The Kabel Konnection

Entrepreneur, motivational speaker, avid networker, family man—Sumeet Kabra wears many hats. As a torchbearer of one of India’s fastest growing conglomerates, what’s most important for him is leading the transition of RR Kabel, as it moves towards capturing consumer mind space in the dispassionate world of wires and cables.

- Rittu Rijhwani Chatwal

HOUSED IN AN INDEPENDENT, unassuming structure that stands alone in the midst of imposing high-rises at Mumbai’s plush Kamala Mills, the Ram Ratna Group signifies qualities that make it what it is: self-reliant, challenging and unconventional. Inside, the group’s buzzing workspace gives way to a large meeting room, where walls serve as display units for several of the group’s offerings. It is this space that Sumeet Kabra, who is a director at RR Global, uses as his cabin.

The inceptive years

As he begins to talk about his journey, our conversation inevitably veers towards the genesis of RR Global. “My grandfather, Rameshwarlal Kabra was born in a nondescript village in Bangladesh,” says Kabra, as he begins to uncover the story of the inception of RR Global. “Partition forced him to take refuge in Nepal, where he started a sari shop in 1952. He was doing well, but he knew he was destined for bigger things.”

This quest for bigger things led the Kabras to migrate to India in 1964, where they started trading in magnet wire. Once the family set roots in Mumbai, Rameshwarlal switched from trading to manufacturing magnet wire in 1994. Gradually his three sons too got involved in the business, with which the Kabras’ product portfolio grew to include wires and cables (manufactured by group company RR Kabel, which now is one of the leading building wire and low voltage cable manufacturers in India, with operations in over 80 countries), winding wires (manufactured by group company RR Shramik), electrical consumer durables (manufactured by RR Electric) and electro-mechanical multilevel car park solutions (manufactured by RR Parkon).

The last decade has witnessed full-time involvement of his grandsons as well in RR Global, and one of them is Sumeet Kabra.