- Aditya Birla Group enters wires and cables market with new brand Ultravolt
- Ultravolt targets 100,000 retailers and 5,000 UltraTech Building Solutions outlets
- The group invests Rs 1,800 crore, aiming top 2 market position within five years
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, on Thursday said the group is entering the wires and cables market with an ambition to build a leadership business, as its new brand Ultravolt targets more than 100,000 retailers and over 5,000 UltraTech Building Solutions outlets.
The wires and cables business marks the Aditya Birla Group's fourth new business foray in three years. Housed under UltraTech Cement Ltd., the venture has been backed by an investment of Rs 1,800 crore and aims to become one of the top two players in the category within five years.
“We are making a sizeable commitment to Wires and Cables from day one, with the bold ambition of becoming one of the top 2 players in the category within 5 years,” Birla said at the launch.
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Ultravolt plans to establish a presence across more than 500 districts and 6,000 pin codes at launch. The company will eventually reach more than 100,000 retailers and 5,000 UltraTech Building Solutions outlets, supported by a network of more than 20 strategically located warehouses.
According to Birla, the wires and cables market is being driven by three major trends, urbanisation, electrification and digitisation. India is expected to add more than 100 million homes over the next decade, while investments in power infrastructure, renewable energy, metro networks, electric vehicles and data centres are expected to drive demand for specialised cables.
India's data centre capacity is also expected to quadruple to around 8 GW over the next four years, creating additional demand for cabling, Birla said.
The group believes its existing presence across the construction value chain gives it an advantage in the new category. UltraTech's cement business has relationships with thousands of dealers and a broad network of individual home builders, contractors, developers and other construction stakeholders.
“Our core right to win is rooted in a deep understanding of the product and its underlying components,” Birla said, adding that the group's expertise in aluminium and copper, along with its brand and distribution network, would support the new business.
Dilip Gaur, director at Ultravolt, said the company is opting for a pan-India rollout rather than testing the market region by region.
“Our plan is to reach more than one lakh retailers and further activate availability through over 5,000 UltraTech Building Solutions outlets,” Gaur said.
The company's manufacturing facility at Jhagadia in Gujarat's Bharuch district is equipped with German and Korean machinery, advanced E-Beam Pro technology and an R&D laboratory.
Ultravolt will initially offer home wires, flexible wires and cables for residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure applications. It plans to expand into a wider range of electrical accessories over time.
The company said it has already onboarded more than 1,600 electricians ahead of the launch and plans to train more than 40,000 electricians over the next year under the Skill India programme with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India.
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