"Every one PC out of five is under threat of data loss" - Pradeep Pimpley

Despite the fact that manufacturing has not yet taken off in India, there are
a few players who have tried creating a niche in this area. Since 1973, Pune
based DB Power having its manufacturing plant in Pune and Satara is catering to
a large number of clients. They are mainly from sectors like oil, banking,
medical diagnostic, process and automation industry, telecommunication,
pharmaceutical sector and atomic energy, to name a few. Nancy Sudheer of The DQ
Week met up with Pradeep Pimpley, GM (Ope-rations), DB Power Electronics to
under-stand the company's strategy for the Indian market.

DB Power has been present in the low-end UPS segment even before the MNCs
ventured into this space. How has this strategy helped increase presence in the
Indian market?

There is a big gap of almost 10 to 12 percent between demand and supply of
electricity. The peak demand supply gap is 18 to 20 percent; therefore every one
PC out of five is under threat of data loss. Government's five-year plans have
failed to meet target of the power requirements in the country. Most of the
power plants, especially thermal power plants are as old as 25 years and run at
almost 50 percent efficiency level. In addition to it, there is lot of leakage,
which takes place from the point of generation to the end-user. This lead to
adding extra burden on electrical system, which has resulted into poor quality
and frequent breakdowns.

All these indicate huge requirement of UPS or inverters to the equipments
like PCs etc. Therefore, DB has online UPS range starting from 1KVA. In the sub
1KVA market, there have been lots of entry and exits by various vendors. Our
presence in this segment is consistent with mostly to the large volume
corporates. We cannot comment on the strategy adopted by others, but there is
definitely a growing market in this segment.

All across small towns and cities in India, there are a lot of local UPS
manufacturers providing low cost solutions. Have you faced severe competition
from such players?

Local UPS vendors have never been competitive, as now, DB UPS has
established itself well. There was a time when we faced a problem due to the
duty structure, as price became a sensitive issue. But even then, for
institutional sale, this was not a problem.

What are the other segments DB Power is looking at to push its UPS
range of products (including both higher and lower range)?

We are looking at expanding into all kinds of new segments, especially the
power sector. In fact, in other sectors like nuclear and thermal power
generating stations, uninterrupted processing plants, cement and other
engineering sectors, several national and international consultants recognize
us. Now we are also supplying customized UPSs to Nuclear Power Corporation of
India, which have successfully passed the most stringent SEISMIC test.

Now that you have been prominent player in the UPS segment, what is your
opinion on the Indian UPS market?

In India, most of the UPS players are importing kits from China, Taiwan and
dumping into the market. Such importing brings down quality and service, but
gives advantage in terms of duty structure. The market for below 5KVA UPS has in
fact become crowded with a lot of fly-by -night operators. This segment caters
to the small office or SOHO segment. In monitory terms, the UPS market is of Rs
1,400 crore out of which, nearly Rs 850 crore is for the below 5KVA and above.
In fact, DB Power is a strong player in the corporate and enterprise market and
enjoys 20 percent marketshare in this segment. With the present growth of around
20 to 25 percent per annum in the above 5KVA market, it requires prompt
after-sales support. Additionally, it has to be sold as a power solution rather
than mere box selling. Other factors like power audits, battery sizing, ROI and
related calculations have to be taken care of for such clients.