Shreegopal Kabra - Rewiring The Future

Innovative products, cheeky marketing and strong macro levers are helping the company emerge as a formidable player in the wire and cable market.

- Varsha Meghani

At one point during the interview, Shreegopal Kabra takes two similar looking wires and lights the ends— one at a time—with a cigarette lighter. As the first wire burns, it emits whitish wisps of smoke and a faint odour. The second one goes up in flames quicker, releases thick tufts of smoke and leaves a burning stench. “You can see the difference for yourself between our wires and our competitors’ products,” says the 61-year-old managing director of wire and cable manufacturer RR Kabel. “That’s why we say, ‘Akalmand bano, sahi chuno [be smart, chose correctly]’,” he says, referring to his company’s brand campaign with actor Akshay Kumar that takes a dig at competing firm Havells, whose tag line reads, ‘Wires that don’t catch fire.’

“There is no such thing as a fireproof wire,” says Shreegopal’s wife Kirti, director of the Mumbai-based company. “Besides, during a fire, people don’t die because of the fire. They die because of the smoke.”