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CEO: Anil
Agarwal
Year Of Start-up: 1975
Turnover: Rs 550 crore (estimated)
Area Of Operation: Telecom cables and accessories
Address: Dhanraj Mahal, 5th Floor, CSM Road, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai - 400 039
Tel.: 022-2855551/285552/285553/2855554
Fax: 022-2836474 |
A year of dismal performance,
thanks to lack of orders from DoT, Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd last year succeeded in
bringing the numbers back in place. Riding on the growth in the business of optical-fibre
telecom cables, the company is estimated to have posted a turnover of Rs 550 crore during
the fiscal 1997-98.
The business of Jelly Filled
Telecom Cables (JFTC) was increased by over 60 percent while that of the Optical Fibre
Telecom Cables (OFTC) increased by over 500 percent. In the first six months of 1997-98,
the supply of JFTC exceeded 31 lckm against the 14.20 lckm for the corresponding period
last year, thus registering a growth of 118 percent. In the case of OFTC, the sales of the
first six months were about 52,000 fkm (fibre kilometer) while it was barely 1,100 fkm for
the corresponding period in the previous year. The company’s optical-fibre plant,
which is also the largest in the country, also experienced 28 percent growth in production
capacity over the previous year.
For Sterlite, the performance of
telecom business last year was up to its expectations. If the orders it got in the last
financial year are any standard of measurement, Sterlite is likely to retain its
leadership position in the years to come with substantial volume jumping. Going by the
signals from DoT, the company is optimistic about improved performance. Not to mention
that DoT has planned an aggressive line build-up for the Ninth Plan. In the last fiscal,
DoT orders increased approximately by 34 percent over the previous year. With the removal
of restriction on technology, the company feels the demand for OFTC should increase from
the private basic service operators. However, the company does not consider the economic
slowdown had any impact on its business.
The growth strategy continues to
be focusing more on non-ferrous metal and telecommunication sector with
integrated operations and value additions. Recently, DoT has pre-maturely repaid Rs 220
crore to Sterlite against the supplies made in the past on the deferred payment terms.
However, it
continues to balance the presence in JFTC and OFTC. As part of its strategy, the company
has backward integration into optical fibre, and jelly-filled copper cables.
When it comes to the business of
JFTC, the company enjoys the advantage of having low capital cost as well as low
operational cost in the industry. Moreover, the company has to its credit
the ISO 9002 quality accreditation and strong financial base. Sterlite is the first
private sector company in the country
to manufacture optical-fibre cables. With the demand for optical-fibre expected
to grow world-wide at an average CAGR of 18 percent for the next three years, Sterlite
Industry sees prospects in
exports too.