India will bounce back defeating COVID

We are still in early days of unlock with major hubs operating in uncertainty, but we look forward towards a growth in real estate and industry operation to drive demand for switchgear.
Vivek Yadav, Sr Vice President, Havells India Ltd

The pandemic (COVID-19) has disrupted demand for all sectors to a large extent. Vivek Yadav, Sr Vice President at Havells India believes that the country will bounce back from this dual crisis of health and economy. Excerpts from his interview:

The Indian switchgear market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 7 percent from 2017-18 to 2022-23. How are companies in the segment taking advantage of this projected growth?
Switchgear market is categorised into three segments- low voltage (LV), medium voltage (MV) and high voltage (HV). The ever-increasing demand for energy, coupled with large scale infrastructure development projects in the developing nations has secured significant growth of switchgear demand. The basic growth trajectory will be defined by B2B customer-centric, connected solution at optimum cost and reach of company to address demand of tier 3 and rural segment.

Havells is driving product innovation in the segment by opportune investments in technology. In 2019, we introduced innovative protection, control and monitoring devices operated by management software, essential for smart buildings, industries and commercial space. In recent times, customer experience is paramount for growth, and Havells India leads in this sphere with deeply penetrated channel strength. We introduced switchgear devices in our distribution driven brand: REO, with a vision to provide best quality circuit protection products to emerging India. The untapped markets extend greater opportunity and challenge, due to mixed nature of application and operation. Havells India and Hyundai Electrical entered in JV for LV switchgear and control gear, which proved to be a stepping stone in addressing the demand for high precession connected devices for application in Industries, power distribution and utilities.

Various endeavours by the government have ensured a positive slope in switchgear demand. Some of these include Make in India, Digital India, Smart City Program etc. These schemes are focused at development of new infrastructure and revamping of the existing infrastructure in the country thereby improving India’s standing on the global arena. 

Which new technologies and products are being introduced in the LV and MV switchgear segment to support the adoption of smart electricity?
The integration of industrialisation and data, development of smart grids and smart cities, growing focus on energy management and green buildings is all rapidly transforming the electrical industry. In line with these demands, the low voltage electrical switchgear industry is also transforming at a rapid pace.

To support the adoption of smart electricity, demand is witnessed in smart IoT ready switchgear solutions. It can connect to the internet to provide real time monitoring, predictive diagnostics and better protection against faults. These switchgears are embedded with intelligent electronic devices and are pre-programmed for the remote monitoring and communication of key electrical parameters like current, voltage, faults etc. This facilitates the automatic regulation of incoming and outgoing power, transfer of power during peak load, and opening and closing of switches to maintain power load.

Smart switchgear can also be seamlessly integrated with energy management, building management, supervisory control and data acquisition and other enterprise-level utility systems. 

Havells being one of the pioneers in the smart switchgear segments has recently introduced ST^Dx communication ready range which provides a user-friendly one-touch interface to building’s myriad electrical load layout. Through its intricately designed interface users can easily monitor and control electrical circuits right from MCCB level to final distribution board level.

How has COVID-19 impacted the LV and MV switchgear market? What steps must the government and industry take to revive growth?
The pandemic has disrupted demand for all sectors to a large extent. Some of the sectors like housing, real estate and industries have been adversely impacted due to lockdown and following crisis. Boosting government spending for a sustained economic recovery is crucial at this hour. Given that the government is fiscally constrained, its efforts to provide stimulus to the economy, for example, in the form of 100 percent credit guarantee to MSMEs and various other recent measures, are commendable. “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” mission is strengthened by the government’s decision to revise MSMEs criteria, equity infusion and collateral free loans, which ensures that supply chain remains hearty. More such measures will be needed in the future, but at the same time, the balance between fiscal spending and financial stability should to be ensured. To accelerate the growth, I would recommend the GOI to consider pushing demand by regulating policies for growth in new housing projects; and providing platform for domestic players to gain from govt sector projects.

We are still in early days of unlock with major hubs operating in uncertainty, but we look forward towards a growth in real estate and industry operation to drive demand for switchgear. To maintain the momentum, industry players in turn will have to ensure that supply chain uninterrupted and demand is addressed by right valued products. Having said that, the challenges faced are far greater in magnitude than it seems, posed by reverse migration, commerce instability and higher operating costs. 

Lockdown phase has contributed to carve a new learning curve for managers, where they have invested time and derived ideas on cost saving, better operational efficiencies and establish responsive supply chain both on demand side and supply side. Havells as always has taken technology (IT) route to address various challenges which has resulted in ensuring better pre and post sales customer service. Our innovative Hyperlocal Online to offline model addressed demand in trouble phase and is proving to be a vital tool for future.  We have continuously invested from last decade to develop a dependable vendor model and in unlock phase we have engaged with our extended team on technological and administration front, to keep up the momentum.

I have firm belief in the potential of India to bounce back with innovative solutions to challenges and emerge victorious from this dual crisis of health and economy.