 Hello and welcome everyone to the Pride of India show. We have today with us Nilesh Malani, CMO of PolyCab India. PolyCab is engaged in the business of manufacturing wires, cables, electric fans, LED lights, switches, solar products and many other accessories. Incorporated as a small shop six degrees ago by Mumbai based Jessinghani family, which has migrated from Pakistan. The company's current market cap is rupees 35,000 crores. Welcome to the show, Mr. Malani. Thank you. Thank you, Kanchan. Lovely to have you here. Mr. Malani, please take us through the inception of PolyCab as a brand. So, this all started in the year 1968, wherein with the death of the father, the four brothers, the Jessinghani families came together and started a small shop in Luhar, Chalo, Mumbai. And this is anecdotal, very small 200 square feet shop where they were selling their electrical goods. And from there, the journey began in terms of how they brought this entire business argument to such a big business. Later on in 1975, they opened up a small factory in Dheri, M.I.D.C. and started manufacturing cables and wires. So, while they were learning, they gradually started the manufacturing process. And then they slowly scaled it up and bought another land in Halol and created another factory out there and scaled up the entire business of cables and wires. In the year 1996, the brand PolyCab got established and it's 25 years now with the brand. In 1990, we got listed as a brand on stock exchange. That's how the journey has been around. So today, we have close to more than 165,000 retailers, more than 4,000 distributors across the country. And we sell and export to more than 100 countries globally. That's really great. What were the major challenges when that PolyCab faced in the beginning? Well, I think in those years, the industry was very unorganized. And I think the family really struggled because the capital was limited, the resources were limited, the manpower was limited. I think the family really worked hard establishing that relationship with the trade. And the most important bit was that they had to leave their education and come to the business. And learning on the job is very difficult and getting the nuances of the product which they want to manufacture, how to sell, where to sell, all those things came on the job. And I would say that was the most difficult part and phase in the beginning of PolyCab where the initial years just went into understanding how to manufacture, where to sell, what to sell and what kind of quality to make. And the way the infrastructure was there that time in terms of logistics challenges, traveling. So there was not enough infrastructure in those days. So all these hurdles, I think the family kind of had to withstand those issues and challenges and then come to the position where they are. And of course, investment I guess. Yeah, so we didn't have any initial investors in this journey and it was all organic and homegrown. So they earned from the business and they reinvested in the business. So that was big things, you know the family did. And how has been the business journey of PolyCab? So in the current context, I think on year on year, if you see our track record in the last five years, we have been growing very handsomely, whether in terms of over the top line, the bottom line, as well as market share. We are kind of establishing our leadership position in the cables and wires segment and the same time strengthening our position in the FMEG sector. And looking at the way in the last six years we have grown in FMEG year on year with more than 30 to 40% CAGR and getting share from competitors. The journey is going excellent. The future plans of course, very, very strong. So overall things are looking very bullish and great. How is the FMEG sector in India evolved over the last 25 years since your brand took shape? So we are a very new player in the FMEG category. It's been just six years and we have gone ahead with leveraging our strength on technology and our in-house manufacturing capabilities. The most important thing is if you see the last six years journey for PolyCab has been very, very interesting. While we were good in always manufacturing of cables and wires and then when we took those products to the market our relationship with the trade and the network was one of the big pillars for succeeding in the FMEG sector. We leverage that association and then we have we have embedded our in-house capability whether it is fans, LEDs, switches or switch gears. All the manufacturing capabilities are in ours and that gives us a competitive advantage to basically give the best products or technologically high-end products to the consumers at the same time ensuring that we are always upping a game in the market in terms of advancements in technology. So whether it is R&D, whether it is innovation, we are bringing the best products in the market and which are in line with the consumer demand. Today if you see the journey which you asked about the last 25 years, those were the days where we had regular bulbs and tube lights. Today the entire system in the last five, seven years has shifted to LEDs. People are now seeking basically designer lights. They want lights which are smart in terms of sensor-based lights. They want IoT products in their home where you can operate the home from anywhere, any part of the world on your phone. So newer technologies are coming in, newer so consumers have more disposable income. They want to make their house better. Earlier the focus only was on aesthetics. Today the focus is aesthetics plus technology together and this is wherein we bring in our new product called HOHM which is home for it's a part of the smart automation category wherein you can control the entire house with a click up a button on phone, whether it is a light, whether it is a fan, whether it is a curtain, whether it is door locks which are security door locks, CCTV cameras, everything can be controlled by phone and you can control those things from wherever you are. So such is the technology which is there. When you see what we see going forward is within the fans of technology. Today if you see the problem is that consumers think fan doesn't require much energy and they think it doesn't cost much to even if the fan is running people are not really bothered. If the television is on they will definitely switch off but if fan is running they are okay with it even if it is not used. So energy conservation doesn't come in mind when the fan is still running but they would be surprised to know that a single fan in a single room if it operates for close to 15 hours a day it consumes approximately 200 rupees worth of energy which is big. So PolyCab has introduced BLDC fans, PolyCab BLDC fans which are energy saving fans which saves up to 60% of electricity. So the way revolution had come in LED where the entire ecosystem got changed from a regular earlier CFL bulbs to LEDs, similar revolution we anticipate to will happen in the fans saturday where consumers would be okay to shell out a little more for a good quality product but in the long term normally a life cycle of a fan is anywhere between 5 to 7 years people go on for aesthetics and color change and they redo their houses or invade their houses or buy a new house. So within that 5 to 7 years actually if you buy a BLDC fan it is basically within 2 years you get back your money back in terms of savings in electricity. So these are new concepts the motor is getting changed from electrical to electronics so a lot of changes are happening and PolyCab as a brand is now educating our trade partners our electricians our consumers in terms of how they can benefit through these changes. So FMG is going into a huge transition the way the products are getting sold so e-commerce is becoming extremely important. If you see over six years you know we have built overall category of flows to 1500 crores within FMG where we were not present at all. So the business is looking by on and we are going strength by strength every year. It's great to know that PolyCab is focusing a lot on greener technology. So what are your thoughts on leadership and marketing? So I think the analogy of good leadership and strong marketing strategy is essential to become a market leader. So and with PolyCab India we have you know redefined our entire marketing approach and strategy wherein our focus is on consumers our focus is on you know influencer segment because influencers play a very very important role in terms of advocacy of the brand. While players are commoditizing the market whether you see the retail you know wire segment where you know the entire category is trying to shift towards commodity but PolyCab is you know innovating in that segment as well. What we are trying to do is bring more better products to the consumers which basically is in line with sustainable products which is in line with you know ensuring the products are safe secured for longer term and they are you know kind of they give more value for money. So and we believe that only the leaders can do this wherein they will bring in more technology they will bring more premium quality products which gives more value. So today consumers are not seeking for cheaper products okay they are seeking for value for money what will give value to be for example we recently launched a product called PolyCab Marine Buyers and when we started our you know entire consumer communication build today within class one year our sales have grown 4x. So there are buyers there are takers for green wires which is almost 20% premium to the you know the normal regular category which is more commoditized. So people are ready to pay the premium it's all about leaders to basically you know it more give consumers a solution to a problem or maybe you know identify that need gap which consumers has today and you know kind of give them the solution for that need and they are more ready to pay till the time they get value. Second bit is what we did is you know created a digital experience while consumers today you know are more technology savvy they can you know serve the internet and you know go through various products and compare products what's available online. What we have created is a new concept of PolyCab Galeria. So this store basically is a experienced store we have already opened in close to eight cities in the country and there is another model which we have created is called PolyCab Arena which is our you know distributor or retailer owned model which are exclusive PolyCab stores where you can experience the product and the material will be shipped to your houses. You can select the product online and go in there and check the product quality and everything will be shipped to your house. So we are creating those experiences wherein it is not just about you know the price is the only game it's more about how do we differentiate ourselves from the competitors how do we bring more value to the consumers how we are seen as more sustainable brand. What are your plans for the future? What we have done is over the last one one and a half years we have got you know our strategy in place and that strategy is all about you know how do we you know up our game in the FMEG sector to be amongst the most leading FMEG player. How do we consolidate our leadership position in the cables and lines of business? I think these are true strong you know objectives which we have you know created and the strategy is basically to strengthen the brand proposition have more digitization across within the organization and outside world. So digitization is one big piece which we are kind of you know focusing upon. The third aspect is the entire you know we want to be a talent magnet in the global world and we are strengthening our you know overall talent hunt in terms of getting more better talent to ensure that whatever work we do is more consumer centric it's it's more you know technology friendly it's more sustainable and it's able to deliver value to the consumer and the influencer. So we are working in all these directions and our aim is by 2000 FY26 we are aiming to be a 20,000 crore business overall. So my last question is are you planning to acquire your competitors? I suppose you already share 22% of the market right? Yeah so I think that's that plan is always on we will be you know keeping the hawk's eye in terms of what what makes sense for our business what what really gives us value. So recently if you are aware last year we acquired silver technologies and those are into smart automation and it's it's it's a good you know in sync with what we want to you know proceed ahead with what is in line with the business thought. So and we see the consumers will get evolved in a smart home technology much sooner than later and that was a very very right fit for us in terms of acquiring silver because it gives us opportunity to have a technology platform which supports you know our products and that was a good acquisition. Similarly I think in future whenever such opportunities come we will be we'll be open to that. Thank you Mr. Mulani. Thanks for talking with us. Thank you. Thank you Ganshu. Thanks. Thanks for joining me. Thank you.