Visaka Industries JMD on plans to grow by 12-15% in FY23

Telangana-based Visaka Industries aims to grow by 12-15 per cent in FY23 by focussing on products related to sustainability. “As more and more people are adopting a more sustainable lifestyle, especially in urban areas, we are hopeful that Vnext, our sustainable construction alternatives to plywood and gypsum, and ATUM, our integrated solar roof will be driving the growth over the next few quarters,” Vamsi Krishna Gaddam, Joint Managing Director, Visaka Industries, said in an interview. Edited excerpts:

By growing at 23.5 per cent, the company has reported its highest ever annual operating revenues of Rs 1,416 crore. What is the outlook for this financial year?
We strive each day and aim higher and bigger with every step, every product, every innovation, and this financial year, we’re well on our way to grow by 12 to 15 percent.

Which segment do you expect to be the key growth driver in the next few quarters?
Visaka has always been a strong proponent of sustainability. However, in the past few years, especially in the Covid era, the need for a greener, healthier, and more sustainable lifestyle has become the need of the hour and a resounding demand of the consumer as well. As more and more people are adopting a more sustainable lifestyle, especially in urban areas, we are hopeful that Vnext, our sustainable construction alternatives to plywood and gypsum, and ATUM, our integrated solar roof will be driving the growth over the next few quarters.

With the new-age businesses, are you trying to reduce dependency on the asbestos segment?
As I’ve mentioned previously, there is a large segment that is looking to go sustainable and green in urban areas. However, there is a larger demographic that relies on Visaka for basic needs such as shelter. There is a high demand for our cement roofing sheets, primarily in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and especially so in the northern and western belt. Due to this perpetual rise in demand, it is a highly lucrative business for us. Since this is a major source of revenue for Visaka, our dependency on this segment continues.

What is the outlook on inflation on your business? Any price hikes in the offing?
For any business to remain sustainable, a brand needs to stay ahead of market trends. In a pandemic-stricken world, we’ve seen prices of basic commodities go up relentlessly. Ours being a primarily construction business, we’ve seen raw material prices, labour costs, service costs skyrocket with no end in sight. Consequently, we too have decided to increase our prices in Q1.

What is your roadmap in the EV space? How many EV charging stations do you intend to install this year and what would be the revenue model?
The EV space is not something we happened to just stumble upon. It was a well-thought-out process that has been in the offing for a few years. We’ve been strategic in the placement of our charging stations and are looking at rigorous expansion in this industry. We’ve set up over 250 ATUM Charge stations nationwide and are looking to double that within the year.

For the moment, we are focused on brand presence, which I feel is the first and the most crucial aspect when setting up a new product. Once we’ve established that, we’ll move on to a revenue-generation model. We have many activities planned and many already in place at our charging stations. An important feature of ATUM Charge is that we’re 100% Solar Powered which means that we’re not dependent on fossil fuels for our power and are Net Zero in terms of electricity consumption.

In your sustainable building materials segment, how do you see consumer demand changing after Covid?
It’s crazy to think how a microscopic virus has wreaked havoc on the entire world and changed the landscape of businesses for decades to come. Covid affected many aspects of the building materials segment. One such aspect was the scarcity of labour across the country. This may have been a blessing in disguise for us. The outflow of labour increased the demand for Vnext, our sustainable building products, as they require less labour and less time to finish projects. Many incomplete projects were also completed during lockdown.

The company had earlier said that it plans to become free of long-term debt in 2023-24. Is that plan on track?
Of course. We are glad to share that we are on track and efforts are actively being taken to this end.

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