What’s your view on the demand & supply gap of the state-of-the-art electrical equipment in India?
The aspirations of India and its people can be met only if our economy continues to grow at a fast and sustained pace. This will happen if India’s power sector continues to progress and grow. The Indian electrical equipment industry must, therefore, increase its preparedness and enhance its competitiveness to meet the current and future demands of our power sector and also for other sectors of the economy. The coming years will be crucial for the Indian electrical equipment industry as it gears up to meet the rapidly rising domestic demand and also establish its presence in the global market. The government needs to ensure coordinated efforts of all stakeholders, in an effective manner, to accelerate and sustain the growth of the domestic electrical equipment industry.
How does HPL’s technology help the power distribution companies in preventing tampering of the energy meters and fraud detection?
With emerging advancements in all sectors and growing demands, electricity has become a priority for every individual and every organization. In developing countries like India, power theft and irregular supply of electricity are prevalent issues that cause a substantial economic loss to the DISCOMS.
HPL has multiple solutions for the DISCOMS or distribution companies, with Tamper-proof products like prepayment meters, smart meters, RF meters, which can continuously communicate to the server and provide information in real time.
What is HPL’s contribution to facilitate NET metering?
HPL is currently one of the largest suppliers of NET meters in India. Our company is supplying such meters to most of the DISCOMS, Solar manufacturers etc. We are also providing these meters to GOI schemes like KUSUM, SKY project etc. We were the first to supply for the SKY scheme in Gujarat.
Are all your lighting products indigenously designed and manufactured?
Yes, our lighting products are indigenously designed, and 95% of the domestic consumption is met through our locally manufactured products. There is always a high level of localization with almost 60% of the raw materials being sourced locally. Going forward, we feel that because of the scale and backward integration – India will emerge as a hub for exports of lighting products.
What is your Unique Sales Proposition (USP) and what kind of competition are you facing in the Indian lighting market?
Our products are focused on embracing the latest and finest technology to deliver high efficiency products in terms of power saving and environment friendly solutions.
Earlier last year, due to the global pandemic and lockdowns, there was an increase in prices. Components and other parts were in short supply, which put the pressure on the pricing. However, we hope to see the situation stabilizing in the near future and expect the demand to grow in the final quarter of this year.
What kind of technological excellence or uniqueness can be found in the switchgears offered by HPL?
The HPL brand has been in switchgear market for over half a century. Our switchgears are being exported globally – and we have a considerable market presence in many countries. Our switchgears are produced as per the latest international standards. Also, HPL products have a proven track record of safety and durability.
HPL’s manufacturing plants are equipped with their own test labs and tool rooms. Our test labs have the latest testing infrastructure. We regularly conduct various tests to confirm the quality standards of various products.
Are all the cables manufactured by HPL fire-retardant?
Basically all HPL manufactured ‘House’ wire range come with Fire Retardant (FR) properties i.e., Single core 0.5 sq. mm to 6 sq. mm, and above up to 300 sq. mm on demand. HPL wires offer the best level of fire retardant ability having a wide range of cable designs to meet the various properties like FR /FR-LSH/HR requirements in buildings and construction products according to the IS: 694/2010. HPL’s fire retardant cables not only help in saving lives but also in minimizing long-term damage, if a fire breaks out.
How competitive are your modular switches? Do you use flame-retardant materials to manufacture these switches?
Yes, we are quite competitive in modular switches with good aesthetics and wide range, we use the best engineering plastic material, which is flame retardant, we are conforming to all BIS standards as per compliance rules.
What are you doing for the solar energy segment that is emerging as a big demanding area as far as electrical equipment are concerned?
HPL Electric & Power Ltd is one of the leading manufacturers for electrical products that have a vast range of solar products, which cater to both ground mount and roof-top solar markets.
We are manufacturing a wide range of products for Solar PV applications under world class manufacturing facilities as per (IEC/EN/IS/BS and various other international standards.
We offer products such as:- String Combiner & Monitoring Box (up to 1,500V DC, Tested and Certified as per IEC/EN 61439-1&2 standard); AC Combiner Box (up to 1,000 Vac Operational Range compatible for string inverters tested and certified as per IEC & IS standards); AC Distribution Box; Array Junction Box; DC Cables (1.5 sq. mm to 95 sq. mm) as per EN 50618 standard; Communication Cables; Meters (Static Meters, Net Meters and ABT Meters); Solar LED Luminaries (for Home & Street Lights); LT Panels (up to 1,000 Vac Operational Range compatible for string inverters as per IEC & IS standards); Fuse Box and DC Isolator Box.
We have recently added some new products including AC Combiner Boxes (800Vac) and LT Panel (800Vac) for string inverter applications. Apart from manufacturing products, we also provide turnkey lighting solutions for Solar PV Plants and for
other projects.
What would you like to communicate to the Indian buyers in general?
HPL is a leading Indian brand with over 50 years of experience in ‘Make In India’. We have seen our market and economy develop along with that we have also witnessed the changes in consumer behaviour and demand. Our message to the consumers is – always enquire on usages and quality parameters before taking a call on buying electrical products. For any electrical equipment product safety and reliability are the most important aspects.
