Tell us about Garware Wall Rope's business into defence sector?
Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd. (GWRL) is one of India's leading players in the technical textiles sector providing specialised solutions to global customers in aquaculture, agriculture, sports, geosynthetics, industrial, coated fabrics, etc. Today, our country imports half of its defence requirements. This opens an opportunity to develop them indigenously. We aim to grow our technical textile business by focusing on developing products catering to the defence segment. However, the gestation period in this sector is high as compared to other sectors and hence one needs perseverance to deliver quality products and generate of revenue. We entered this sector a few years back and have developed some innovative products. Also, we are working on developing new products which should aid our growth in this segment.
Defence sector is gaining importance since last couple of years. How has the friendly policies and Make in India initiative impacted the business in the segment?
Considering the business potential, defence is an attractive segment. Over time, there has been an impetus on ensuring ease of business. For example, today, most of the tenders are routed through e-Portals. The ‘Make in India' initiative has generated a lot of interest as can be seen by the number of companies which have forayed into the defence sector in the recent past. In the area of technical textiles, we want to substitute some of the defence imports and thereby started working with some of the defence research organisations. We have already developed and supplied two products —the RADOME and an aerostat balloon. Going forward, we envisage widening our product basket and increase our share in the defence sector.
Role of R&D in the defence sector is crucial. In this regard, tell us about Garware Wall Rope's capabilities.
Our mission is to provide innovative application focused solutions to our customers. This mission is has been driving our growth across business segments. Hence, innovation is a critical focus for us and is driven with passion by our R&D team comprising of technical experts in various disciplines who work together in our Govt. recognised R&D centers at Pune and Wai.
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