Khaitan Electricals Ltd (KEL), the electrical solutions company, aims to cross Rs 1000 crore mark in turnover by 2010-11 notwithstanding the current phase of economic slowdown. It hopes to achieve this feat mostly on the back of bullish rural demand.
The company achieved a turnover of Rs 340 crore in 2007-08 and hopes to close the current fiscal with a turnover of about Rs 370 crore.
“The meltdown will not have any major impact on our growth plans and the rural demand will continue to be bullish pushing our sales”, said Sunil K Khaitan ,vice-chairman and managing director, KEL.
The company, which posted a profit of Rs 13 crore in 2007-08, is confident of achieving its rather tall targets set for 2010-11 as it feels the satisfactory performance of the agriculture sector will drive the demand growth in rural areas.
Besides, the value of export of fans is expected to increase by 50 percent from Rs 10 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 15 crore in 2008-09. KEL exported 2 lakh fans to 16 countries during 2007-08. The Company, whose fan sales constitute 68 percent of the total turnover, expects the share of fans in the overall business of the company to decline to 40 percent in next 2 to 3 years.
Stating that the eastern states are important for the company, Khaitan said, the eastern states accounted for 14 percent turnover of the company. Since the demand in these states is increasing, the company hoped the contribution of the eastern states to the overall business of the company will grow to 18 percent by 2010-11.
KEL will introduce new products and will expand the distribution network for increasing its market share. As part of its product innovation, the company has launched a new range of metal pedestal fan and a metal high speed fan (Thunder) in the Orissa market. It has plans for appointing 300 new distributors across the country to take the total to 1800 from 1500 at present.
Referring to the business of the company in Orissa, Khaitan said, the company’s sales in Orissa increased significantly to Rs 12 crore in 2007-08 from Rs 3 crore in 2006-07. KEL hopes to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 15 crore in Orissa by the end of the current fiscal. The company’s product portfolio includes fans, domestic and agricultural pumps, home appliances (both electrical and non-electrical), switch gears, wires and cables.
