The global pandemic may have caused Syrma’s plans to go awry, but the electronics manufacturer has seen steady growth after re-starting its operations from July last year. The Rs 75-crore investment committed through an MoU with the TN government at the Global Investors Meet is being fulfilled, said its CEO, Sreeram Srinivasan. Talking to DT Next, he said, “we’ve kept up with the promise and stuck to our hiring plans. Investments made two years ago in our Delhi facility have been paying off well. We have bagged new orders to produce in the domestic tariff area and have 10x growth on our book.”

The Chennai-based entity has had to “slightly revise” its business plan, but it has managed to “strikingly” come close to meet its growth targets. Its merger with the Gurugram-based SGS Tekniks is still pending as it awaits the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). “The negotiations for the proposal have been completed, and we’re happy no one has backed out of the deal, owing to the pandemic. But, we expect the NCLT process to take 6 months for the full merger,” Srinivasan said. The integration is underway, and there’s no overlap of domains or common customers.

“It’s a total debt-free transaction and equi-sized deal, which has simplified a lot of things. This merger has aided us in enhancing our geography, capacity, and capability footprints,” he said. Its plants in Bawal, Haryana, and Chennai have the potential of scaling up capacity 2.5 times, making Syrma more self-reliant. Praising the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of the Center, Srinivasan said the Make in India thrust had amplified last-mile manufacturing efforts, lowering the dependence on China. “We’ve sourced from Taiwan and Malaysia to assemble the final product.

The COVID-19 pandemic did tempt us to consider medical healthcare in a big way, but we decided not to pursue it in full throttle. Instead, we continue to focus on smart meters, toothbrushes (oral healthcare), ventilators (only design not manufacture), and medical-related industrial products,” he noted. Syrma has over 3K people, of which 85 pc is from TN, as it has penetrated smaller satellite locations, such as Uthiramerur, Bargur, and Panruti, to beef up its talent pool.

The Rs 1,000-crore entity (post-merger) (2 units in MEPZ, Chennai, 1 each in Bargur and Uthiramerur (TN), Bawal; SGS has 4 units at Baddi, Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Manesar) derives the bulk of its revenues (over 55 pc) from the industrial vertical (non-merged) with renewables, healthcare, and defense contributing 15 pc, 25 pc, and under 5 pc of the business respectively. The company is eyeing 20% growth in the current year and 40 to 50% in FY22-23.

Apart from three existing Fortune 500 customers, it has 6 more marquee clients in the pipeline, Srinivasan said. The company is upbeat about its new portfolio, the electric vehicle business, even as the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart products would be its mainstay. Syrma has taken exposure to the defense industry with Rs 15 cr worth of domestic business, and it’s evaluating opportunities related to battery management systems. The US has been the best destination for its growth while Europe has yielded good results; Srinivasan said that exports constitute 85 pc, which may become 55 pc post-merger.

Author: Hemamalini Venkatraman

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