Havells to focus on expanding switchgear arm

Havells India, electrical equipment maker, plans to double its annual revenue in the switchgear segment to Rs 1,800 crore in the next three years. The company is also looking for a joint venture partner in China to expand its operations and may set up a manufacturing unit there in the next year.

Havells began as a switchgear maker about 40 years before. It also offers lighting and appliances, and the switchgear segment now contributes less than a third of revenue, about Rs 900 crore. The company generates Rs 900 crore from lighting and Rs 1,200 crore from its wires and cables business.

It recently set up a new facility for manufacturing industrial switchgears in Sahibabad, at an investment of Rs 50 crore, Havells India president Sunil Sikka said. “We want to focus on the switchgear segment now, as it was our core business,” he said. Havells has 12 manufacturing units in India, including one in Faridabad for low-end switchgears. Revenues from the industrial switchgear segment will also double to Rs 400 crore in the next two years, he said.

The company will be focusing on China, Latin America and Asean regions. It recently set up three offices in China and started selling lighting products. “We are looking for a JV partner in China. We hope to announce something concrete in the next 12 months. We may also set up a manufacturing unit in China,” Sikka said.