The 4th edition of the Cable+Wire Fair was held from 18th to 20th May 2022 at the newly constructed halls at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi offering the best opportunities for networking and marketing of new technologies, latest products and innovations in the wire and cable industry. After receiving an overwhelming response from the industry, the event, this year, showcased the products of around 200 exhibitors from different countries across the world.

 Meanwhile, the conference kick-started with the inaugural session addressed by key dignitaries: Anil Gupta, Chairman+Managing Director, KEI Industries Ltd., Shreegopal Kabra, Managing Director and Group President, RR Global, Anurag Pandey, Executive-in-Charge, Global Wires India-Tata Steel, Vijay Karia, Chairman+Managing Director, Ravin Group and Sandeep Aggarwal, Managing Director, Paramount Communications Ltd. and Mentor-Telecom Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 Anil Gupta set the tone for the proceedings and said, “We are witnessing a good pipeline of projects, from the government CAPEX as well as the private CAPEX, with very broad-based growth across all the sectors. The Government of India has announced an infrastructure investment of INR 7.5 lakh crore this year in various sectors of the economy, which is further supported by an uptake in private CAPEX in the industry as well as supported by the construction and the real estate sector, in particular, the Prime Minister Awas Yojana.”

Meanwhile, Shreegopal Kabra emphasised on the quality of wires that should be used. “We need to focus on quality and safety,” he said, adding, “Of all the fire accidents, about 70-80% are due to electrical, and out of these electrical fire accidents, about 70-80% are due to faulty wires and cables.”

 Vijay Karia also highlighted the safety and sustainability issues and requirements in the wire and cable industry. “I think the safety of the industry starts from the way we conduct our business. The concept of ‘sustainability’ is not just about the environment, but it means that the company or the industry is able to sustain itself. Sustainability does not imply that one just becomes a zero emission industry or a zero emission company. The idea of sustainability starts when the business is sustainable in all respects.”

 Anurag Pandey appreciated the government’s focus on the infrastructure, auto sector, and the rural economy which is boosting the growth of the steel wire sector, adding, “The wire industry is the closest to the customers, in the steel value chain; we are very close to the end-consumers, whether it is with regard to the fencing wires, or tyres. And we expect that the growth rate is going to be in double-digits.”

 Talking about the telecom sector, Sandeep Aggarwal mentioned that the industry will soon see a CAPEX to the tune of Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh crore. He also stressed on the importance of connecting every village and town to the Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network.

 The inaugural session was followed by the first panel discussion on ‘Wire and Cable Industry Outlook’. The session discussed the success stories and how they can shape the future of wire and cable industry. The panelists in the discussion included Ashish Chaturvedy, Head of Marketing and Communications, Ducab, Benoit Lecuyer, CEO, Prysmian India, VK Bajaj, Senior President-Business Strategy and Innovation, Apar Industries Ltd. and Abhishek Gupta, Joint Managing Director, Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd.

 The second panel discussion threw light on emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the future. The eminent panel included Parth Aggarwal, Director, Paramount Communications Ltd., Sameer Agarwal, Managing Director, GK Winding Wires Ltd., Sonal Gariba, Executive Director, Ravin Group and Chairperson, IEEMA Cable Division, Varun Sawhney, Member (Core Management), Cords Cable Industries Ltd. and Sanjeev Atri, Head of Group-Plant Engineering, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. (TPDDL).

 Day 1 concluded with an interesting panel discussion on ‘Promising Road Ahead for Telecom Sector and OFC Industry’, which had R. Sridharan, CEO, Birla Cable Ltd. and President, Vindhya Telelinks Ltd., aivedya Agarwal, Founder+CEO, Runaya Group, Vipul Nagpal, Founder+Managing Director, Orient Cables India Pvt. Ltd. and Sivakumar Nagarajan, Commercial Director, Corning India as the eminent speakers.

 On Day 2 of the conference, trends in the steel wire industry were discussed by Mahesh Poddar, Chairman, Miki Wire Works Pvt Ltd., and MP (Rajya Sabha – Jharkhand), Nirmal Saraf, Managing Director, Nirmal Group, Mr. Sidharth Agrawal, Managing Director, Systematic Group Of Companies and Mr. Dheeraj Dev, Managing Director, H D Wire (P) Ltd. The session was moderated by Mr. Nirmal Singh, Director, Assomac Machines Ltd.

 The panel discussion was followed by a technical session in which Mr. René Stoeckl, Product Manager, Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH, Mr. Dipal Parikh, Commercial Director – AMEA region, Polymer Solutions BU at Orbia, Alphagary Compounds, Priya Rakshit, Research And Development Manager, Shakun Polymers Ltd. and Parasu Veera, Vice President, Head Technology+Business Development, SCBU- UPL Ltd. were the speakers.

 Held amid strict Covid-19 safety measures, “Cable+Wire Fair 2022“ gave the industry the much-needed impetus at a time when people were desperately waiting for a networking platform. The 4th edition of the event had Assomac Machines Ltd. and Parovi Machines as its principal partners and Tata Wiron, Kkalpana Industries (India) Ltd., Ddev Plastiks Industries Ltd., Innotech Advance Machine Pvt. Ltd., and KLJ Group as its co-partners. It also had Waldies Compound Ltd., Corsis Technologies and Gloster Cables Ltd. as its associate partners, and Shakun Polymers Ltd. (part of Alphagary, an Orbia Company), Walson Woodburn Wire Die Pvt. Ltd., Tomer Machines, 3R Polymers Pvt. Ltd., Rosendahl Nextrom Gmbh, Ducab DMB, Niknam Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. and Conoptica AS as other partners.

Like the previous edition, the 2022 Fair included Innovation Pavilion wherein premier companies from the industry including APAR Industries Ltd., LS Cable & System Ltd., KEI Industries Ltd., Paramount Communications Ltd., Birla Cable Ltd. and Cords Cable Industries Ltd. showcased their latest and upcoming products.

The next edition of the Cable & Wire Fair will take place from 6th to 8th October 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi covering three halls, with a plethora of value addition for the industry, which will make the show 1.5 times bigger.

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