RCEP: Time for a rethink?

This (RCEP) will be a great threat not only to winding wire industry, but to the entire Indian electrical industry including cables and electrical equipment.
Sanat Mehta, Vice President – Business Development Manager, Bharat Insulation Company

Where exactly do you put Bharat Insulation Company in the Indian wire market?
We are at the forefront of the winding wire segment and have been in this space for about 6 decades now, which holds a lot of value in terms of our reputation for quality manufacturing. Winding wire also called magnet wire is basically an insulated conductor. Anything that moves round with electricity uses our wire also it goes in transformers etc. We have a nation-wide presence in India with a network of above 200 dealers and supply to many original equipment manufacturers.

Talking about ELECRAMA, how important is this platform for your business?
ELECRAMA is a very important platform for us because everybody from the electrical industry is here and anybody who requires anything from the electrical industry is here. One can convince people of a quality product when you’re face to face rather than on the Internet. We have got quite a few enquiries from the Indian OEMs during the expo who require quality products.

How did BIC perform during the last year?
In 2017-18, we have achieved about 30 per cent growth and we are assuming that in 2018-19 we will do about 40 per cent growth. We are increasing our distribution channel throughout the country and entering more OEMs which will significantly increase our growth.

What is the volume you’re looking at?
We are looking at about producing and selling 1,000 metric tonne winding wire every month which will take our yearly turnover to around Rs 700 crore.

Who all are your closest competitors?
We are not in competition with anyone right now. Even in the retail market,there is not much of competition for us. Our capability of supplying quality products at a reasonable price makes us unique in the market.

What makes you different when it comes to manufacturing and maintaining quality for 60 years?
It just a matter of our process,experience and business ethics. Our experience gives us better knowledge of the technology that is required to make a good product. Our strong business ethics pave the way for a superior product, many winding wire manufacturers use sub-standard raw materials especially the copper and insulation material.

We use only 99.97 pure electrolytic copper,with superior enamels that can withstand up to 155-degree Celsius temperature and 175-degree Heat shock (F Class) whereas almost 80 per cent of the Indian manufactures use(B-class) enamel which can withstand up to 130-degree Celsius temperature. We are one of the only Company that is actually selling 155 F class enamelled wire in the country. It really improves the longevity of a motor or an appliance. That’s what actually sets us apart, we also manufacture our own insulation materials so we can control the quality of enamel we control the entire process and we don’t compromise on our raw materials and produce inferior product to sell more wire.

How do you see the competition from the Chinese imports?
To be honest, there is not much import in terms of winding wire from China right now. Simply because the duty structure doesn’t allow it. However, the proposed free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between India and China may jeopardise the entire manufacturing ecosystem. This will be a great threat not only to winding wire industry, but to the entire Indian electrical industry including cables and electrical equipment. Even primary rod manufactures will be under severe stress. The entire electrical industry more or less will die-out – there won’t be any electrical industry left in India if that happens.