7. HCL

Hindustan Cables Limited (HCL), a government of India undertaking,

manufactures products ranging from jelly filled and fiber optic cables in four

units at Allahabad, West Bengal, and Hyderabad. An ISO 9002 company, it has one

of the largest capacities of 107 Lakh Conductor Kilometer (LCKM) of jelly filled

cables and a manufacturing capacity for fiber optic cables of 70,000 fiber

kilometer (FKM), per annum. In 1987, HCL pioneered the manufacture of optical

fiber cables in India. Presently, the company is one of the major suppliers of

jelly-filled cables to the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The installed unit at Hyderabad with a capacity 44 lckm, is one of the

largest factories in South Asia with computerized Robotic Reel Handling system,

Tandem Insulating Lines and High Speed Horizontal Twiners, and a Computerized

Automatic Cable Test. A second unit at Hyderabad manufactures three million CKM

PIJF cables ranging up to 3,600 pairs. The company’s R&D center develops

microprocessor-based cable testing instruments and special application cables.

Today, the unit at West Bengal has an installed capacity of 63 lckm and

manufactures polythene-insulated jelly-filled cables and aerial cables. Its

turnkey project division involves designing network systems, connecting cable

network through exchanges and interfacing with major trunk routes, satellites,

microwaves and other telecommunication channels. The company has an ongoing

project for manufacturing coiled cords with technical support from Hyundai, and

another plant for manufacturing concad copper rod. Facilities to manufacture

Polythene Insulated Jelly Filled Cables (PIJF) of 10 lckm capacity per annum

were commissioned early this year.

HCL will supply 84 lckm of PIJF and 27,156 fkm of cables to DoT and BSNL this

year. For the year 2001-02, the company is expected to continue as a market

leader in telecommunication cables, systems and services and be a major

contributor in building up the country’ s telecom infrastructure. It is

focused on attaining full capacity utilization and high profitability while

diversifying its business activities in domestic and overseas markets. The new

market prospects for the company are in countries like Russia, Kuwait, Fiji,

Jordan, Cyprus, Oman and Malaysia, where its products have been widely accepted.

Last year, the company had recorded a turnover of Rs 804 crore from the sales of

85 lckm JFC, 46,860 fkm optical fiber and Rs 123 crore turnkey projects. The

company is expecting a turnover of Rs 974 crore from the current fiscal.