UltraTech’s newly launched wires and cables business, Ultravolt, is expected to register revenue of ₹6,000-7,000 crore in next two to three years, though margins may remain subdued due to promotional activities.
With a planned capex of ₹1,800 crore, Ultravolt targets to become the second-largest player in the wires segment by capacity. The company currently has an installed capacity of 1 million km and aims to scale this to 3.5-4 million km at Bharuch in Gujarat. Of the planned capex, the company has already invested ₹880 crore, underscoring its strong commitment to rapidly scaling its presence in the cables and wires market.
“We do not expect a meaningful contribution until FY28E and estimate the business to contribute 5 per cent of UltraTech’s revenue from FY29,” said Sudeep Anand, President & Lead Analyst, Oil & Gas, Cement, Railways & Infrastructure, Systematix Institutional Research.
Ahead of competition
Ultravolt will also leverage UltraTech’s distribution and sales network, including around 5,000 dealers and one lakh channel partners, along with 1,600 technical sales professionals across the construction sector.
Dilip Gaur, Director, Ultravolt, said UltraTech Cement could potentially identify market opportunities several months ahead of competitors as construction is estimated to account for nearly 80 per cent of wire and cable consumption. “Cement is bought first and wire is bought six months later. If anyone gets to know when and where cement is bought, we will know six months ahead of the competition,” he said at a recent event.
While the immediate impact may be limited, Choice Institutional Equities’ Ashutosh Murarka believes the presence of another large conglomerate could gradually raise the entry barrier for smaller players and drive consolidation across the industry. The key impact will be a redistribution of market share and some pressure on profitability, rather than any meaningful change in the industry’s underlying growth trajectory, the cement analyst added.
Ravi Singh, Chief Research Officer at Master Capital Services, concurred. Ultravolt is likely to intensify competition in the fragmented wires and cables market, featuring over 400 players, with Polycab accounting more than 18 per cent of the market, he said. While a full-fledged price war is not expected in the near term, pricing pressure could become more pronounced over the next two to three years, he added.