The daring gamble that transformed Havells India

Published: 10th July 2024

By: Value Research

Its journey to becoming an electronics giant today goes back to a daring pivot and near-defeats! Swipe to read how its architect Qimat Rai Gupta or QRG played the gamble!

Havells India’s un-easy journey

Current MD, Anil Rai Gupta, recounts in his book how Havells thrived in its core electric metre business in the late 90s due to India's power sector reforms.

From the book "Havells: The Untold Story of Qimat Rai Gupta"

Back then, the segment made up over 60% of its annual turnover, and its revenue grew from Rs 60 crore to Rs 300 crore in just four years. The future looked bright until…

The booming business

By 2000, electromechanical metres replaced electronic ones that made metres easy to produce. The sector was soon flooded with new players, plummeting prices and margins.

Shift in technology

The environment worsened with increasing kickbacks and commissions. Havells faced a tough decision: stay in an unviable market or pivot. So, it shut down the metre business in 2003.

At the crossroads

The risky move allowed Havells to reallocate resources to other ventures while keeping the human cost to almost zero! How did QRG achieve this? Find out in our story from the link below.

The outcome

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