Utkarsh India Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-end engineering products and services in the infrastructure, agriculture and domestic water piping industry. Highly respected in both the government and infrastructure sectors, Utkarsh India brings along over 40 years of experience in high-end engineering and manufacturing, working with the leading raw material suppliers, offering only the best to its customers.
In an Interview with Tube & Pipe India, Mr. Utkarsh Bansal, Director, Utkarsh India Ltd. talks in detail about the product range of the Company.
“We are looking at becoming the largest producer of steel ERW pipes (both black and galvanized) in Eastern India within the next two years which is in line with the company’s target to achieve INR 5000 crore revenue in two years.”
Tube & Pipe India: Could you please give us a brief outline of the business journey of Utkarsh India along with its crucial milestones?
Utkarsh Bansal: The company started producing steel pipes about 40 years ago under the brand name ‘Bansal’ which, to date, is one of the most widely known brands in the eastern region for pipes. About 20 years ago, Utkarsh India Ltd. and the ‘Utkarsh’ brand as we know it came into being and we are one of the leading brands in the eastern region as well as pan-India for steel tubes and pipes.
Due to our presence in various infrastructural sectors such as roads and highways (via crash barriers), railway electrification (via OHE structures), urban development (via lighting poles and high-mast), water transportation (via PVC, HDPE and steel pipes), power transportation and distribution (via steel tubular poles, transmission towers) and telecom (via telecom towers) through our diversified product portfolio, we have become the brand of choice for steel tubes and pipes applications in all these sectors on a pan-India basis as we allow buyers to cater to their various infrastructural product needs in the same house. We are also one of the leading galvanizers in the country with 5 hot-dip galvanizing plants for pipes and structures and one of the most active players in the galvanized ERW pipes industry. Utkarsh India has gone from an enterprise doing less than INR 100 crore of revenue in 2002-2003 to doing more than INR 2000 crore of revenue (projected) in the year 2022-2023.
TPI: Kindly cast some light on the infrastructure, manufacturing capabilities, and machinery installed at your facility.
UB: Utkarsh India Ltd. is a manufacturing firm for various engineering goods that are supplied to infrastructure projects. The company, having over 40 years of manufacturing experience, is one of the largest processors of steel and the highest producers of galvanized products in the country with overall revenue of more than INR 1500 crores. We are one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of MS ERW Pipes in country and outside the country. We produce over 1,44,000 MT per annum of MS ERW pipes, with more than 3000 MT of ready-stock pipe in hand. We keep more than 3000 MT pipes in ready stock in different sizes to allow us to execute your orders timely without any delay to your project.
Our infrastructure comprises two world-class manufacturing facilities, six tube mills manufacturing 15 mm NB to 400 mm NB, three slitting lines, five galvanizing facilities with the capacity of galvanizing up to 12.5 meters, a high-speed tube mill that can process 100 meters/minute, an in-house testing facility and in-house end finishing, bevelled end, and threading facility.
We have in-house hot dip galvanizing facilities, using only special high-grade zinc (99.995% purity) procured from Hindustan Zinc Ltd. We have in-house testing facilities and specialized manpower to ensure standard coating and the best finish at all times. We always keep sufficient raw material in hand to ensure we can complete the inspection (both stage and final) within 15 days through direct or 3rd party inspection and we provide excellent service during sales as well as complete after-sales service. Our plants being located in the NH provide easy transportation, and our in-house logistics department helps to find the most cost-efficient transport options around the country.
TPI: Tell us about the product portfolio of Utkarsh India along with its key strengths and applications.
UB: Utkarsh India Ltd. is forging ahead manufacturing all diameters of steel tubes and GI pipes for applications in the fields of air & water lines, structural & fencing, fire sprinklers, borewells, hollow section, idlers & belt conveyors, lancing pipes, boiler & heat exchanger and general engineering. Below are the specifications we provide for different applications:
- Air & Water Application [IS 1239, IS 3589, BS 1387, IS 4270, EN 10255, ASTM A 53, AS 1074]
- Firefighting & HVAC Applications [IS 1239, IS 3589, ASTM A 53, ASTM A 795, ASTM A 135- Grooved Pipes
- Structural Application [ IS 1161, IS 4923, EN 10219, ASTM A 500, AS 1163]
- General Engineering Applications [IS 3601, IS 9295, AS 1143- Idlers & Belt Conveyors]
- Steel Tubular Pole [IS 2713]
We source steel/HR coil from the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL). Our strict QA/QC team checks all pieces of all lots at various stages from raw material procurement, during production, and before dispatch to ensure there are no errors when the material reaches the site.
We also manufacture large diameter pipes from 8-inch nominal bore to 16-inch nominal bore with a manufacturing capacity of approximately 4000 MT per month. In this, we have pipes of different diameters like 200 mm, 250 mm, 300 mm, 350 mm, and 400 mm nominal bore. We are planning to expand this range to a 20-inch nominal bore very soon to cater to the need of the market.
TPI: What are the recent developments at your end? Also, what will be your future plans?
UB: We are looking at expanding our capacity to 2,40,000 MT by enhancing the capacity of our large diameter mill by adding 18-inch and 20-inch (450 mm and 500 mm OD) production facilities as well as creating enhanced facilities for production and storage of large diameter pipes as well as adding two more mills for other sizes. We are looking at becoming the largest producer of steel ERW pipes (both black and galvanized) in Eastern India within the next two years which is in line with the company’s target to achieve INR 5000 crore revenue in two years.
TPI: Please shed some light on the market footprint and clientele of Utkarsh India along with the expansion plans.
UB: We have a strong channel market in the eastern region with over 50 active distributors working with us for various markets. Alongside this, we have a retail network of more than 1000 retailers across West Bengal who are working via these distributors. In the industrial segment, we have buyers on a pan-India basis from various sectors. NTPC Ltd., National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO), Tata Steel Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd., National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Coal India Ltd., Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), ESL Steel Ltd., Indian Railways, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., CESC Ltd., West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd., and DMC Corporation are some of our reputed clients.
Utkarsh India Ltd., a govt of India recognized export house, has achieved the EEPC India award for export excellence for two consecutive years & gained a foothold in various countries including Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern island, Sri Lanka, the UAE, the UK, etc.
Also Read: GAIL and GSPL Poised to Reap Benefit from New Gas Pipeline Tariff Rules
TPI: Share your outlook on the tube and pipe industry. How do you see the market evolving in the future?
UB: India is known to have INR 60,000 crore steel tubes and pipes market which is growing by 4-5% CAGR on an annual basis. We predict this growth trajectory to be further amplified due to the demand for steel pipes in the various schemes of the government across sectors such as the Jal Jeevan Mission for water transportation.
“Utkarsh India Ltd., a govt of India recognized export house, has achieved the EEPC India award for export excellence for two consecutive years & gained a foothold in various countries including Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern island, Sri Lanka, the UAE, the UK, etc.”
TPI: What is the technology and business roadmap of Utkarsh India?
UB: The business roadmap for the company is to achieve revenue of INR 5,000 crore by FY 2024-25 across all verticals within the steel processing, handling, pipes, rolling, and galvanizing sphere, within which our roadmap for the steel pipes vertical is as follows:
- To achieve a volume of 2,40,000 MT in steel pipes (black+galvanized) by FY 2024-25
- To achieve a 5% market share of the steel tubes and pipes market in India
- To be the leading brand for steel tubes and pipes in Eastern India
Technology-wise, we are utilizing all the latest technology in our mills to achieve the best quality and accuracy. We have also implemented the use of SAP S4/ HANA for our production process and planning to ensure we are adhering to the time commitments and requirements of our customers.
