Amara Raja Thrives On Values

For the best experience of a ride in a Rolls Royce car is to have a well laid road. The competencies and capabilities of an organisation are like the engine and body of the Rolls Royce. And only the values and work culture of the organisation can provide a smooth pathway for an enjoyable ride, said Jayadev Galla, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Amara Raja Group. The Rs 4000-crore Amara Raja Group founded by Chairman Ramachandra N Galla in 1985, has its five core values incorporated in the culture of the Group as: Innovation, Excellence, Entrepreneurship, Experiences and Responsibility. The new identity of the company reflects these values and defines ‘the Amara Raja way’.

Over the years, the conglomerate has established its footprint across diverse and critical sectors such as Automotive, Telecom, Power Sector, Oil & Gas, Various Industry segments, UPS segments, Indian Railways and Defence. The Group’s clientele list spans across thermal, hydro, gas, nuclear power, steel, cement, oil & gas, manufacturing, processing, Indian Railways, telecom and so on. Armed with five manufacturing locations and 7,500 employees, the Group has registered its presence not only across the entire country but also across the Middle East, South & South East Asia, Europe and Africa.

Futuristic Products & Solutions

Amara Raja Power Systems Ltd. is a dominant player in providing integrated solutions in conversion and management of electrical power by leveraging sustainable technology and talent of people. ARPSL’s product spectrum covers Intelligent Industrial Chargers, C&R Panels with SAS, MV Panels, IMCC, APFC and LT Panels, Battery Formation Equipment and Integrated Power Supplies for the Railways. The EPC Projects Division of the company carries out turnkey management of power transmission & distribution projects upto EHV level that includes design, engineering and construction & commissioning activities across India. Its project team is well-versed in dealing with all kinds of challenges in the construction of indoor and outdoor substations irrespective of site conditions.

Project managers can assume the entire responsibility for all phases involved in a turnkey substation from concept to commissioning. ARPSL reliably delivers optimized and economic solutions. It harnesses local resources and tailor-made solutions to meet the customer needs. Some of the major projects executed include: OPTCL – 220KV/132KV/33KV Substations in Orissa, and AP TRANSCO- 220KV/132KV/33kV Substations in Andhra Pradesh. Amara Raja’s contribution to the Indian Railways’ signaling system is laudable. Explains Mr. S. Vijayanand, CEO: “The Indian Railways signaling system is still rudimentary and definitely requires significant upgrading. A typical Indian railway station would have multiple signaling equipment and signaling load point requiring electrical power of different voltage and current ratings. Prior to 1997, all this equipment spread out across the railway track and signal control room was connected to distributed and fragmented power sources containing various types of chargers and batteries.

This put a huge demand on maintenance, upkeep and human intervention & hence enhanced risk in reliability. Amidst this complexity, Amara Raja saw an opportunity and set out to develop an integrated power systems solution for signaling application in the Indian Railways. The result is a centralized multi-voltage, multi-current integrated power supply unit with a VRLA battery for power back-up. The user community has hugely appreciated this innovation for having reduced the burden on their maintenance staff and significantly enhancing the reliability of the equipment. Today more than two thirds of the Indian Railway network has adopted this solution and it will not be long before 100% of the network is covered.”

Amara Raja’s range of Protection Panels, Relay Panels, Control Panels with SAS provide optimum system solutions fulfilling the protection control requirements of substations, generating plants and process industries. The products are specially engineered and custom-built to cater to the specific needs of the utilities and large industrial undertakings for medium and high voltage protection, control and monitoring applications.

ARPSL offers a comprehensive range of LT panels that are a hallmark of efficiency and performance. Handling various critical applications pertaining to power distribution with the utmost ease, these products find applications across diverse fields such as metal, pharmaceutical, cement, sugar, paper mills, real estates, airports, seaports and railways. Amara Raja’s conventional Battery Charger Systems use Thyristor-Based Switching Technology for achieving the desired DC output. The systems are designed to be compatible with all kinds of battery in use in industry, be it VRLA, non-VRLA or Ni-cad, making them the most versatile products preferred across various sectors.

Technology Trends
Reflecting on the technology trends, Mr. Vijayanand elucidates: The trend today is to exploit digital and communication technology to the maximum extent. The objective is to make non-intelligent products ‘intelligent’ and interactive. With wireless network and V-sat, remote monitoring of equipment, their operation, health check and maintenance are possible. The Amara Raja team always thinks out-of-the box to come out with innovative and revolutionary ideas. Mr. Vijayanand is talking in terms of building packaged substation models, Skid Mounted Sub-Stations for wind energy which can be installed at site in one week’s time instead of the normal one month. Then all that remains is grid integration. When there are massive festivities or big sporting events, mobile substations will be a boon!

Looking Ahead
The CEO summarizes the major strengths of the company as the knowledge base, varied and accumulated experience in manufacturing, process integration and infrastructure. The whole organization is customer-centric, always keeping its eyes and ears open to customer needs with a view to providing enduring solutions. Its people are young, dedicated, talented and evolved to improve things better than yesterday and today. “We are a leader by the mindset. Like a bumblebee we keep on flying and maintain our agility,” states he.

Reflecting on the challenges ahead, Mr. Vijayanand says there are so many grey areas in the power sector. “Gas-based power plants are suffering, coal-based plants are in doldrums, fuel supplies have clogged… The Govt. must take major policy initiatives to see that the problems faced by the power sector are alleviated. Maybe it has to take some tough decisions like handing distribution through the private sector. The ultimate goal should be to provide 24×7 power supply to the consumer. Amara Raja believes that there got to be a better way. This is the thought it is applying to everything, pushing the standards, targets, benchmarks and borders. The company’s understanding of entrepreneurship is leading with courage and conviction to convert gaps into opportunities and create wealth and contribute to all-round growth.

The Group’s vision named ‘Group Vision 2025’ is “To be a top 500 Global Group, redefining business to deliver high social impact, by anticipating future trends, building preferred brands and leveraging talent and technology.” Like in the Amara Raja corporate logo, one can see a symphony of diverse elements coming together and moving forward in perfect harmony to take this vibrant organization to a vast expanse!

-P. K. Balasubbramaniian