OC for normal operation. Suitable for direct burial.

Industrial Applications, 5-46 kV

All Remee cable products are manufactured under ISO 9001 certification. All compounds are handled and loaded in a Class 10000 cleanroom. An optical pellet analyser is used by the supplier to perform 100 percent pellet inspection. n

Finolex Cables comes up with a New Ad Campaign With the new positioning of ‘No Stress. Finolex’, the cable manufacturer, is presenting its product range in three commercials featuring its new brand ambassadors – Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani.

June 16, 2022

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inolex Cables Ltd. has announced Bollywood actors Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani as its new brand ambassadors. India's leading cable manufacturer is initiating a “brand refresh” with the launch of a new 360degree campaign – ‘No Stress. Finolex'. As published in news reports – the new value proposition of the cable company has been decided to be as - ‘Xceeds Xpectations'.

Mr. Amit Mathur, President – Sales and Marketing, Finolex Cables, asserted that the new positioning of the brand will be – ‘Xceeds Xpectations', in a bid to provide the consumers with a range of stress-free solutions.

The cable manufacturer has roped in the film actors to ensure its engagement with the youth of India, which is the chief aim of the campaign. It presents and highlights the product range of the company, which includes – ceiling fans, LED lights, electric cables and wires, in three different advertisement films.

Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani are the new brand ambassadors of Finolex Cables.

Reflecting on the previous campaigns by Finolex, he added

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WIRE & CABLE that while the positioning and objective of the brand may have transformed, it is keeping on the fun and slice-of-life approach for its brand films.

buying has been done by the young generation as of now and they are the decision-makers in the family of their own.”

At first, the 360-degree campaign will be initially launched on the OTT platform – Disney+Hotstar and will be later unveiled as TV commercials in the next phases. n

Considering the younger generation as the relatively more relevant category for the brand, he stated, “Most of the

CTC Global Starts a New ACCC® Core Manufacturing Facility in South America The new CTC Global fibre core manufacturing facility is a fully qualified ACCC® Core manufacturing and test facility and has been established to serve the advanced conductor needs of power utilities across the globe.

June 16, 2022 TC Global Corporation has completed and commissioned its fourth composite fibre core manufacturing and testing facility. The new facility - CTC Global S.A. (CSA), which is located in Asuncion, Paraguay, has been set up to serve the customers in South America.

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The CSA facility is a fully qualified ACCC Core manufacturing and test facility and joins facilities in California, Indonesia, and China, enabling CTC Global to serve the advanced conductor needs of utilities around the world.

CTC Global selected Asuncion, Paraguay for its fourth ® ACCC Conductor Core manufacturing facility to support a substantial increase in demand for ACCC® Conductor in Latin America and support its local and regional customers.

Being a centrally located member of Mercosur, the fourth largest trading block in the world, Paraguay is a great place to manufacture and ship to customers located throughout the region.

Mr. Christian Lichtenberg, CSA General Manager, commented, “Constructing this facility, building the CSA team and accomplishing the rigorous ACCC® Certification has been extremely satisfying. I am proud of the entire team and we are looking forward to continuing to grow CSA as Paraguay, and the Mercosur countries grow.”

Mr. J.D. Sitton, CEO, CTC Global, stated, “Paraguay has a visionary government that is committed to a progressive industrialisation program. Many leading companies have located state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities here and CTC is pleased to join them. The Paraguayan workforce is highly educated and very capable and the CSA team has quickly become a valued part of the larger CTC team.”

The production equipment, tooling, processing methods, and quality assurance procedures, were designed, developed, and delivered to the new CSA facility by CTC Global. The company and its partners recruited, trained, and certified CSA's team members to supervise, and operate the production process and perform the required suite of rigorous product quality tests. ACCC® Core produced at the CSA facility has already been delivered. n

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The inauguration of the CSA facility in Paraguay. Image Source: CTC.

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WIRE & CABLE

KEC International inaugurates Railway Conductor Manufacturing Unit in Vadodara The inauguration of the new unit to manufacture railway conductors is in line with KEC's backward integration strategy.

June 29, 2022

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EC International Ltd. has established a new railway conductor manufacturing plant in Vadodara. The new unit is part of the Company's fully integrated cables manufacturing plant. The inauguration ceremony was graced by Mr. Vimal Kejriwal, MD and CEO, KEC International.

KEC manufactures a range of railway cables and conductors for Indian Railways and companies in the railway infrastructure sector, in addition to utilising the products for captive consumption at our projects, in line with the Company's backward integration strategy.

At the inauguration of the plant, Mr. Vimal Kejriwal, together with Mr. Manjit Singh Sethi, Executive Director – Cables, interacted with the employees, while appreciating the team's overall efforts and business' superior performance.

In addition, they also shared an outlook on the business' growth going forward, as informed by the Company.

The inauguration ceremony of the railway conductor manufacturing unit.

types of railway contracts, including, overhead electrification; signalling & telecommunication; traction substations; doubling & tripling of tracks and new railway lines; regional rapid transit system; and civil infrastructure – road over bridge, bridges, tunnels, stations & platforms. n

Being an integrated player in the railway EPC industry, KEC International provides complete turnkey solutions for all

RR Kabel announces Scholarships of more than INR 1 crore The Kabel Star Scholarship Program of RR Kabel is aimed at contributing to the future of the children of electricians.

June 29, 2022

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R Kabel, a part of RR Global's USD 1.25 billion conglomerate and a leading wire and cable manufacturer in India, announced the Kabel Star Scholarship Program to help the children of electricians in India. The initiative is a part of RR Global's Mission RRoshni's endeavour to achieve an empowered and educated India.

Through this initiative, RR Kabel will be investing more than INR 1 crore towards the Higher Secondary education of the children of electricians.

Kabel Star Scholarship Program is part of Mission RRoshni which was started in January 2020. l Students who have cleared 10th board exams with

The Kabel Star Scholarship Program is for those electrician's children who have passed their 10th grade exams this year. Top 1,000 students will be selected and will be given a scholarship of INR 10,000 each. The guidelines for selection are simple and includes:

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minimum 60 percent in their first attempt

l The applicant's father/mother should also register

themselves as an electrician with RR Kabel

Talking about the scholarship program that is her brainchild

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WIRE & CABLE and vision, Mrs. Kirti Kabra, Director, RR Global said, “Our objective through the Kabel Stars initiative is to encourage and empower the children of electricians to aim higher and build a strong future for themselves. We as a company strongly believe that our business growth will always be directly proportional to the success of our society and our stakeholders. The electrician community remains at the heart of our company and with this scholarship, we hope to provide their families and children with a brighter tomorrow.

We want each Kabel Star to feed the curiosity within by pursuing higher studies that allow them to secure a stable and well-paying job of their choice. As a Made in India Company, RR Kabel remains dedicated to the growth of this

country, and through such initiatives, we hope to empower the children of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.”

The company believes in contributing beyond business and enlightening the lives of those who are deserving. This thought gave rise to the idea of the Kabel Star Scholarship Program by RR Kabel. These students are on the brink of taking the first step toward their future and RR Kabel wants to be a part of this very important milestone for these children.

RR Global started Mission RRoshni in January 2020 as a part of the group's CSR initiative. The company's efforts are dedicated to education, empowerment, skill development, health, and sustainable solutions. n

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LAPP Announces the Launch of ETHERLINE GUARD in India The ETHERLINE® GUARD can be used in Ethernet-based networks for automation technology, monitoring the service life of a data cable and predicting potential failure.

July 6, 2022

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APP, a leader in cable and connection technology, has announced the launch of ETHERLINE® GUARD in key markets globally, including India. ETHERLINE® GUARD is a stationary monitoring device that continuously monitors an Ethernet cable, detects a decline in performance and displays it with the cable status. This is the latest addition to LAPP's extensive industrial communication portfolio.

Using the power of preventive maintenance, this device helps increase plant availability through planned machine downtimes, thereby reducing maintenance costs.

ETHERLINE® GUARD allows for easy commissioning with automated parameterisation and does not require a new data cable or changes to the cable design. This enables upgrading within the existing network structure possible at any time. This device is slightly smaller than a standard deck of cards (49 mm wide, 76.5 mm high and 36 mm deep). It is operated with 24 V DC and is intended for a temperature range of -40 C to +75 C. The device is resistant to vibrations and shock in accordance with DIN EN 60529. It can be installed at the end of the communication cable which is part of a drag chain or robotic arm.

The cable-bound LAN version “PM03T” of ETHERLINE.

Director, LAPP India said, “The launch of ETHERLINE® GUARD is our latest initiative in developing products that cater to specific industry challenges. This compact and easy-to-install device will prove to be instrumental in preventing potential system failures due to cable wear and tear and unplanned downtimes, thereby increasing the availability and performance of the system.”

This device is particularly useful for data cables that are exposed to constant mechanical stress, including movement at high speed and acceleration, changing motion sequences, rotations with very high axial angles of rotation, short cycle times and small bending radii. The device can also be used in critical processes, where a downtime would result in high costs or lost productivity. In terms of applications, ETHERLINE® GUARD can be used in Ethernetbased networks for automation technology, monitoring the service life of a data cable and predicting potential failure. n

The ETHERLINE® GUARD is suitable for mounting on tophat rails and can be used for control cabinets owing to its protection class IP 20. Its unique and compact design saves space and offers reliable cloud communication, owing to the MQTT interface (for status/data evaluation, settings, WiFi configuration, updating, etc.). The product is currently available in two variants: cable-bound LAN version “PM03T” and wireless Wi-Fi version “PM02TWA”.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Gary Bateman, Managing

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The wireless Wi-Fi version “PM02TWA” of ETHERLINE.

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WIRE & CABLE

Havells Looking to Bolster its Regional Reach, Partners with Kon Honar Crorepati TV show The theme for the show can be translated to 'Ab Hawa Badlegi' which has been conceptualised and taken from Havells' Fans tagline 'Hawa Badlegi'. The tagline will be integrated into the TV program during the various stages of the contestant's journey.

July 7, 2022

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avells India Ltd. has announced its association with 'Kon Honar Crorepati', which airs on Sony Marathi, and is one of Maharashtra's leading TV shows.

The partnership with the TV show, hosted by Actor Sachin Khedekar, is part of the FMEG brand's goal of extending a local connection with the audience in their local language and also expanding its regional reach in the country.

Speaking on the association with the TV show, Mr. Rohit Kapoor, Executive Vice President – Marketing Communication, Havells India, said, “We are delighted to partner with a renowned show like 'Kon Honar Crorepati' aligning with Havells vision of 'Making a difference' in the lives of people. Havells is a prominent brand in the FMEG segment, we aim to capitalise on the aspirational customers with our quality products. Therefore, our collaboration with the show will further help us establish a deeper relationship with the regional audience not only in terms of viewership but also for the intriguing native language content that the format offers.”

Havells India has partnered with Sony Marathi's TV show – Kon Honar Crorepati.

of the contestant's journey up to the hot seat – as published in news reports.

Commenting on the association with Havells, Mr. Ajay Bhalwankar, Business Head, Sony Marathi, said, “We are delighted to have one of the national brands like Havells as our partner right from the launch of Kon Honaar Crorepati.

This stands testimony to the credibility that this show offers to brands and Sony Marathi's reach in the urban affluent audience pool of Maharashtra. Havells team and our brand solutions team came together and seamlessly weaved the brand message in the content to make Havells positioning impactful and relevant to the audience.” n

The theme for the show in Marathi can be translated to 'Ab Hawa Badlegi' which has been conceptualised and taken from Havells' Fans tagline 'Hawa Badlegi'. The tagline will be integrated into the TV program during the various stages

PWM to Supply EP500 Cold Welders to Encore Wire, Interests in Greener Welding Options at wire 2022 PWM Ltd. will supply Encore Wire with three EP500 cold pressure welding machines, which are semi-automatic, energy-efficient, and low maintenance.

In 2021, Encore Wire ordered nine EP500 cold welders and has now ordered the additional machines as part of its investments in technology.

July 15, 2022

and making cold welding machines and dies (industry standard and custom-made) for the global wire and cable industry since 1984.

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WM Ltd., a British manufacturer of high-performance cold welding machines and dies, presented its range of products at wire 2022, held from June 20-June 24, 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The company has been designing

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Commenting on the show, Mr. Steve Mepsted, Managing Director, PWM Ltd., said, “Visitor traffic did appear down

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WIRE & CABLE EP500 cold pressure welding machines. In 2021, McKinney, Texas, USA-based Encore Wire ordered nine EP500 cold welders and has now ordered the additional machines as part of its ongoing drive to invest in technology that creates a safer and healthier working environment for employees.

Mr. John Rhoads, Research & Development Manager at Encore Wire, said, “Cold welding has been used in the stranding process for decades and with the EP500 we are now also able to cold weld copper and aluminum rod. This technology eliminates the need for a large energy source and with no hot surfaces, sparks or fumes involved, the operator is not at risk of getting burned. The EP500 is userfriendly, reliable and clean, and the safety control/gates prevent pinch points from the beginning to the end of the welding operation.”

PWM Ltd Exhibition Booth at wire 2022.

compared with previous years but visitor quality was sound and it was good to have opportunities to meet existing and potential customers and suppliers face-to-face. We registered a lot of interest from manufacturers looking for greener welding solutions, who were impressed by the performance of our energy-efficient pneumatic and electrohydraulic cold welding machines. Contacts were generally positive about the industry despite the current economic situation and we secured a number of interesting orders.”

The electro-pneumatic EP500 is PWM's best-selling cold welder and it is suitable for rods 5mm to 15mm. The machine is semi-automatic, energy-efficient, and low maintenance.

Mr. Mepsted asserted, “We're delighted to be working in partnership with Encore Wire and Joe Snee Associates, our US and Canadian distributor. Sales of the EP500 more than doubled in 2021 and we are experiencing high demand again this year.” n

Based in Kent, PWM Ltd., a specialist manufacturer of cold welding equipment, will supply Encore Wire with three

RR Kabel makes Tilt Brand Solutions its Brand & Communication Partner Tilt Brand Solutions will conceptualise a robust brand strategy platform for the FMEG business of RR Kabel. RR Kabel had acquired Luminous Home Electrical business from Schneider Electric, with the aim to strengthen its FMEG category.

July 15, 2022

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R Kabel has awarded its Brand & Communications account for FMEG business to – Tilt Brand Solutions, which is a Mumbai-based brand and communications consultancy firm. As published in media reports – the brand and communication company will be responsible to conceive, create, and execute a robust brand strategy platform for the FMEG business of RR Kabel as well as an always-on communication programme.

About the partnership with Tilt Brand Solutions, Mr. Vivek Abrol, CEO – FMEG of RR Kabel, said, “We had worked closely with the Tilt team over the last few months on RR consumer brand and are thrilled to bring them on board now as a long term partner. With brand capabilities of team Tilt, and their all-in mindset and approach, we are excited to partner with them on our journey of building a meaningful branded portfolio in an ever-evolving category.”

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Tilt Brand Solutions will create and conceptualise the brand strategy for FMEG division of RR Kabel.

Three months ago, RR Kabel announced the acquisition of the Luminous Home Electrical business from Schneider Electric. The acquisition is aimed at further strengthening the consumer electrical business consisting of a diversified portfolio of fans, lights, and appliances.

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WIRE & CABLE Speaking about the tie-up with the FMEG business of RR Kabel, Mr. Rajiv Chatterjee, Co-Founder & CBO, Tilt Brand Solutions, says, “We passionately believe in RR Kabel's - FMEG ambition and ability to be seen as a

leader in this category, in terms of both, quality and understanding of the consumer; and we will bring to bear all that we have, to fulfil the rightful ambition of Vivek and the rest of the RR team.” n

LS Cable & System starts Commercial Production of Liquid-Cooled Ultra-Fast Charging Cable With the Liquid-Cooled (LC) technology in the ultra-fast charging cables, more current can be sent through the cable even with a smaller conductor size than Air-Cooled (AC) cables.

July 16, 2022

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S Cable & System (LS C&S) has announced its plans of initiating the domestic development and production as well as commercialisation of a liquid-cooled (LC) ultra-fast charging cable.

The ultra-fast chargers with ratings above 400kW, which will be supplied in the future, will be utilising the LC method instead of the AC (air-cooled) method which is prevalent in the traditional fast chargers. Moreover, the ultra-fast chargers will also bring more than double the charging speed of fast chargers.

Since charging cables generate heat due to fast charging at high voltage, the LC method brings down the temperature in conductors by circulating coolant within the cable. In fact, this allows even more current to be sent through the cable, even with a smaller conductor size than AC cables.

Besides, the cable manufacturer has reduced the risk of malfunction caused by coolant leaks by improving the existing cooling method found in overseas products.

Ultra-Fast LC Charging Cable. Image Source: LS Cable & System.

have finished registering the patent for the cooling method in the US and Japan, and the patent is currently pending in Korea. We are also working on commercialising the product with major domestic and overseas charger manufacturers.” n

Regarding the development, an LS C&S official stated, “We

TELECOM & OFC

BharatNet Phase-II: TANFINET Partners with Pace Digitek for Package B in Tamil Nadu The Phase-II of the BharatNet project is aimed at connecting 12,525 gram panchayats in Tamil Nadu with high-speed bandwidth using optical fibre cables.

June 3, 2022

agreement ceremony was held in the presence of IT Minister T Mano Thangaraj.

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amil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Ltd. (TANFINET) has entered into a Master Service Agreement (MSA) with Pace Digitek Infra Pvt. Ltd. for Package B of the BharatNet Phase-II in Tamil Nadu. As published in news reports – the

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The IT Minister said that the Phase-II of the BharatNet project is aimed at connecting 12,525 gram panchayats in Tamil Nadu with high-speed bandwidth using optical fibre

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TELECOM & OFC cables. The Indian government has approved the project at an estimated cost of INR 1815.31 crore. With the implementation of Package B, all the 12,525 gram panchayats will be connected with minimum scalable bandwidth connectivity of 1 GBPS. The implementation of the project has been divided into four packages and one system integrator for each package and Third Party Agency (TPA) has been selected. The MSAs were executed in October 2021 with system integrators L&T Ltd. (package C); ITI Ltd. (Package D); BECIL (TPA), and Polycab India Ltd. (Package A).

In Package B, 3001 gram panchayats in Villupuram, Erode, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Kallakurichi, Salem, and The Nilgiris districts will be connected, and 1 GBPS bandwidth connectivity will be provided. n

The implementation of the BharatNet project has been divided into four packages.

Ørsted + ATP team up with GlobalConnect for North Sea Energy Island Through the partnership with GlobalConnect, the North Sea Energy Island will be transformed into an innovative and smart island and a centre of a green and digitally connected future, as a cross-border digital hub.

June 17, 2022 rsted + ATP have partnered with the leading provider of digital infrastructure and connectivity GlobalConnect for the digitalisation of the North Sea Energy Island. In a bid to transform the island into an integral part of the future digitisation of Northern Europe and attract large-scale digital investments to Denmark, the companies are aiming to bring a groundbreaking modular design that is future-proof and innovative. The island will be at the centre of the world's largest offshore network of green energy.

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Image Source: Ørsted

With the partnership of Ørsted + ATP, the North Sea Energy Island will be transformed into an innovative and smart island and a centre of a green and digitally connected future, as a cross-border digital hub. The partnership is also expected to be a major opportunity to deliver on the future digitisation agenda of Northern Europe and a key enabler to potentially attract large-scale investments in digital infrastructure, including data centres.

Through this deal, Ørsted + ATP and GlobalConnect are opening the doors to attract large-scale operators.

Moreover, the proximity to large-scale emission-free energy and GlobalConnect's digital infrastructure would attract significant investments to the island as well as to Denmark.

Mr. Rasmus Errboe, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted, says, “The North Sea Energy Island offers Denmark a unique opportunity to become a hub for the key technologies of tomorrow, and thereby attract significant investments within both renewable energy and digitalisation.”

GlobalConnect has the most extensive high-capacity network and experience in the Northern European market with more than 100,000 km of optical fibre. Since data consumption is projected to witness a huge surge, a capacity augmentation of the grid transporting data between the North Sea countries, and North Sea Energy Island will be required.

www.wirecable.in

Speaking about the association with GlobalConnect and the vision for the project, Mr. Claus Wiinblad, Senior Vice

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TELECOM & OFC President at ATP, says, “We want to create a versatile and flexible energy island that will support the green transition, both now and in the years to come, as well as being a sensible risk-adjusted investment of the Danish pensions.

In GlobalConnect we have a resilient partner in digital infrastructure to secure connectivity and growth.”

In the words of Mr. Martin Lippert, Group CEO of GlobalConnect, “The North Sea Energy Island will play a significant part in future-proofing the region while strengthening the Nordic's position as an attractive hub for transporting data across the world. As a provider of cross-border critical digital infrastructure, we are very excited to share the vision with Ørsted + ATP to build a smart energy island with a resilient and secure network that paves the way for the digital future of offshore wind while providing a unique attraction to global tech giants.” n

The smart energy island will become a central part of the next phases of the regional offshore wind build-out by enabling for example autonomous operations and further digitising offshore wind.

Netplus to Invest INR 300 cr in Expansion of Optical Fibre Cable Network in Rural Regions Netplus has kept the capital expenditure of INR 300 crore for FY22-23, and a major share of funds will be utilised in expanding the OFC network in rural areas.

June 21, 2022

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roadband firm Netplus Broadband Services Pvt. Ltd. has earmarked INR 300 crore of capital expenditure for the current fiscal year, i.e. FY 2022-23. The major part of the investment will be made in expanding the network in rural areas, a senior company official said.

Mr. Prem Ojha, Netplus Broadband and Fastway Group CEO said that apart from laying its own optical fibre cable and setting up network equipment, the company has tied up with Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL) to use its fibre for coverage in rural areas, according to PTI.

Netplus has a presence in 3,000 villages in Punjab and 400 cities in India.

“This year most of the investment that we will do, out of the total outlay for capex of almost INR 300 crore, 75-80 per cent will go into expansion and the balance will be used to onboard new customers along with network operation and maintenance,” Mr. Ojha said.

Netplus has partnered with BBNL on a revenue share basis.

He further informed that “We have just recently tied up with BBNL on a revenue share basis with them and we are expanding in all these areas.”

BBNL has an optical fibre network across 2.5 lakh villages in the country. The partnership enables Netplus to save time and launch the services on an instant basis. With regard to customer reach, the broadband company is aiming to increase subscribers in the range of 7-8 lakh this year and more than a million in the next FY to be ranked among the top five broadband service providers in the country. n

The broadband service provider has a presence in 3,000 villages in Punjab and 400 cities across the country.

He added that their plan is to establish reach in 12,500 villages this year. In Punjab, the company will achieve its rural expansion this year. In addition, in states including Himachal Pradesh and other regions as well, the company has been undertaking aggressive expansions.

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TELECOM & OFC

STL to Acquire Remaining Stake in Jiangsu Sterlite Tongguang Fiber Co. Following the acquisition of the 25 percent stake, Jiangsu Sterlite Tongguang Fiber Co. will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of STL. July 7, 2022 terlite Technologies Ltd. (STL) has signed the definitive agreement to acquire the balance 25 percent stake in Jiangsu Sterlite Tongguang Fiber Co. Ltd. (JSTFCL). The deal is for cash consideration of RMB 55.67 million (about INR 65 crore) – as published in news reports.

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According to the filing, the company's existing shareholding in JSTFCL is 75 percent, i.e. 3/4th stake. Post-acquisition of balance 1/4th stake, JSTFCL will be a wholly owned subsidiary of STL. The closing as per the agreement is subject to the conditions precedents as set out in the agreement for acquisition.

In addition, the acquisition will ensure the supply security of optical fibre cables, which in turn will support STL's expanding optical fibre cable operations.

Representative Image: Optical Fibre Cables

lished as a joint venture between STL and Jiangsu Tongguang Information Co. in China. The joint venture was formed for the manufacturing of optical fibre cables. n

In 2011, Jiangsu Sterlite Tongguang Fiber Co. was estab-

LS Cable & System Asia Supplies Optical Cables to the Largest Mobile Carrier in Vietnam A state-owned company, Viettel occupies about 50 percent of the Vietnamese market, and it is conducting high-speed communication network construction projects in Southeast Asia and Africa as well as in Vietnam.

July 16, 2022

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S Cable & System Asia Ltd., a subsidiary - LSCV (Ho Chi Minh City), has supplied optical cables to Viettel, Vietnam's largest mobile carrier. A state-owned company, Viettel, takes up about 50 percent of the Vietnamese market. It is conducting high-speed communication network construction projects in Southeast Asia and Africa as well as in Vietnam.

LSCV built new optical cable facilities in 2015 as demand for optical cables in Asia surged. Since then, based on the technological prowess of the Korean headquarters, it has secured competitiveness with technical products such as multi-core optical cables and external optical cables and supplied them to Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and South America.

Image Source: LS Cable & System

telecommunication operators,” said Baek In-Jae, CEO of LS Cable & System Asia Ltd. “We are also preparing to sign contracts with other major telecommunication operators in Vietnam.”

“This contract is meaningful in that it has expanded the customer base from small Internet operators to large

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TELECOM & OFC In Vietnam, the high-speed communication network construction business, which had stalled due to the COVID19 pandemic, has resumed, and as the construction of Internet data centers (IDC) increases, the demand for communication cables is also rapidly increasing.

US,” said the company. “We are expanding our business by expanding our facilities, and at the same time, we are trying to improve profitability by improving our product mix.”

LS Cable & System Asia Ltd. revealed its plan to expand its facilities in early June, this year as US-bound exports of LAN cables (UTP), another telecommunication product of LSCV, surged. n

“Communication cable facilities are in 'full operation' due to increases in domestic demand in Vietnam and exports to the

HFCL Bags Order Worth INR 59 Crore for OFC The company has reportedly received orders from a leading private telecom operator for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Network and Long Distance Fiber Network in various telecom circles.

July 15, 2022 HFCL Ltd. has received orders of INR 59 crore for Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Network and Long Distance Fiber Network in various telecom circles. According to the reports, the order is scheduled to be executed next year in July.

A leading manufacturer of optical fibre cables, optical transport, power electronics, and broadband equipment for the telecommunication industry, HFCL has significant market presence in both Indian and global markets.

With fully integrated world-class manufacturing facilities at five locations across India, the company is committed to providing cost-effective futuristic end-to-end telecom solutions with a focus on developing state-of-art technologies to maintain sustained long-term growth. n

Representative Image: Telecom Towers

NTT, Mitsui Unveil Plans for New Trans-Pacific Submarine Cable Network 'JUNO', the new trans-Pacific submarine cable system, serves the ever-growing digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region by landing in Japan which is a 'Data Hub' located in the mid-point of the US and Asian countries.

July 16, 2022

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TT Ltd. Japan Corp., PC Landing Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and JA Mitsui Leasing Ltd. recently announced the launch of the new company Seren Juno Network Co. Ltd. for constructing and operating ‘JUNO', the new transPacific submarine cable system that links the US and Japan. JUNO serves the ever-growing digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region by landing in Japan which is a 'Data Hub' located in the mid-point of the US and Asian countries.

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Image Source: NTT

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TELECOM & OFC Seren manages the entire project from the planning, and construction to sales and operations of the network to provide reliable services for the global business activities of major technology companies, OTTs, and telecommunication carriers.

pairs (32 cores). Juno provides a maximum capacity of 350 TBPS, the largest among any existing cable systems between the US and Japan.

Furthermore, JUNO has two separate landing stations in Japan to provide additional security and resilience against natural disasters in the coastal areas of Japan. JUNO can alter the bandwidth of each branching route to adjust to the situation and flexibly meet each customer's demand and evolving requirements. n

JUNO introduces the leading-edge SDM (Space Division Multiplexing) technology to enable the 20 optical fiber pairs (40 cores) per cable, whereas the cable with the conventional technology currently carries a maximum of 16 fiber

Zayo Starts Subsea Cable Route Linking Britain and Europe Zeus is a significant part of Zayo's extensive global subsea and terrestrial networks. It is 100 percent double-armoured and buried two or more metres under the seabed with connections to highly-secured landing stations July 16, 2022

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SA-based telecom infrastructure provider Zayo has announced that it has launched – Zeus – which is the subsea cable route connecting the UK and Europe. Zeus is a fortified, ultra-low-loss subsea cable running from Lowestoft, UK to Zandvoort, Netherlands, aimed at meeting the growing network capacity needs in Europe. The optical fibre cable connects London to mainland Europe, providing a significant line of data transmission between the two.

Zeus provides a full C-band capacity of 2.65 Petabits Per Second (PBPS) and a C+L Band of 5.2 PBPS. Utilising the Corning SMF-28 optical fibre, it ensures the lowest loss of any terrestrial grade single-mode fibre and it can connect with 10 primary cloud on-ramps and 80+ data centers between these core European markets via Zayo's extensive European terrestrial network.

Representative Image: Optical Fibre Cables

metres under the seabed with connections to highlysecured landing stations providing solidity from end to end and minimizing the risk of an outage. n

It is 100 percent double-armoured and buried two or more

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

Sterlite Power Wins Projects of INR 1600 crore across its Solutions Business Sterlite Power bagged orders from PGCIL, Damodar Valley Corporation, and West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. The projects are for highperformance conductors and reconductoring solutions for transmission projects.

June 2, 2022

integrated power transmission developer has secured orders from – Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), and West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. (WBSETCL) in the Master System Integrator segment.

terlite Power has bagged a number of orders worth around INR 1600 crore across its solutions business in the domestic and international markets. The leading

S

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TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION The orders are intended for the installation and supply of high-performance conductors and reconductoring solutions for transmission projects, as per the information shared by the company.

Additionally, Sterlite Power has also acquired strategic maiden orders of EHV cables for state transmission utilities in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka and orders for overhead power lines from large-scale customers in North America and CIS regions.

Speaking about the orders, Mr. Manish Agarwal, CEO India Transmission Business, Sterlite Power, said, “We are happy to win these new orders across our Solutions business which significantly adds to our robust order book.

Our integrated model provides us with a strategic advantage in delivering complex projects successfully while also diversifying our revenue base.”

As part of its solutions business unit, Sterlite Power manufactures and sells a portfolio of products, covering high-performance conductors, OPGW, and EHV power cables, to international customers, including central and state electricity transmission companies.

Recently, Sterlite Power had secured bids for inter-state transmission system projects in Jammu & Kashmir as well as North-East India under its infrastructure business segment. The Kishtwar transmission project is based in J&K and comprises a 400/132kV GIS substation at Kishtwar and a 400 kV Kishenpur - Dulhasti LILO (Line in Line out) transmission line. n

Sterlite Power has a portfolio of products like high-performance conductors, OPGW, and EHV power cables.

Adani Transmission to buy Essar Power’s Transmission Project “The acquisition of Essar's transmission asset will consolidate ATL's presence in central India. With this acquisition, ATL is well on the path to achieve its 20,000 ckt km target before time”, says Mr. Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission.

June 16, 2022

ckt km target before time. We continue to remain at the forefront of grid stability and provide sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy solutions while creating long-term sustainable value for our stakeholders.”

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dani Transmission Ltd. (ATL) has inked a definitive agreement with Essar Power Ltd. (EPL) regarding the acquisition of the 673 ckt km operational inter-state power transmission project of Essar Power Transmission. The enterprise value for the deal is INR 1,913 crore.

The proposed transaction will be executed through transaction steps which shall be subject to necessary regulatory approvals and other consents. The acquisition is in line with ATL's value-added growth strategy through organic as well as inorganic growth opportunities.

In the words of Mr. Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission Ltd., “The acquisition of Essar's transmission asset will consolidate ATL's presence in central India. With this acquisition, ATL is well on the path to achieve its 20,000

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After this acquisition, the cumulative network of ATL will

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TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION stand at 19,468 ckt km, out of which 14,952 ckt km is operational, while 4,516 ckt km is under various stages of execution.

Further, ATL will derive synergies in terms of O&M cost optimisation and shared resources. It will also fortify its position of being the largest private sector transmission and distribution company in the country.

Mr. Kush S, CEO, Essar Power Ltd., said, “With this transaction, Essar Power is rebalancing its power portfolio with the twin objective of deleveraging its balance sheets and investing in green and renewable power, thereby furthering its ESG-oriented future growth. Essar Power has a current power generating capacity of 2,070 MW across four plants in India and Canada.” n ATL is looking to fortify its position as the largest private sector transmission & distribution company in India.

Goa Electricity Department Completes Fifth 33 kV ACCC Distribution Project

®

The ACCC® Conductor has been chosen to replace the 40-year-old ACSR Racoon conductor. For the project, a number of companies participated, including – Apar Industries Ltd., Sicame India, and Steel Authority of India Ltd. June 16, 2022

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n the duration of a few months between 2021 and 2022, Goa Electricity Department (GED) has successfully achieved the completion of five double circuit 33 kV distribution line upgrades using ACCC® Conductor to replace ACSR conductors. The power distribution projects were between the following regions – Tivim to Nachinola; Tivim to Dhargal Tapping Structure; Nachinola to Porvorim; Porvorim to Saligao; and Kadamba to Bambolim.

The ACCC® Conductor has been chosen to replace the 40year-old ACSR Racoon conductor which increased line capacity from 400 to 900 amps on the same corridors. Span lengths averaged around 70 meters with longer spans (~170 meters) over various waterways, state highways, residential areas, and railways. Installation challenges also included marshy terrain, hills, and mountains.

ACCC® Conductor has been chosen to replace the ACSR conductor.

Image Source: CTC Global.

In the words of Mr. Shiv Kumar Agarwal, Senior Vice President – Conductor Division, Apar Industries Ltd., “A number of challenges unique to distribution lines vs. transmission lines were identified and successfully overcome. These included stringing angles, distribution grounding, tapping, and transitioning to underground cables.” n

Within the project, Apar Industries Ltd. provided engineering and installation services as well as over 200 km of ACCC ® Conductor, Sicame India provided ACCC ® Hardware, and Steel Authority of India Ltd. provided a number of new rail poles.

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TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

Prysmian signs USD 701.77 Million Agreement in Germany Prysmian has already completed and supplied the first 20 km of the 550 km of cables for the 270 km route of the V5 part of the SuedOstLink earlier this year.

July 15, 2022

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taly-headquartered Prysmian Group has won a major supply agreement with Germany-based grid operator TenneT TSO GmbH. The project is intended for power transmission in Germany. TenneT awarded the EUR 700 million (~USD 701.77 million) project for the development of 546 km of 525kV HVDC underground cable systems, according to a statement by Prysmian. The cable systems will be deployed to be used in the second part of the SuedOstLink power transmission project.

Image Source: Prysmian Group

Germany. SuedOstLink is further classified into two projects – V5 and V5a. Both the projects, each with 2 GW, will supply the south of Germany/Bavaria with 4 GW power.

In the past, the Italian energy and telecom cable manufacturer has been providing cable systems to major HVDC projects in Germany itself. This includes the projects such as – SuedOstLink, SuedLink, and A-Nord, and has attained contracts worth over EUR 1.5 billion (~USD 1.51 billion).

Moreover, the first 20 km of the 550 km of cables for the 270 km route of SuedOstLink (V5) have already been completed and delivered at the beginning of this year, as stated

by Prysmian. Now, the supply of the cables for V5a has been scheduled from 2025 onwards, and V5a is slated to go into operation in 2030. n

Within the new deal, Prysmian will be responsible for supplying and installing a land system to transfer renewable energy from wind farms in northern and eastern Germany to cities and factory areas in the South region of

Kalpataru Power Transmission JV wins Electrification Contract of Bhopal Metro MPMRCL awarded the electrification contract of Phase 1 of Bhopal Metro, which is under construction, to Gulermak-Kalpataru Power Transmission.

July 16, 2022

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he Railway Electrification contract of the Bhopal Metro Rail Project has been awarded to the joint venture (JV) of Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. and Gulermak, i.e.

Gulermak–Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. The agreement is for Phase 1 of the Bhopal Metro.

The scope of this contract includes engineering, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of power supply receiving substation, traction substation, auxiliary substation, 750V DC 3rd rail and SCADA system for the project.

MPMRCL invited tenders for package-BH08 in November 2021 with an estimated cost of INR 516 crore.

Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) invited tenders for package-BH08 in November 2021 with an estimated cost of INR 516 crore whereas the deadline for this contract is 3.5 years.

cars with 15 years of comprehensive maintenance for the Bhopal and Indore metro projects.

Bhopal Metro project by MPMRCL with 2 lines and 28 stations is an under-construction transit system being built to serve Bhopal. Moreover, the Government of Madhya Pradesh is implementing the Metro Rail Project in the city of Indore. n

There were seven bidders who were revealed in the technical bids, including Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. which won the contract for electrification, and Alstom Transport India which won the contract for 156 Movia metro

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TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

KEC International Bags Orders of INR 1,092 crores in Various Businesses The orders in T&D have enhanced the company’s order book in both domestic and international markets.

July 16, 2022

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EC International Ltd has won new orders worth INR 1,092 crore in its various business divisions, including, Transmission & Distribution (T&D), Railways, Civil, and Cables.

In the T&D segment, the company has secured orders for projects in India, the Middle East, and the Americas. The business has secured an order for the 'Railways' segment of 2 x 25 kV Overhead Electrification (OHE) & associated works for speed upgradation (Mission 'Raftaar') in India.

Within the 'Civil' category, KEC has secured orders in the Residential, Industrial, and Defence segments in India.

Further, in the 'Cables' business, the company secured orders for various types of cables in India and overseas.

For the 'Cables' category, KEC International has won projects for various types of cables.

consolidated its presence in emerging/new areas, with the order in the Semi High-Speed Rail under Mission 'Raftaar.'

The Civil business continues to be on a high growth trajectory, with consistent order inflows across segments, especially metals & mining and realty.” n

Mr. Vimal Kejriwal, MD & CEO, KEC International Ltd commented, “We are pleased with the new order wins secured across our business verticals. The orders in T&D have enhanced our order book in both domestic and international markets. Our Railway business has further

Kalpataru Power Acquires Swedish EPC firm Linjemontage i Grastrop The acquisition will further strengthen KPTL's position in the Nordic market.

July 16, 2022

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alpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) has completed the acquisition of the remaining 15 percent stake in Sweden-based Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) company Linjemontage i Grastrop AB. The enterprise value of the deal is USD 11.5 million, as published in news articles.

The Swedish firm has been engaged in power transmission & distribution (T&D), substation and O&M (Operation & Maintenance) of electricity network service within the voltage range of 0.4-400 kV. “We would like to inform you that wholly-owned subsidiary Kalpataru Power Transmission Sweden AB (KPT Sweden) today completed the acquisition of remaining 15 per cent equity stake of Linjemontage i Grastrop AB headquartered in Grastrop. KPT Sweden already holds 85 percent equity stake in the target company”, said Kalpataru Power Transmission in a regulatory filing.

KPTL also said the acquisition will further strengthen

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Representative Image: Transmission Towers

KPTL's position in the Nordic market as Sweden and Norway are very attractive markets for transmission line infrastructure since both have the oldest grid network. The estimated equity value for a 15 percent stake shall be approximately SEK (Swedish Krona) 121.2 million (USD 11.5 million) and the exact cost of acquisition will be subject to customary closing adjustments. n

May-June, 2022

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION

Gati Shakti Portal to Simplify Planning & Implementation in Power Transmission Projects The portal will showcase key details of nine high-impact power transmission projects spread across six renewable energy-rich states.

July 16, 2022

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he PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) portal will highlight key details of nine high-impact power transmission projects spread across six states rich in renewable energy (RE), namely, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. With 'One-click Comprehensive view', the portal will not only make the planning and implementation process simpler by reducing time and implementation cost but also improve logistics efficiency through a single digital platform.

At the planning stage, it will enable the user to identify the tentative line length of the planned transmission line and the location of the substation and during the implementation stage, the transmission line route would be finalised based on actual conditions.

PM Gati Shakti, NMP was introduced in 2021.

Launched in October 2021, the PM Gati Shakti NMP would go a long way in providing multi-modal connectivity of infrastructure to various economic zones. n

India Set to Add 27,000 circuit km Power Transmission Lines by 2024 The Ministry of Power official informs that 10,000 circuit km power lines are already under construction.

July 16, 2022

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ndia is planning to add 27,000 circuit km of inter-state power transmission networks by 2024 as it has already added 6,500 circuit km, which is almost onefourth of the envisioned target. Since the inter-state transmission link is an integral part of executing power generation capacity addition, the power transmission network expansion is planned in view of the goal of having 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based electricity generation capacity in the county.

“We have planned to add 27,000 circuit km of the inter-state transmission network in the country, mainly focussing on the evacuation of renewable energy in the country by December 2024. We have already completed 6,500 circuit km lines so far,” a senior power ministry official said.

The official also informed that 10,000 circuit km power lines are already under construction while 10,500 circuit km are at various stages of bidding or tendering, as informed by PTI. In order to facilitate faster development of power infrastructure in the country, 1,500 inter-state transmission lines are www.wirecable.in

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Representative Image: Transmission Towers

mapped on the PM Gati Shakti portal, covering 2 lakh circuit km across the country.

The power ministry official also said that in addition to 27,000 circuit km by 2024, India would need to build transmission lines to evacuate 180 GW generation capacity, which will ultimately help the country to realise its goal of having 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. n May-June, 2022

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Chief Executive Officer Priyank Jain – pj@tulip3pmedia.in Editorial & Publisher's Office : Tulip 3P Media Pvt. Ltd. 218, Sanjay Nagar, Gulabi Bagh, New Delhi-110007, INDIA Operations & Correspondence : Tulip 3P Media Pvt. Ltd. 207-B, Second Floor, NDM – 2, Plot No. D–1, 2 & 3, Netaji Subhash Place, Pitam Pura, New Delhi-110034, INDIA Tel.: +91 11 45678 421 / 22 / 23 +91 9999935011 / 22 / 44 E-mail : info@wirecable.in Registered Office : F-14/22, Model Town-II, New Delhi-110009, INDIA Owned, Published & Printed By : Parveen Kumar Jain, Published at: 218, Sanjay Nagar, Gulabi Bagh, Delhi-110007, INDIA. Printed at: Pankaj Paper Mart, 218, Sanjay Nagar, Gulabi Bagh, Delhi-110007, INDIA. All disputes regarding this magazine will be settled in Delhi (India) Jurisdiction Only.

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