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The growing demand for Ranka’s high-grade steels is an unmistakable sign of the Indian CV industry’s rapid evolution.
Bangalore-based steel servicing generation vehicles coming in to steels like Hot Rolled Pickled and Oiled company, Ranka Steels is the market are B key to Ranka Steels’ (HRPO), Hot Rolled Pickled Skin looking at expanding is game plan. The company is in talks Passed and Oiled (HRSPO) and Cold clientele in the commercial Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Rolled Closed Annealed (CRCA). These vehicle industry. The spate of new (DICV) to supply higher-end processed steels are primarily meant to make cabins and other related components and subassemblies. DICV currently sources steel sheets directly from steel mills. But, it is now looking at steel servicing companies like Ranka to acquire high quality raw material in customised sizes and profiles. Already, Ranka Steels, caters to the requirements of OEMs like Volvo Buses, Volvo Construction Equipment, Telcon, Caterpillar, either as a tier-1 or tier-2 supplier. The steel maker also counts as customers, cabin and FES manufacturers such as Mag Engineering and Prabha Engineers along with component manufacturers such as Brakes India, India Nippon Electrical, IFB and Bosch. Hearteningly, even body builders are taking to value added steels. They desire ‘Volvo Bus like quality and durability’ for their bus bodies. Ranka Steels has been supplying HDGS, CRCA stainless steel to Volvo Buses. It is the use of these high grade steels that imparts corrosion resistance to the buses.
Currently, the CV industry and its ancillaries account for 15 percent of Ranka Steels’ Rs 250 crore turnover. Growing supplies for bigger and better CVs is expected to grow this contribution to 20 percent in the near future. The larger picture is even more attractive. ‘The per capita consumption of steel in India is 65 kgs, whereas, that for China is 700 kgs. We expect consumption in India to also go up to 350 kgs by 2020,’ projects Ashok Ranka, Director, Ranka Steels.
In line with this estimation, Ranka Steels is looking at registering volumes of 15,000 tonnes per month by 2020. That is the basis for capacity augmentation. ‘Currently, we are using almost all of the 5,000 units per month capacity at our Bangalore plant. Hence, we are in the process of commissioning a new 12,000 tonne per month plant on the outskirts of the city,’ explains. For a start, 35 percent of the plant’s capacity will be immediately deployed. So confident is Ashok Ranka of his company’s upward trajectory that he has already planned a third plant around Chennai, as and when capacity utilisation of the second plant exceeds 70 percent.
Adding extra capacity is one thing but retaining customers is quite another. Ranka achieves the latter through superior service.
