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— Prasad G. L. Chief Executive Officer,
Galaxy Transmission Pvt Ltd
Galaxy Transmission Pvt Ltd was set up in 1990, coinciding with
the new wave of economic reforms in India. From a manufacturer
of power conductors catering largely to western India, Galaxy has
grown substantially both in terms of business diversification and
geographical footprint. Prasad G.L. tells us more on the company's
journey over the past two decades, and how the company is
gearing up to meet the huge demand for power conductors in the
years to come.
Tell us about Galaxy's products and services in the power
transmission sector.
We manufacture and supply all types of ACSR and Alloy
Conductors for Voltage range from 11kV up to 765kV. We also
supply alloy rods to various conductor manufacturers in the
country.
How do you see the demand for aluminium power conductors
given the huge growth envisaged in India's power transmission
sector?
We are excited about the huge demand for power conductors!
This demand will continue for the next 8 -10 years. This will help
us to grow exponentially and we are looking to double our
capacity in next two years. Market demand will also result in
production of newer and energy efficient conductors in the
power transmission sector.
What impact do you see of growing private sector participation
in the power transmission sector?
It will definitely help in terms of huge investment, acceleration
of growth and application of new-age conductors. Private
sector participation will also result in faster growth for midsize
conductor players, and will also give rise to consolidation
in the market.
We understand that the Galaxy Group also makes aluminium
rods. Tell us about the synergy that you achieve in this
backward integration?
Yes, we at Galaxy have successfully commissioned a state-ofthe-
art aluminium and alloy rod rolling mill recently. It was
commissioned ahead of the schedule and helped us
manufacture various alloy conductors. Traditionally no primary
aluminium producer manufactures alloy rods and hence it is
very important to have this backward integration. Apart from
manufacturing all types of alloy conductors, this synergy also helps us in maintaining strict quality control on our raw
material.
Do you have plans of eventually undertaking EPC contracting
works in the power transmission space?
Yes, we have initiated our thought process on these lines. This
forward integration will help us diversify our business. We are
working seriously in this direction and will enter the segment at
the right time. Presently we are rapidly expanding in the
conductor market and want to have respectable and sizeable
top-line.
Tell us about the R&D department of Galaxy Group.
We presently have a small R&D cell that is working on various
alloy and energy efficient conductors. Very soon we will
strengthen this cell and will allocate substantial budget. All
these initiatives will help "Galaxy" have an edge in the market
for high technology conductors.
Do you find any change in the procurement policies of state
transmission utilities, particularly in the past five years?
Yes, buying from state transmission utilities has reduced and
large number private EPC players are buying conductors. This
trend will continue to grow as financial health of state utilities
is not so good.
Please elaborate on your company's plans to expand pan-India
and also in the global markets.
We have already lined up our action and looking for a greenfield
or brownfield expansion in the eastern part of India. The
capacity should be in the range of 25-30 kilo tonnes (KT)
conductors and having provision to go up to 50 KT. With our
plan, we hope production to start in Q4 of F13 or Q1 of F14. We
do not have any immediate plan for global expansion; but our
exports will commence in the near future.
We understand that Galaxy has also diversified into clean
energy generation. Tell us more.
Presently we do have small set of wind mills in Tamil Nadu that
are supplying to the state grid. However we do not have any
immediate plan of expanding the installed capacity.
Please summarize Galaxy Group's growth since 1990. What
milestones would you like to attain in the next 5-7 years?
Our journey since 1990 has been very exciting and we will be
doing business of over Rs.300 crore this fiscal year. Five years
down the line, our revenue should growth to the level of
Rs.1,500 crore, along with expansion in our conductor capacity
and diversification. We have a strong technical and finance
team to execute our plans and the management is fully
committed to corporate growth plan.
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