Exclusive Interview – Harsh Pagay

Many congratulations on an excellent quarter. What would you primarily attribute it to?

We at HFCL take a lot of effort in understanding the needs of our partners and supplying quality products that are highly customized and reliable.

We have built a reputation not just in India, but across geographies that we operate in, based on our values and deep understanding of the customer’s needs.

I feel that this strategy is hugely responsible for our sustained growth even during these turbulent times and we continue to grow stronger as the industry moves ahead with a resilient turnaround.

You have found success in exports of optical fiber cables. Please elucidate.

Exports are an integral part of our revenue base and we have seen steady growth in the last couple of years. We are actively exploring new territories that were not tapped until now, and continue to see positive response.

Europe and the Middle East have welcomed us, and prospects continue to look good. In other markets, such as North and South America and Africa, we are actively pitching for new business and expect to gain a strong foothold very soon.

How is work progressing at your OFC plant at Hyderabad and capacity augmentation at HTL?

The optical fiber plant in Hyderabad is going to start a new chapter in our growth story. The work is in its final stages and as soon as the testing phase is complete, we expect to commission the plant.

Top-of-the-line manufacturing equipment along with new production methods will augment our capability to compete at a global stage effectively.

With Indian service providers also in the midst of revamping their existing infrastructure, our next-gen products will play a key role in delivering a world-class telecom eco-system in India.

Capacity augmentation at our HTL Chennai plant is complete. The plant specializes in a complete range of FTTx products. They include optical fiber cables for all FTTx applications and various optical network passive components.

What is your vision of your role in the domestic market?

The domestic market is going through a period of transition where new technologies are being tried and implemented with the aim of achieving the right mix of scaling the networks across the country.

As consumer expectations are increasing, so is the intent of the operators to deliver a high-quality experience to their customers, which requires a rapid evolution in the existing infrastructure.

For this, telecom operators are looking for high-quality products, which can enhance network capabilities and capacities to support humongous data transmission needs with utmost reliability.

We work with all the telecom operators in India and are committed to delivering all-round value chain supremacy by manufacturing world-class OFC products, designed and installed by highly skilled manpower for the fiber and radio networks.

HFCL sees itself as a 360-degree player with capabilities to match the needs of any operator.

The huge Indian market, with a large part of population in the age group of 25–55 years offers great potential.

With right business environment and positive push from the government, it’s likely to grow at a fast pace.

Your chairman has recently stated, “we are also expanding our business geographies in new domains (in addition to export of optical fiber cables). We are focused on new products and technologies that shall open additional growth avenues and ensure sustainability.” Please tell us more about these plans.

The brand, HFCL is gaining global recognition due to our export footprint in 50 countries and our extensive involvement in international projects, such as Dhaka Metro, and Mauritius Metro.

Since we have a diverse portfolio of both products and services in the telecommunications domain, extending it to a larger customer base is a natural progression.