3M is planning to go big in electronics space in India: Ramesh Ramadurai

You may have come across the name 3M in relation to its popular cleaning product range, “Scotch-Brite”, which is a household brand in India. But what you may not have known is that there is a little bit of 3M in many mobile devices manufactured across the globe.

3M, an American multinational conglomerate, manufactures high quality adhesives in liquid form as well as in tapes which help place your glass panel and other frames in a mobile device perfectly and ensure that the electronics within the phone do not interfere with each other.

And this is a business which 3M is planning to bring to India. Says Ramesh Ramadurai, managing director of 3M India Ltd: “Currently, the electronics business (which consists of products for mobile devices, semi-conductors and consumer electronics) in India is practically non-existent. But thanks to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, a lot of the supply chain will be localised to India. For instance, 98 per cent of a mobile device is assembled in India but the value addition in backward integration is work in progress. When that happens, our material will be required.”

Ramadurai adds that 3M plans to become the Tier 2 or Tier 3 suppliers and manufacturers of these special adhesives. “We already work with design centres of mobile companies and have visibility of their plans. The good thing is that many of them are setting up design centres in India,” he says.

That is not the only area that the Rs 3000 crore (revenues in India) global giant is planning to get into. It is already testing solutions for electric vehicles so that the acoustics inside a car create less noise  “The noise profile of an electric vehicle is very different from an ICE (internal combustion engine)-powered vehicle. So they require a different material to dampen the noise. We have been testing solutions in our Bangalore R&D centre and are closely collaborating with  the Automotive Research Association of India. We see it as a potentially important market,” says Ramadurai.    

3M, which came into India with its consumer products in 1987, has a clear plan for growing this part of their business as well, which currently accounts for 12 per cent of its revenue. Globally, consumer products account for 15 per cent of its revenue, so Ramadurai says that there is scope for growth.

Its two-pronged strategy in this regard is to sell its cleaning and scouring products under the Scotch-Brite brand in smaller 2 tier and 3 tier cities. Currently, these products are available in the top 70-100 cities in the country. 3M will also push these products by tapping local and regional retail chains which have a substantial hold in smaller cities.  

The second strategy is to broaden its consumer portfolio by bringing in products from its global constr¬uction and home improvement categories. Ramadurai says that the company is looking into the possibility of launching its popular Command brand under which it offers adhesive hooks which can be used to hang paintings or clocks at home. However, though this is one of its fastest growing products worldwide, 3M does not yet have a deadline for its launch in India.  

During the pandemic, 3M began selling its masks directly to consumers rather than limit itself to institutional buyers such as hospitals and health care centres. The imported masks are also being sold through e-commerce sites.