ITI bullish on a strong growth year in the wake of various opportunities

Over the years ITI has created its own brand identity. It has started assembling and manufacturing many productsand each of these products speak for the brand that it stands for today. It completely believes in quality products thattries to distinguish the ITI brand from the rest. ITI does not believe in shortcuts and strictly abides by the systems procedures. Sharing further his views, K. Alagesan, Chairman and Managing Director - ITI Limited speaks to VARINDIA on what makes the ITI brand different - 

ITI Limited is a public sector undertaking in the telecommunications technology segment. It has reported a turnover of 2051 crores for 2018-19, while in 2017-18 it posted 1700 crores, therefore witnessing a 20% growth. The company is aiming at a growth 40- 50% in the next year.

ITI has upgradedits infrastructure in all its plants and is today manufacturing diverse productsthat also includes smart cards. 

“We have also started manufacturing smart energy meter which is going to be the future product of ITI. A lot of requirements are going to come from state government like UP and Haryana and also fromEnergy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL). As far as smart energy meter is concerned, we are one of the two companiesthat manufactures it in the country. We just have started manufacturing them and will very soon be deploying them on the field. We will be in a position to manufacture them in huge quantities,” says K. Alagesan, Chairman and Managing Director - ITI Limited.

The smart energy meter is IoT enabled with a SIM card. ITI has received an order of Rs 25 lakhs for these smart meters.As there will bea huge requirement coming, ITI has started setting up a facility in Bangalore. 

“Another project that we are getting into is the BharatNet Phase II project on an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) model. We are also working onthe Mahanetproject under the Maharashtra Government. We have taken up these projects on behalf of both the state governments and BSNL,” states Alagesan when asked about the current projects that ITI is working on. 

ITI works together with backend partners. As per requirement, ITI manufactures and supplies components, which includes solar panels, radio modems, OFC cables, ONT, OLT, which also happen to be its core competency products. But cabling and other things are done by its back-end partners. 

ITI is also acquiring a plant in Raebareli for manufacturing core cables. As far as productivityis concerned, it has three lines in Raebarelli and one line in Palakkad. 

“We have a strong manufacturing backbone. Besides supplying products to BSNL, BBNL, EESL, we are also taking up the ASCON(Army Static Switch Communication Network)project, for which we are serving the Defence sector;we are pitching our products for the paramilitary forces, Assam Rifles, Ministry of Home Affairs, NTRO (National Technical Research Organisation) and many more. So for this defence communication network, we have given our end-to-end secrecy solution and the Army, the Air Force and the Navy are together integrated into this network,” explains Alagesan.

Another success story of ITI is that it has its own datacenter for which it has invested close to 200 crores. It has partnered with TrimaxIT Infrastructure & Services who acts as a consultant for the datacenter. It is running as a Tier 3 plus datacenter and has a capacity for 250 -300 racks, which can further be expanded to 1000 racks. 

“There are further plans to set up one more datacenter in Naini, Allahabad,” adds Alagesan. 

ITI has also setupa smart cardmanufacturing facility, where it has put in four lines.Each line can manufacture 1000 cards per hour. Itsautomated system can therefore churn out1.5 crore cardsper year.

“So we have the capability to manufacture and supply smart cards too. Getting an accreditation for manufacturing NPR cards or any smart cards is really difficult. But we are fortunate to have received the accreditationby NPCI,” he says. 

ITI has also tied up with many as 25 to 30start-up companies, whom it has identified and is in the process of tying with many more. It tries to create a synergy between thestart-upcompaniesand ITI so that it is in a position to meet their requirement. 

“We already have a Start-up hub with hundred seats;our aim is to have 1000 more seats. We try to provide them facilities like WiFi, power, table &chair and whatever they need to work on a daily basis,on a weekly basis or a monthly basis. For instance a hardware guy wants to access our 3D printing facility, we will manage it for himor if he wants to the PCB assembly service, we will provide it for him. So any sort of help they require, we are there to help them. Additionally, if any start-up has any good ideas, we can back them up and take it forward,” Alagesan explains.