Mumbai: After making a series of new business bets and large acquisitions over the past three years—from paints and renewable energy to the Indian Premier League and cement—the Aditya Birla Group is now entering the wires and cables segment with an ₹1,800-crore investment.
Housed under the group’s cement unit UltraTech, the new business, named UltraVolt, aims to become one of India’s top two wires and cables players within five years, according to group chair Kumar Mangalam Birla. The company will take on industry leaders such as Polycab India, KEI Industries and Havells India.
For this business, Aditya Birla is using the playbook it first deployed in the paints market with Opus. The strategy involves entering the sector with a large investment, building significant capacity even before the product hits the market, leveraging the group’s distribution network and spending significant capital to onboard people that actually interact with customers—the painters and electricians.
UltraVolt will be the second-largest player in the wires segment by capacity at launch.
The move comes after a series of new bets by the group, including its entry into paints with Birla Opus, jewellery retail through Indriya and B2B e-commerce through Birla Pivot, as well as investments and acquisitions in newer areas.
“The Aditya Birla Group, as you all know, has a long history of growing and scaling category leading businesses. But in recent years, successful new business creation has in itself become a core part of the group’s DNA,” Birla said at the launch, adding that the group makes strategic bets and backs them with the intent of winning the category.
Inhouse strengths
Ultravolt will leverage the group’s existing strengths in metals and building materials, as well as its extensive dealer and distributor network of its cement arm. It will initially manufacture wires, cables and conduits, with plans to expand into specialty cables and electrical accessories. Hindalco, the metals arm of the group, is a leading aluminium and copper producer in India.
Birla cited the example of the group's paints business, which has reached double-digit market share within just two years of operations and has disrupted the industry. In jewellery retail, Indriya has opened 90 stores across 54 cities in two years. Meanwhile, B2B e-commerce platform Birla Pivot has reached an annualized revenue run rate of ₹10,000 crore within three years of launch.
The group is betting on three key trends in the Indian economy: rapid urbanization, the expansion of India’s power grid and renewable energy, and the growth of data centres. Urbanization is expected to add 100 million homes over the next decade, creating significant demand for building and electrical products.
The existing strengths in metals and construction will give it an edge in the wires and cables business, said Dilip Gaur, director at Ultravolt, said at the launch event.
Gaur added that the group’s access to two key raw materials, copper and aluminium, which account for about 80% of a housing wire’s cost and determine its performance, will help it bring greater innovation to the segment.
The group also plans to leverage UltraTech Cement’s extensive construction ecosystem, with construction accounting for nearly 80% of wire consumption. Through UltraTech’s database of housing and infrastructure projects, the group expects to identify potential customers and projects four to six months ahead of competitors, Gaur said.
Strong execution
India's wire and cables industry is currently valued at around ₹1 trillion and is expected to grow at 11–13% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through fiscal year 2030, supported by demand from power transmission and distribution, renewable energy, real estate, infrastructure and data centres, said Girija Shankar Ray, research analyst at Nirmal Bang.
Organized players account for around 76% of the market, implying that UltraTech Cement is entering a large and fast-growing, but increasingly competitive, organized market, Ray added.
UltraTech Cement’s wire and cables foray was approved in February 2025, with commissioning originally targeted for December 2026. The commencement of operations is, therefore, is three to four months ahead of schedule, indicating strong project execution, he said.
“Competitive intensity remains the key industry concern, as aggressive capacity additions by incumbent players, along with UltraTech Cement and other new entrants, could increase dealer incentives and advertising expenditure, while putting pressure on pricing and margins,” Ray said.