Energy efficiency in grids to increase with smart cities

At least for the next 5-6 years, there is a lot of growth potential in the electrical sector, which, however, will also depend on the upcoming policies of the government.

Alok Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, WAGO India, talks about the different growth drivers in the electrical sector and how data transmission can be made more effective with the company’s range of energy measurement and analysis systems.

What is the growth potential that you see in the electrical sector?
I do not see any challenge for growth in electrical sector, as the country has a long way to go in terms of industrialisation. The economy size we are targeting, i.e., a $5-trillion economy, will involve many industrial and commercial activities. None of this can happen without electricity. So at least for the next 5-6 years, there is a lot of growth potential in the electrical sector, which, however, will also depend on the upcoming policies of the government.

What are the challenges that you face on a company level?
On interconnection product line front, users in India are more familiar with screw connection technology, while we are into spring pressure connection technology. Most of our competition, both Indian and global, supply both spring and screw products, but their predominant sales is for screw technology. We face a challenge in countering that effectively because screw technology is more economical compared to our offerings. It will take some time for users to understand the benefits of spring technology which provides maintenance-free operation resulting in lower TCO. However, we are hopeful that with our successes and growing installed base, more and more users will eventually switch over to spring technology.

Our automation control and interface electronics offering is comparatively new and still finding its ground in the market. We as an organisation are investing well in resources to gain the market share of automation technologies and interface electronics landscape.

How can data transmission be made more effective through your products?
In India, there’s hardly any data available for analysis. Most devices are standalone and do not talk to each other. There are very few places where one finds an active control or visualisation of what exactly is happening in the process/machine, and this is where we come in the picture. We provide companies with data through our devices. For example, if we talk about energy management, we help understand what the current load is at different times of the day, which area of the factory is consuming more load, and so on. This data helps in making better use of energy. Our devices capture all this data and give it back to the central system from where it can be analysed and the areas where the energy loss is happening can be found. Our current and energy measurement system enables measuring the amount of energy and current being used, the peak loads, etc.

What are your product plans for this year?
As we’re now focusing more on automation and electronics than in the past, there is a line-up of products slated to be launched soon that will be more relevant to the organisations that are looking for real-time data visibility and simplicity of automation. This can be offered directly on user network or via Cloud. With smart cities coming up, it is imperative to increase energy efficiency in the grids. Our specialised solutions for power and energy segment are custom-made for data gathering and interpretation, resulting in higher efficiencies.

What are your plans and projections for your business for this year?
We cater to different industries with our technology portfolio. No industry survives independently and they must react to stimuli from other sectors. For example, the elevator and escalators industry is down because the real estate industry is down. The railway industry is heavily dependent on government investments. As long as railways keep on growing, a significant portion of our business will remain stable. While some of the other sectors we cater to are in a slump, we don’t see that going on for a long period of time. We are expecting a rebound to happen soon. As far as WAGO’s investment in India is concerned, we are investing quite heavily here. Soon, we will be ready with our new factory in Vadodara. It spans over 1,10,000 square metres, and we have invested close to ₹250 crore in it. All our smart devices will be showcased there, and this factory will be a live example of what we actually stand for.

Alok Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, WAGO India