Transformer industry to amplify power sector

Satyen Mamtora, Managing Director, Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Ltd

“Strengthening the transmission and distribution gird until the final delivery point will deliver gird efficiency”

Satyen Mamtora, Managing Director, Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Ltd, says that by making electricity available at the remotest place at a lowest possible cost has made the transformer industry
self-reliant.

A long way ahead of the right path
Indian power sector transformation started with privatisation of generation, which paved way to establishment of large ultra-mega power plants by private players. This was followed by privatisation of transmission network and entrusting PGCIL with huge investment for setting up evacuation and transmission facility by establishing interconnecting gird across the country for transmission of bulk power for long distance. This followed by re-structuring of erstwhile state utilities, which was under one umbrella, controlling generation, transmission and distribution; has been hived off to separate companies/corporation for each segment. This has paved way for them to control and augment focus on each area and has given way to improve overall efficiency and has enabled them to get grant as well as funding from open market for further expansion and augmentation. In the whole process we saw a lot of overall positive improvement.

Liberty to choose the service provider
It is essential to ensure that electricity/energy is made available to each region/sector and reaches every home. Our ultimate aim should be reaching a point where the customer will have an option to choose their service provider and energy price is driven by competitiveness and market value. We all know the current happenings of the telecom sector, which was once the monopoly of single service provider, our government. We should aim for similar revaluation in power sector, which I am sure will drive the growth of entire nation, eventually making India a developed country.

Reaching out to the remotest place
The recent focus on renewable energy will be a game changer in terms of making electricity available at the remotest place at a lowest possible cost and at the same time making us self-reliant with our energy needs. This has given a good opportunity to our sector in terms of business as market for transformers has gone up substantially and we expect it to go up further. Due to price pressure, as a resultant of competitive bidding, this sector makes it non-lucrative for imports at least for transformer industry, which has enough installed capacity within the country to cater to this growing segment.

Improving the efficiency of grid
Strengthening the transmission and distribution grid until the final delivery point will deliver gird efficiency. This is a key area were huge investments are required, giving ample opportunity for the transformer industry.

The need of green transformer
We have done lot of work on green transformers in terms of manufacturing and mastering technology for its design. However, we still need to educate customers about harnessing its full potential to get benefits out of it. Given the emphasis, the government is putting on green energy, which should go hand-in-hand with green transformers, it may eventually become mandatory to use green transformers.

Global competitiveness of the transformer industry
Transformer industry in India still depends on the global market for imports of some its critical raw materials, which are either not manufactured in India or the ones that are manufactured are not good enough for use. Suppliers of these critical items still dictate price and these supplies thus, limits the transformer industry’s ability to be a global player. The government needs to consider this aspect and provide necessary support to ensure availability of these critical raw materials at consistent price. This will go a long way and will make India a major manufacturing hub in the global arena for transformers.