In terms of supply we fortunately do not face any major challenges

With the present government taking steps to boost the economy, we hope that in the following quarters the demand should pick up.

What is your strategy to expand business for the existing range of valves?
At Leader we manufacture a very wide range of valves in fact we are the only valve manufacturing company in the country actually manufacturing everything completely in house. We have a complete range of gun metal, cast iron, forged steel, cast steel valves for plumbing, HVAC, fire-fighting, oil & gas, power, steel & mining, chemical & pharma, sugar, marine application starting from 1/2” (15mm) to 48” (1200mm) from class 150 to class 2500. We have a multi- faceted strategy to expand our business. We are working on expanding our channel partner network across the country and also abroad. Our target is to increase channel partner network y-o-y by about 30 per cent which will help us further our reach in the domestic and international market. We have revamped our marketing strategy, with completely new print media, taking part in exhibitions and billboard ads across the major cities in the country. Leader Valves being a well-recognized name in the valves industry we are very fortunate to have most of the major government and Private sector approvals (like EIL, Mecon, M N Dastur, PDIL, HPCL, IOCL,BHEL, NTPC, TATA,NPCIL, SAIL, MES, Indian Navy, State Electricity Boards, KNPC, KOC, PDO etc.).

What are the challenges you see are faced by the industry in dealing with upcoming demand and supply?
The demand across the sectors has been some what subdued this past quarter due to the economic slowdown that India and the global economy in general are facing. With the present government taking steps to boost the economy, we hope that in the following quarters the demand should pick up. Even though our order book looks strong for the next 18 months there is always room for growth. In terms of supply we fortunately do not face any major challenges and the sole reason behind that is that we carry out all our manufacturing activities completely in house. We have our own ferrous and non-ferrous foundries, machining units, testing laboratories and painting and packaging facilities, all in house, so that helps us have a complete control over our manufacturing and supply . We do not import anything from China so the dollar volatility and trade concerns are not of any worry to us.

What is your expectation from the industry bodies and policy makers to capitalise the present market?
One major expectation is to give boost to the local manufacturers to help increase production capabilities of the country. We would want the policy makers to keep working hard on their “Make in India” initiative which in the long run would help our manufacturing infrastructure reach the next level and also at the same time help promote Indian manufactured products. MSME status of the industries has to be reviewed & implemented based on their revenue.

What is your company’s outlook for 2022?
Our outlook for the coming years is very upbeat. We are positive that the Indian GDP will touch double digit numbers in the following years which in turn translates to the overall growth of the Indian valve industry. We are working towards increasing our domestic presence throughout the country and simultaneously increasing our international presence as well. We at Leader strongly believe in the governments “Make in India” initiative and we are proud to say that we have recently installed the first of its kind completely automated Forged Brass Ball Valve manufacturing unit in the country. This will help us meet the vast demand for forged brass ball valves in the following years. Over all we are optimistic about the future of our company and more importantly our country.

Purnima Beri, CMD, Leader Valves Limited