Hyderabad-based Mahalakshmi Profiles, popularly known as MPL, offers an integrated range of products from ERW round tubes and hollow sections to scaffolding systems. On the sidelines of EXCON 2015, the company’s Managing Director Vinod Agarwal spoke to B2B Purchase and highlighted the bright side of slowdown. Excerpts:

How do you see the demand for scaffolding and formwork?
The scaffolding and formwork industry is witnessing a tremendous growth due to increased awareness. Today, no construction activity can take place without these. Availability and safety are the major advantages of using formwork and scaffolding. Also use of formwork and scaffolding reduces project execution time drastically.

The real estate sector is going through acute difficulty…
Though there is the growing concern about slowdown across the industry, we have achieved significant growth during the past few years. In FY 2014-15, we have seen an increased demand of steel not less than 4-5 per cent in India, in scaffolding the demand was more than 7-8 per cent. Today, more projects are coming and we are happy to see the demand increasing.

Real estate sector is facing the challenges due to excessive inventory as they built more. However the sector has consumed huge quantity of scaffolding and formwork while building.

There is a huge degrowth in the pricing of steel. Is it somehow helping your business?
We are very optimistic and we convert every opportunity in to profit. The steel prices are reduced by 30-40 per cent. In future the demand for scaffolding and formwork will surely rise. With lower purchasing rate we are producing enough products to meet future demand. Also we are increasing our capacity.

What are the product innovations made by MPL?
MPL is into steel since 1959 based in Telangana earlier Andhra Pradesh. In CAGR our growth is 10 to 15 per cent every year. Our relentless focus on technology and innovations are helping us to grow.

We make scaffolding using state-of-the-art automated welding machines. Our entire manufacturing process is error free. We do not compromise with the products quality.
The scaffolding market is hugely dominated by a few international players. Isn’t it difficult for you to compete with them?Definitely we face difficulty. However, we are growing by 200 per cent year-on-year it is because we give best quality at a very less price with international standards.

What about the profit margin?
We are not worried about profit margins. We have dedicated 5 years of our company for the service to the construction industry. By doing that, our volume is increasing by 200 per cent every year. We may produce 5,000 tonnes of formwork this year comparative to the 2,000 tonnes of last year. We are targeting to produce 10,000 tonnes next year. We would like to become the biggest supplier in South India and Central India in terms of volume. As we are strategically located in Hyderabad, we can cater Central India and South India.