MIXED YEAR
The year 2013-2014 was a mixed year for the UPS industry. Some companies
grew while others failed to do so. The industry netted revenues to the
tune of INR 4757 crore. This is exclusively the end-user sales figure.
However the over all industry revenue was estimated at INR 4957 crore.
The reason why the total industry revenue is much higher then the actual
end-user sales is because many a companies procure finished products
from others & brand them as theirs, and our survey team gets the
turnover from both, resulting in duplication. With nearly 349 companies
responding to our survey, giving us the information we sought in great
detail, knowing fully well how much the company has man-ufactured with
excise paid. And also trying to find out, which companies procure
finished products from others & brand them as theirs, an exercise which
We have been doing only since last five years, we did all of it again to
give continuity to the process. Out of 349 companies responding
only 181 companies were awarded with SD Ratings.However most of
companies are facing it difficult to match quarter to quarter sales of
12-13 in 13-14. We are sure the figure which we have arrived at i.e. the
actual end-user sales revenue of has definitely crossed INR 4757.00
crore mark .
- Growth wise it has not been a mixed year with some of the majors
growing while others dipping.
- Revenue-wise : This year 2013-14, the industry grew by 6.53% &
revenues grew up to 4757 crores, a growth of over 6.53% over the
last fiscal of 2012-2013.
- Volume-wise : Industry grew by 19.27% over previous year in
volume terms. This clearly indicates shrinking margins. Drops in
revenues while increase in volume.
One must be clear in mind that this is a very good performance
considering the stiff competition and the squeezed margins in view of
hammering the companies got during the global economic meltdown &
falling Indian Rupee.
Of the total revenue of 4757 crores, Online UPSs accounted for 87%
while Offline / Line interactive UPSs accounted for nearly 3% while
other products including Servos & change of batteries accounting for the
rest. We have not included the Home UPS sales figure in this.
Of the total revenue organized sector accounted for nearly 62% while
29% came through semi organized sector while 9% share still remains with
the unorganized fly by night operators.
SD FINDINGS
Softdisk went about finding the state of the industry and also how deep
they were actually effected by recession, The first two quarters of the
financial year 2014-15 were not that good. Projects have been badly hit,
atleast until July 2014 in the current fiscal no major projects came up
baring a few. Banks also restricted their purchases it is only in August
that the things started moving. The overall effect is putting expansion
plans on hold. They have given more stress on best utilization of their
existing facility and infrastructure. Almost flat growth for big IT. The
telecom segment even during recessionary trend continued its positive
trend for tower infrastructure. This has kept mid segment market for UPS
going well (up-to 200KVA). A small power data center with power
requirement of 20, 60, 200KVA rating are also going as per plans. The
Industrial market segment covering Power, Energy, Manufacturing, Steel,
Cement, Oil & Gas, always experienced steady and normal growth of
12-14%. The same is continuing in this year. Softdisk believes that more
and more people are moving towards Solar. Solar PCUs units are the new
mantra for the UPS Companies, some have even manufactured and installed
Solar UPS, with hybrid charge facility (Photovoltaic & Mains).
With consolidation being the mantra for Industry. One can say the
entire Online UPS market can be divided into following APC-Schneider,
Emerson Eaton, Numeric, Consul, Uniline, Delta, Hitachi, Other Major
players (Switching AVO, Socomec, Power One, Tritronics, Techser & Hykon)
& the rest. Talking of market share Emerson has the highest market share
of 20.0% followed closely by APC Schneider 18.0, Numeric 17%, Consul 6%,
Eaton 4%, Delta 3% while other major players account for rest.
SD ESTIMATES
Softdisk had predicted inAugust 2013 that the total industry revenue
will cross INR 5500 crore mark by March, 2015. We talked to Industry
Captains trying to know what the Industry leaders thought. Many had
little or no doubt to what Softdisk has predicted earlier, even though
this response was at time when the global economies were trying to come
out of worst ever economic crises, and Indian market was also shaken by
it. As on date we feel that nearing 5200 crore mark for end-user sales
and 5500 crore mark including secondary sales is quite possible if the
Indian Industry especially the Modi Govt. keeps up its poll promises
Although few may disagree with our figures, but being optimistic has
always been the Softdisk attitude.
According
to Mr. N K Agrawal of Delhi based Microtek in 2013-14 market had been
not very buoyant, This financial year the economy world over is moving
under the shadow of fear of major recession in US and Europe, because of
this the things have slowed down, it will not impact Indian markets but
spillover effect is showing its sign the falling rupee is one such sign.
In-spite of all this we still feel that the UPS Segment will show a
growth in this year also, he laments. All companies are mooving toward
soal, but it delivere resultsafter a ver long time. We have to give some
time to the new govt at the center to bring back the economy back on
track, he adds(Here it is worth mentioning that Softdisk figure does not
include the revenue generated by Inverters)
According to Mr. Rajaram Ramamoorthy of Bangalore based E &C,having a
stable government at the centre will aid in better confidence for
foreign companies to invest in India. India has been an attractive
destination for long for several foreign companies, but the major
problem has been the red tape in conducting business as the laws of the
land have been inherently quite ambiguous even for Indian Companies and
entrepreneurs. This coupled with an unstable government can really
hinder the growth of the country. Stable government having a long term
focus on growth and development in India will also create a lot of job
opportunities in the medium to long term which will have a significant
impact on the country’s image globally. Government should now focus on
developing the existing industry to emerge from difficulties that are
stifling them from growing. Taxation should be made more easy.
Introduction of GST which was hitherto delayed due to lack of consensus
between various political parties should get implemented soon to enable
the trade across states without the requirement of road permits, entry
tax and octroi. There is a lot of expectation from the central
government and they have a big responsibility to lead the nation through
sustainable and robust policies which will help both Indian
entrepreneurs and foreign companies.
Mr. R K Bansal Managing Director Uniline Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd.
elaborated on this issue, according to him when we speak about market,
we have an enterprise market segment in mind. Most of the top notch UPS
companies like APC, Eaton, Numeric etc to some extent mostly serve this
business segment. Our strength lies in Govt. sector & PSUs. As per our
understanding, the market segment revenue (excluding precision A/C,
Electrical distribution, etc.) for UPS Systems is close to INR 4500 Cr.
Looking at the present market scenario, the revenue collection from this
segment shall be within INR 5000 to 5100 Crore in the current fiscal
this year. We have already crossed INR 100 Crore in revenue and are
gunning for 200 Crore in the next two years.
Even after a year of slump, economic slow down has adversely affected
IT and IT infrastructure segment. The expansion plans are put on hold by
most of the big names in IT, ITES. Even the aggressive companies in IT
infrastructure segment are no exception. There is more emphasis on best
utilization of existing IT facilities and also human resource. Even the
Data Centers projects in telecom segment with few exceptions are either
postponed or put on temporary hold.
Fluctuation in rupee price not only raise imports bill but also lead
to volatility affecting their businesses. Due to increase in raw
material cost, depreciating value of Indian Rupee, increase of excise
duty from government side the overall input cost has increased.
Considering the above facts, companies have increased their product
pricing. Local vendors cannot be matched up with multinationals as they
are not up to the mark in terms of international standards, quality etc.
Delta follows the concept of economy of scale ensuring right product and
right quality. Delta also has its local manufacturing unit at Rudrapur
and Gurgaon. Delta Power Solution’s manufacturing plant at Rudrapur,
India (first Green manufacturing facility in India) has a capacity of
manufacturing UPS up to 4000 kVA along with battery banks, harmonics
filters, accessories and allied products to provide an end to end power
backup solution. UPS assembly line is equipped with
- Latest equipments and fully automated test stations to perform
full range of parametric test for ratings up to 500 kVA (largest
rating as single module)
- Environment chamber to perform UPS burn- in test at elevated
temperature,
- Variable voltage and frequency source for testing UPS as per
practical site conditions and simulating worst case utility
conditions
- Pure resistive as well as variable power factor load to perform
UPS full load test for practically all conditions and get rid of any
infancy failure in UPS
In addition to providing technologically superior, quality products
that meets the global standards, Delta Power Solutions local
manufacturing at helps meet another dimension of business needs today -
On time and short delivery times. Current day business needs require
that projects are completed on time as projects overruns lead to an
unprecedented opportunity loss in Telecom, IT setups, Data Centers,
Medical establishments and Industry at large.
Mr. Narayan Sabhahit Managing Director, Techser Power Systems Pvt.
Ltd, Bangalore, believes that last year for many companies which were
restructuring against backdrop economic revival, it was a year of
consolidation. Slowly market is realizing that it is not just the buying
cost but long term support what is required especially in India as
people expect product-life to be atleast double compared to advanced
countries. He further adds, the UPS penetration is now taking place in
cities and towns outside the top 20 cities. According to him “Today the
development process in every vertical is witnessing a speedy growth in
the rural areas. Interpretation of word ‘development’ in its correct
form, has been taken seriously by the concerned agencies / authorities.
The Infrastructure development required to address the challenges of
21st century is being put in to place. This is a good sign to a certain
extent Government is also keen in making efforts towards enduring
availability of Power, he laments.
Speaking on the overall scenario of the industry Mr. Sabhahit
believes that all this put together, there is growth pattern happening.
These are the areas where continuity of power is very essential, since
these companies are facing the Global Challenges. And hence the demand
for the UPS and Complete Power solutions is on the rise.
Mr. A Balan of Numeric UPS feels that Softdisk has more scientific
way of evaluating the market for its volume and quality then any other
agency and the overall UPS sales by 2015 might touch 5100 Cr mark
subject to IT recovery. He believes that first two quarters of 2013-14
have not been good, not that bad as projected by many. He feels that for
manufactures it is not that much of a problem, it is the week India
Rupee against US$ which is cause of concern of importers.
Legrand which acquired NUMERIC brand a leader in the UPS industry,
has taken larger initiatives with most modern manufacturing
infrastructure to address the mass production requirements and
geographically expanded to over 262 locations with 2600 dealers as of
now. With India assuming a key role in Asia, businesses have become
attuned to the fact that they need robust infrastructure to attract and
retain investors for this having power continuity & quality are
paramount.
On the question of Reverse Auction:
While Mr. Cristo George, MD of Thrissur, Kerela based Hykon India Pvt.
Ltd. believes that after experiencing severe declines following the
global recession in 2009, this is a repeat. As most of the components of
UPS are importing, the cost of UPS will go up due to the increased
Dollar rates. It is good in one sense for Indian UPS manufacturers as
the cost of finished UPS from China will be increased further. So time
has reached for the Indian manufacturers to mass produce the UPS below
5KVA instead of depending on the China Import. But at the same time
reverse auction is killing all & sundry. The only way customers can be
spoken out of is by explaining the demerits of Reverse Auction and
making them understand. (1) In some tenders, customer is procuring at
prices which are higher than what they would otherwise procure in closed
tenders. (2) Customers are getting supplies which are compromised in
terms of specifications which they are unaware. On the Supplier’s side,
(a) the reverse auctions are just too time consuming, sometimes the
process takes almost a full day, (b) too much dependence on
network/internet connectivity and infrastructure issues (c) Customers
themselves setting unrealistic starting bid prices. Customers have to
understand that they should not buy at very low prices at the cost of
suppliers for their own long term benefit and realize the value for
money.
Numeric’s Mr. A Balan was critical : The entire industry must boycott
reverse auction without any exception. Reverse auction makes everyone to
cut the others leg and their own as well since there is pressure in the
minds of the participants. Reverse auction should be avoided as these
terms enable open and non-ethical competition wherein vendors are not
rated on their financial, technical, service capability and product
reliability and are allowed to participate with only price as the
criteria. This resulted in many tenders being scrapped and vendors who
quote unrealistic rates in reverse auction were enabled to supply and
destroy the market and the industry itself. He further adds : After all
we are supplying and installing a POWER CONDITIONING product, A CAPITAL
EQUIPMENT and not a box pushing activity. In the absence of a detailed
technical selling based on performance, reverse auction becomes a simple
number game for everyone. This will lead to killing the very industry
practice itself simply and the customers will realize this after few
years later. If this is for computer stationery (or) purchase of tube
lights etc then the reverse auction is Ok as most competitive bidder
will sell more.
Mr. N P Krishnan, Director Marketing of Consul Consolidated Pvt. Ltd.
Believes that in Reverse auction there is an urge to become L-1 even if
it is at the cost of going down on Bill of Materials. So all of us must
be alert and not bring down prices, just for the top line. We must
mature to the level of ensuring that we don’t cut each other’s throat.
He further adds that the market has been customer driven and price plays
a decisive role in most cases. Can we find a way out for UPS
Manufacturers staying away from such auctions? Can Customers be
explained the de-merits of reverse auction and gain they will have in
normal tendering process. Yes, this is a must. The UPS and battery
suppliers should boycott reverse auctions. The battery suppliers must
not undercut the UPS OEs and go direct to the same customers that UPS
OEs helped develop for the battery suppliers. The UPS industry needs a
complete make-over. All manufacturers must get together and have a
common voice on this.
According to Mr. Y B Suresh of TPC Smaller players are finding it
difficult to access to new customer and volume based order because of
the big players are coming out with very competitive price and products
ranges & reverse auction. Earlier banks used to be priority customers
but now with reverse auction we are out of it. So, Small player should
focus on providing effective service support to retain their existing
and grow in their reference market and focus on providing complete
solution to customers and focus much on related products requirement in
existing customer base. Reverse Auction Monster is a threat not only to
specific industry but it is a common problem faced by all industries.
Unless people in their own industry understands the seriousness of the
problem in its due course and unitedly they have to fight against this
otherwise a solution cannot be found.
Softdisk believes that All said and done, simple way out for UPS
companies to avoid getting squeezed by customers is to boycott all
reverse auction.
The Market & Price pressure :
According to Mr. I B Rao & Mr. M R Rajesh of Power One Micro Systems
Pvt. Ltd. today Indian power conditioning market is getting more
sensitive and mature to the evolving needs of the businesses. With India
assuming a key role in the Asian economy, businesses have become attuned
to the fact that they need to be robust in terms of infrastructure to
attract and retain investors. Hence, Business Critical Continuity is
being viewed strategically and upcoming businesses are realizing the
importance of factoring and aligning it as key component in the overall
business model. Adding further they say we view the present market
scenario as an opportunity to strengthen our company’s presence in
Industrial market segment. Extremely low prices are unsustainable if
quality/service levels are to be maintained. Price erosion beyond a
point hurts all stake holders – manufacturers, channel partners,
customers, etc. If it continues beyond a point it will lead to
disastrous consequences for vendors. We have taken a wise decision not
to take up orders were we have to cut down on margins this has lead to
try our luck in area like SPCU, where we are successful to a great
extent.
Mr. Ramesh S Managing Director, Powertronix Ltd., Bangalore, believes
that “In the past year the net materials cost of all the products gone
up and we are taking all cost cutting measures to control the pricing
and offer great value to customers.” We are doing reverse engineering
and research to check all the possibilities to reduce cost without
compromising on quality, he laments. flow going, some people started
quoting very low. But surely they can not repeat and sustain but
certainly some of listed companies could do it for long time. That is to
play a different game to keep the share price high. Even they have to
revert back at some point of time. We are focusing on diversified market
segment like solar PCUs and closely working with few OEM buyers in that
segment and working on new design to reduce cost of production and
support small time OEM buyers.
According to Mr. Shankar C Nagali of Managing Director of Cosmic
Micro Systems, India’s GDP growth despite slowdown is currently hovering
around 5 percent mark which gives us an indication of the industrial
expansion that is already started happening under the new regime. The
rigidity of the Indian economy was reflected during global meltdown.
As UPS category rate in an economy that is already the world’s fourth
largest in real terms (Purchasing Power Parity) is expected to grow the
faster then any other country barring China. The key factors for India’s
growth in the UPS market are would be:
- Increase in PC & Server sales resulting in increased demand for
UPS.
- Increase penetration in B, C & D class cities has been another
reason for the category growth.
- Growth in the economy will lead to the growth and increase in IT
spends of vertical like IT, ITES, manufacturing, BFSI and
Government. There by leading to the increased demand for the UPS
systems in these vertical.
Let’s understand UPS as vital link in the process chain, not as an
end product. It should the part of the solution not the part or source
of the problem. The only way to match Chinese prices is being a Chinese;
by supplying opportunity based solutions, which is not what Indian
environment needs. But if we are talking about reliable, economical,
value for money products I think many Indian manufacturers have almost
achieved it except for lower capacities where there are huge volumes.
NORMS OF THIRD PARTY MAINTENANCE
Rabindra Agarwal of Switching AVO, Kolkatta believes that it is
common knowledge that, though UPS being a proven technological concept,
differs in its construction based on manufacturer. Components for spares
sometimes become inaccessible leading to servicing difficulties
resulting in replacement of a UPS with another equivalent product. This
method proves costly for the maintenance vendor and the customer loses
the original asset quality which is not clearly visible during the life
of the maintenance contract. This is a perceived loss to the customer.
UPS OEMs on the other hand lose their valuable service revenue which was
hitherto their assured income, which is now being threatened. This
unhealthy practice is being practiced by most UPS OEMs, and as a matter
of safeguarding their own interests and incomes. Refraining others from
taking maintenance of other makes is difficult to implement, as there
are numerous unorganized players.
Customers should also verify the claims of a third party service
company about their capability to service other makes as the absence of
that could lead to a huge loss to them in the form of degraded product /
performance and damage the operational efficiency of their organization
leading to fresh purchase.
Rajaram of the E & C here according to him Third Party Servicing /
Maintenance is a concept that is emerging since the last few years. Big
Customers adopt this concept to ensure single point of contact for
maintenance to ensure that they concentrate on their core competency. It
is a good option, as long all UPS are serviceable by anybody.
Several big service companies are adopting this and the concept is
catching up. This is mainly because of poor understanding and
trivializing the important issue. Most organizations are becoming too
sensitive to costs and are taking hasty decisions to award support to
third parties.
Refraining third parties from taking maintenance of other OEM makes
is difficult to implement as there are numerous unorganized players.
There are also cases where several OEMs are not providing after sales
support and customers are left high and dry. Again, this is because the
customers are resorting to purchase from OEMs based on purely price that
are not geared up for support.
However Mr. Sumanth Kumar of Powernet has a different opinion, if the
original manufacturer is providing proper service at proper price,
customer may not look for a third person to get the support. One can
think by common sense it is easy for original manufacturer to provide
better service at better price than the third person. So if we try to
make the manufacturer to reject the offer will lead to a monopoly for
the manufacturer and disadvantage to the customer, no one will refuse on
a written format and same time he may charge the customer heavily or
take a ride on customer. So keeping our customers with us is mainly
depends on the original supplier, so we should consider it as more
responsibility than a birth right. Always working with responsibility
will take you long journey than working with rights.
Mr. Sumanth Kumar of Powernet Solutions Pvt. Ltd. adds “All
manufactures have to unite on this, specifically for capacities above 5
kVA/10 kVA and to adhere to this in the interest of the client and the
suppliers. Generally as a manufacturer we maintain spares for the next 8
years from the date supply.”
Mr. Sumanth Kumar who is also the President of UMDA wants to find a
way out for UPS Manufacturers for staying away from such auctions? Can
Customers be explained the demerits of reverse auction and gain they
will have in normal tendering process. I feel that Reverse auction is
not suitable for customized solutions, which is what UPS selling has now
become, he laments.
Mr. N P Krishnan of Consul & Mr. Christo George of Hykon also agreed,
he believes otherwise fly by night operators with no support base would
flourish and OEMs will be at disadvantage.
Softdisk believe that buying UPS starts from conducting a Power
audit, determining specific loads, and then proposing a solution which
includes proprietary software and patented technologies. In reverse
auction the customer compromises on features of the UPS he is going to
purchase, who so ever sells, it the customer who will loose. A reverse
auction bundles apples with oranges, notwithstanding if it’s appropriate
for the buyer or not. All the more important is the service center
audit. Somebody sitting in Saharanpur procures a UPS from Madurai based
vendor thru reverse auction, when the machine fails what is the response
time of Madurai based company, we believe downtime will be something
between 48 to 72 hours, horrible from banking institutions point of
view, all this simply because of L1.
ON THE TAXATION FRONT
Divergent view were expressed by on taxation front. Where one segment
believes that UPS imports should be exempted for taxes the segment talks
of protecting the interest of Indian UPS Manufactures. According to Mr.
I B Rao of Powerone Micro Systems Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore believes Govt.
should considering the importance of UPS systems in a growing economy
and keeping in view the power Scenario what it is, the Govt. should
certainly exempt all UPS systems from import duties Customs Duties,
excise duties etc. Although “The government is quite conscious of the
power scenario in the country, yet it seems that all the new addition to
the installed capacity do not gives us the comfort of continuous power
even by the year 2015. Despite this grave situation, there are no
special incentives or support for the UPS installation except in a very
limited way. Considering the importance of UPS Systems in a growing
economy and keeping in view the power scenario what is it, the Govt.
should certainly exempt all UPS Systems from import duties and excise
duties” , he laments.
Vinod Kumar of ARVI has setup a 100% EOU for exporting Online UPS and
solar solutions. ARVI has also commissioned solar solution for
irrigation purposes, which has a huge potential apart from enhancing its
market share in niche products specially designed for medical and
industrial sectors for critical applications. He also believes that
Immediate implementation of GST on the tax front is absolutely
essential.
Mr. Balan of Numeric UPS suggests to have a common taxation structure
for UPS System across India so that the same rate of tax is followed
across India. This is beneficial to the customer and to the Government.
Different tax rates makes the product unnecessarily costlier to the
end-user (customer) as the one who is paying the taxes. With the
government opening up markets for FDI and making the environment more
conducive for foreign players to conduct business in India,
consolidation is imminent and the only way to go. With price war among
the players consolidation for achieving economies of scale will happen.
Price being the foremost parameter for purchase, technology is taking a
backseat as far as purchases are made.
Legrand intends to accelerate the growth of its brand by sustained
investment, launch of new products, and focus on growing the market
backed by the pan India sales and service network. According to Mr. Marc
Werle, CEO (UPS OPERATIONS) Legrand, we are also backing up the same
with dedicated global R&D team to support the launch of the state of the
art UPS for the Indian market in the coming months. The challenge being
faced by most manufacturers has been the weakening of the Indian Rupee
against the US Dollar which is the concern for importers and the
policies of the Government recently to accelerate investment in Retail
and Industrial verticals will certainly support the industry and its
growth. With the existing power situation not improving the UPS industry
can witness a positive growth in the coming months ahead.
Softdisk magazine does a thorough analysis of the UPS industry and
provides detailed information on the various players, rating & ranking
them on their various important parameters than any other agency. We
thank Softdisk for their dedicated efforts from 1993 to bring up the
Indian UPS Industry to a status of recognition from where it was in the
early 90's.
CONCLUSION :
Softdisk believes that being a negligible contributor to the GDP, Power
Electronic Industry does not receive enough attention from the Govt., we
believe the Govt. should realize the importance of Power Continuity as
it is the life line of major GDP contributors. Softdisk has seen it all
over the past two decades, more often then not some of the companies use
a lot of word jugglery in there promos, it must be the same thing which
some one else must be offering without making lot of noise and at a
better price. It is one area where customers need to be watchful.
Softdisk believes that if Manufacturers mad rush for sale at any cost
continues, one cannot expect a growth of 25-30% as it used to be but
settle for 6-8% growth, at-least for next two years, unless some thing
miraculous happens. So UPS business is not rosy and bright but has still
not lost its potential.
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