“Electrified villages to drive growth”

Upgradation and capacity enhancement especially in the rural areas will be one factor that will surely assist in growth. Vivek Yadav, Senior Vice President, Havells India.

Havells India Limited is a leading fastmoving electrical goods (FMEG) company and a major power distribution equipment manufacturer with a strong global presence. Vivek Yadav, Senior Vice President, Havells India shares the outlook of India’s power distribution equipment industry in 2020. He also outlines the unique features of newly launched ST^DX range of smart switchgears.

What’s on the cards for India’s power distribution equipment industry in 2020?
Power distribution and its quality assumes significance as this has been hitherto yet the weakest link. However, changed scenario and recent push by the government has raised expectations and a dose of optimism to the India’s power distribution equipment industry.

Flagship programmes by the government such as “Power for All”, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme for augmenting power supply to the rural areas and strengthen sub-transmission and distribution systems and UDAY 2.0 – all these will act as catalyst in the growth trajectory for companies in power distribution business.

India also managed to electrify all villages. Now, the users in these newly electrified villages would also be expecting 24×7 power supply. Upgradation and capacity enhancement especially in the rural areas will be one factor that will surely assist in growth.

In addition, solar power supply at about 7,000 railway stations and solar park development is welcome step. Other renewable options like wind and hydropower will necessitate the installation of additional transmission capacity.

ST^DX RCCB-DP

Where will the growth come from?
As shared earlier, electrified villages thus basically the rural sector will be the major growth areas. The main distribution equipment comprises HT and LT lines, transformers, substations, switchgears, capacitors, conductors and meters. Also, renewable energy push demands establishment of augmented infrastructure. Other factors include:
• Continued demand for power – the power capacity needs to rise to as high as around 800GW.
• Distribution reforms UDAY 2.0 and other govt scheme like Saubhagya.
• ICT Based product A number of utilities have now started focusing on ICT based applications to bring about efficiency in distribution. This is one area wherein Indian company can look for growth by re-engineering their product portfolio.

ST^DX-MCB-SP

In addition, reliability monitoring will become more of a norm rather than a specific need in coming times. Also, investment in the distribution sector has not kept pace with investment in generation, which has led to high T&D losses, poor networks, and delays in projects. This is one growth area.

Need if smart grid includes as an intelligent monitoring system that keeps track of all electricity flowing in the system. When power is least expensive a smart grid could turn on selected home appliances such as washing machines or factory processes that can run at arbitrary hours. At peak times it could turn off selected appliances to reduce demand.

How are you gearing up for the future opportunities and challenges?
Havells has been a trendsetter in FMEG (fast-moving electrical goods) space because of its diverse product portfolio strong dealer network in rural areas and dedicated toll-free number adds to the confidence of the consumer. Our strong presence in cables (LT, HT cables), capacitors, wires, and switchgears for all voltage type (low voltage, medium voltage, and high voltage).

Building and circuit protection devices and our flagship solar division add to our growth index. It will be noteworthy to add being a home-grown multinational with more than 13 dedicated manufacturing facilities and backed by dedicated R&D help us to deliver quality products. Havells’s growth mantra has been its customer centric approach. The products in our diverse range has been thoughtful upgraded as per the changing customer preference and in sync with changing market dynamics.

Our recent launch ST^DX range of switchgear is in the same platform being future ready with features of ICT as monitoring ease of use safety and reliability all bundled together. Our deep insight understanding the pain points of the consumers revealed that the most important element in any household is a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) and for commercial utility its building
circuit protection. However, to make it, feature-rich digital enablement needs to be done. The technologically advanced range with MCB and distribution board (DB) provides multiple functionalities such as circuit indicator and positive contact indication.

Unique features of the smart range of switchgear ST^DX include field condition monitoring, improved uptime, advance programming of load cycle, and systematic energy management.

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