It has often been the refrain that Bajaj Electricals does more trading than manufacturing. But Shekhar Bajaj, chairman and managing director, believes that products should be made only if it makes better business sense. This is the reasoning that has prompted the company to put up its own integrated highmast system-cum-galvanising unit at Ranjangaon near Pune at a cost of Rs 45 crore.

The plant has a capacity of 30,000 tpa. Mr Bajaj believes that in the case of highmast lighting systems, the manufacturing route is a better option, despite demand in the country still being as low as 1000 units a year.

Being more effective and energy efficient, highmast lighting systems are the preferred choice today at major installations like airports, sea ports, highways, major junctions and sports stadiums. However, the industry has been entirely dependent on imports from the UK, Middle East and the Far East.

Incidentally, even Bajaj Electricals, whose engineering and projects division has been in the business since 1984, like other players in the market, has been importing the shafts.

"Making comparable quality highmasts at the Ranjangaon plant offers the industry the option to procure them domestically, shielding them from forex fluctuations," says Mr. Bajaj. "Prices will be competitive and customers will benefit from reduced delivery times - from the prevailing eight to ten weeks to under four weeks," he adds.

"The market is growing at the rate of 35 per cent," says Bajaj, "and 30,000 tpa was the smallest world size project we could have."

The highlight of the project is a Rs 10-crore, 13-meter-long zinc bath, the first of its kind in the country and the fifth in the world. It has the capacity to galvanise mega-sized steel sections in single dip operations. The bath is heated using LPG fuel, is remote controlled, and has the capacity to hold 270 MT of molten zinc at 450 degrees centigrade. "Even street-lighting poles can be galvanised in a single dip operation," says a company official.

This facility will enable the company to branch out into other areas of high structure installations, including transmission towers, lattice towers, sub-station structures and galvanised octagonal/tubular poles for the telecom, thermal power and wind energy sectors.

Notably, the company expects wind energy to spur demand for its products, where it will cater to both in-house as well as industry needs. Ahmedabad-based M/s Suzlon, which has put up a wind farm in Satara, has already placed a trial order for 11 wind energy towers. Bajaj Electricals, which has put in Rs 15 crore in wind energy, will be investing a further Rs 15 crore in the business.

The company will begin trial production by mid-January 2001 and stabilised commercial production by April 2001. It expects to reach 50 per cent production capacity in the first year, full capacity utilisation by the second year, with a turnover of Rs 100 crore. "Of this, 20 per cent would come from exports," says Bajaj.