Mr.Saboo is a rare industrialist with having an interest in innovation, mentoring, and philanthropy. While working for his own company Electrolytes, he takes a keen interest in the activities of IEEMA. He has been at the top positions in IEEMA and Elecrama. His leadership has proved successful in the field of Electricals and Electronics. He always emphasizes the importance of research in industry. He believes in the strength of the MSME sector and comes forward with practical suggestions. Mr. Saboo takes a deep interest in social activities through reliable NGOs. Here we present his views through his interview.
Q. The Annual convention of IEEMA was held in September 2021 under your leadership and it was a great success. Please express your thoughts interview
Mr. Anil Saboo was elected as President, IEEMA for 2020-21
Mr. Anils about Future business opportunities, Government policies, and export possibilities.
Teamwork is Dream Work. IEEMA always focuses and works for the growth of the Industry & its members. Being collaborative we as an industry need to think of innovative business models to keep up the pace of modernization through smart grid technologies. The biggest opportunity and benefit to India lies in its consumer base which can help any product or services business in the country to rise again.
Talking about the policy, the Government has rightly emphasized the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” in the current world scenario. Indian industry has always been dynamic and a lot of zeal and enthusiasm exists amongst existing and new entrepreneurs. Indian industry has adequate capacity and most of them have actually been expanding their manufacturing setup based on the domestic economic growth and rise of Indian exports. The electrical equipment manufacturing segment is one of the most robust industry segments in India with a combined turnover of 50 billion USD and contributes more than 7.5 billion USD to exports which can be further boosted to 25 Billion USD by 2025.
The Government of India has focused on investing in railway infrastructure by making investor-friendly policies. It has moved quickly to enable Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in railways to improve infrastructure for freight and high-speed trains. And the Railway infrastructure investments are expected to increase from US$ 58.96 billion to US$ 124.03 billion in 2019-22.
Q. Sir, you have been at the top position in IEEMA and Elecrama. How was your overall experience? What are your suggestions for the future?
It was a privilege for me to serve as President of IEEMA and Chairman of ELECRAMA 2020. We faced the most difficult time period of the decade and served our members well to face it. Despite everything being virtual, we performed and organized many meetings with different ministries in GoI as well as organized virtual webinars, Exhibitions, and conferences for the benefit of industry members. Also launched a new website of IEEMA, ” a window to connect with the World”. IEEMA Started a few new divisions like Women in Power, TISCO, Standardization Cell to further strengthen the organizations and me members. In the 14th edition of ELECRAMA, we celebrated electrifying 30 years with the key theme of “ELECRAMA 2020- A Global Platform for Innovation & Technology”. And generated new business of Rs. 30,000 Cr. ELECRAMA 2020 was a grand success with the participation of more than 13,50 exhibitors from 120 countries and a footfall of 3,50,000 visitors.
Q. The Indian economy has suffered a lot due to the pandemic. Now we are observing fast changes in the development of various industries. How will you describe the Electrical and electronic industry in this context?
The Prime Minister of India recently announced that India will reduce one billion tonnes of carbon emissions from the total projected emissions by 2030. India will also reduce carbon intensity by 45 percent in its economy.
HE also said, when India took the ambitious pledge of achieving 450 GW installed capacity by 2030 through non-fossil fuel sources, it was seen as over-ambitious. Now, India is not only on track to achieve this target but has decided to further raise it to 500 GW. India has also pledged to fulfill 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewables by 2030.
The industry should be ready to grasp the above opportunity of energy transition during this decade. In addition, the current COVID situation has completely changed the global supply chain scenario and has also given an opportunity to grow the local manufacturing and industries. For shaping the electrical and electronics industry and to become global leaders we need to focus on
1. Localized manufacturing
2. Digitalization and Innovation
3. Global penetration
4. Enhancing Capability by International collaborations
5. Focus on quality & productivity
India is the third-largest producer and second-largest consumer of electricity in the world and had an installed power capacity of 373.43 GW as of October 2020. Power is among the most critical components of infrastructure, crucial for the economic growth and welfare of nations. The existence and development of adequate infrastructure are essential for the sustained growth of the Indian economy.
The Government of India has released its roadmap to achieve 227 GW capacity in renewable energy (including 114 GW of solar power and 67 GW of wind power) by 2022. The Union Government of India is preparing a ‘rent a roof’ policy for supporting its target of generating 40 gigawatts (GW) of power through solar rooftop projects by 2022. Coal-based power-generation capacity in India, which currently stands at 199.5 GW, is expected to witness a total installed capacity addition of 47.86 GW by 2022.
The electrical industry is now incorporating the electronic industry to adopt IoT and IT for effective power systems. The semiconductor and chip manufacturers involved in cloud computing have seen a surge in demand. This has been caused by a huge rise in the number of people going online and depending on virtual. Never in our lifetime has the world seen such an aggressive global emergency and even the tech giants with all their resources have felt the strain.
Q. As CMD of Elektrolites Power, how do you see the business development post covid? Please also suggest ways to encourage R&D for better competition in the global market.
Electrolytes are working on the development of new products as well as looking for business collaboration & tie-up for mutual benefits. The major growth drivers for Elektrolites business growth are policy, Investment, Adoption of Technology, and the most important generating Demand. Now is the time to make all equipment communicable and smart to give value-added service to users. We shall be focusing on the adoption of new technology, innovation, and trends of the market to introduce cost-effective solutions to utilities. One of the ways we are trying to support our clients and prospects right now is through sharing our key findings from the ongoing research and data. The fundamentals of Business Development will remain the same.
R & D has to be understood as the necessary first phase of any process leading to technological innovation. Indian industry has not been investing much in R & D and up-gradation in comparison to other developed/developing countries. Our ecosystem starting from University-Industry linkage has to be redefined and allow innovation to flourish. We need to understand that as a nation catering to global markets, we must be involved in the innovation cycle by adopting new technologies. All Eminent manufacturers Can enhance exports by investing more in R & D, Technology & Innovation to upgrade themselves and make themselves capable of capturing the world market as we have less than 2 % and can go up to 5% of the 500 billion USD market. The government of India should provide incentives to invest in R & D by restoring a 200 % deduction for expenses incurred for R & D.
Q. Sir, please share your views on social responsibilities and spiritual development to sort out conflicts. Please also tell us about your hobbies.
The pandemic has showcased how much our daily lives depend on the efforts of essential workers — e.g., nurses, doctors, postal workers, delivery drivers, and other healthcare workers, and researchers. These people are serving our country by providing critical care and resources without any fear, chaos, and illness, and by this gesture would overwhelm our communities.
To maintain a good mental balance, spiritual development is absolutely necessary, especially in today’s time. Covid pandemic has created a lot of natural opportunities to reinforce these values of social responsibility and social solidarity which will definitely reduce the conflicts between people.
Spiritual development is a powerful positive force in the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict. To achieve sustainable peace and social stability, we need to promote a heightened awareness of spiritual benefits and their reconciliatory role. I firmly believe that well-educated children are the future of India. It’s my passion to help underprivileged children. I’m founder Trustee of NGO – JAGRITI (www.jaipur.org), Jaipur from 2010, and providing FREE quality education to more than 4000 underprivileged children in 14 schools in Jaipur, Rajasthan