Doubling the current sales turnover over the next three years was one of the key milestones that WIKA India would like to attain, noted Gaurav Bawa, Senior Vice President WIKA India. He was interacting with T&D India during Elecrama 2023.
“In India, WIKA has been growing at double-digits in recent years. But we want to double our turnover in the next three years. Overall, we are going very aggressive in India,” Bawa asserted.
Gaurav Bawa also emphasized that the power distribution sector would be a sharp focus area for WIKA in India, resonating with the large investment outlay that the government has planned through various power distribution-centric schemes, like the RDSS. “We are emphasizing on focused growth markets and power distribution is one of them,” Bawa explained.
WIKA is already present in the power T&D space, with a suite of offerings. One of its key offerings is kits that detect SF6 gas leakages in electrical equipment, mainly switchgear. On the subject of SF6, Bawa admitted that the world was gradually moving away from SF6 and WIKA India’s future plans in the SF6 domain would be aligned to WIKA’s global strategies in this respect. The WIKA India head also observed that when it comes to SF6 handling, international norms are very stringent and India must work towards complying with these norms more seriously.
Making India a bigger contributor to WIKA’s global activities was another point that Bawa strongly stressed on. In terms of R&D and engineering, for instance, WIKA India is expected to make a significant contribution to WIKA’s global efforts, in the coming years. Incidentally, WIKA India has four manufacturing plants in India, including the latest one at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Each facility makes different products, and hence has a separate dedicated R&D facility.
When asked about localization of its products, Gaurav Bawa pointed out that his company supported the national “Make in India” philosophy and is working towards enhancing the localization of its products. For instance, in equipment like gas density monitors, WIKA India has achieved almost 100 per cent localization.
Speaking of the Ghaziabad plant, Bawa highlighted that the facility was planned during the COVID phase – a time when the corporate sector was generally holding back investments. Each of the four plants is equipped with additional land and infrastructure, which would thus make it very amenable for WIKA India to enlarge its operating capacity. “Today, at all our plants in operation, we have the capacity to easily double our current operations.”
Touching upon the aspect of keeping abreast of changing customer requirements, Gaurav Bawa asserted that future products will be IIoT-enabled. “The market is shifting from conventional products to digitally connected solutions,” he said.
Even as doubling the sales turnover would be a key milestone that Gaurav Bawa would like to see WIKA India cross in the next year, he felt that nurturing and retaining good talent was also among his key objectives. “We are working on how WIKA India can become better in attracting the right talent and turn into an employer of choice,” was how Bawa put across the sentiment.
Also read: WIKA India Launches Mobile Calibration Van In Bangalore
While WIKA India would pursue its growth plan aggressively, it would always aspire to be an environmentally-conscious company, with a crystal-clear roadmap of its ESG goals, Bawa said. Today, WIKA India meets as much as 54 per cent of the energy requirements of its four manufacturing facilities through solar power plants. “We are now working on a zero carbon footprint. We want to have a sustainable future and we are seriously focusing on it,” Gaurav Bawa reiterated.
Featured photograph shows WIKA’s booth at ELECRAMA 2023. (Photo: T&D India)
