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As global manufacturers recalibrate their growth strategies, India is emerging as more than just a high-potential sales market. View More
India is now a key growth area for global manufacturers dealing with changing supply chains and increasing demand in new markets. During an interview with The Economic Times Digital, Alok Nigam , Managing Director of Brother International India , explained the company's strategy to elevate India from a sales point to a hub for manufacturing, innovation, and solutions. He explains how India is influencing Brother's worldwide strategy, highlighting local manufacturing, SME demand, Tier 2/3 growth, localisation within Make in India, and a move to workflow-centric solutions. Edited excerpts. Economic Times (ET): Global technology-led manufacturers are increasingly rethinking India’s role beyond sales. At Brother, what has changed in how India is viewed, from a market to a strategic growth and innovation hub?Alok Nigam (AN): India has evolved from being simply a sales market to becoming a strategic pillar in Brother’s global growth and manufacturing roadmap. In 2022, we established Brother Machinery India as a dedicated subsidiary for our machinery business, and by 2024, we began local production of machine tools, underlining a long-term commitment to India’s manufacturing ecosystem. We have also built a network of Technology Centres in Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Pune to support customers with application expertise, training, and service assurance. From a market perspective, India represents one of the few large economies where demand for printing, manufacturing, and industrial solutions continues to expand. India’s scale, demographic momentum, and industrial growth make it central to Brother’s long-term global strategy. Today, India is not just a market we serve, but a hub where we manufacture, innovate, and build capabilities for the future. ET: Brother India is targeting a 25% share of the printing market over the next two years. What segments, home, SME, SOHO, and enterprise, will drive this growth, and what differentiates Brother in an increasingly crowded market?AN: Our growth strategy is anchored around home users, SOHO professionals, and the SMB segment, which together are driving our ambition to expand our ink-tank printer share to 25% over the next two years. In ink-tank printers, demand is coming from households and small offices that require low cost of ownership, reliability, and easy connectivity. In laser printers, SMBs and SOHOs already contribute nearly 40% of our business, reflecting strong demand for durable, high-volume printing solutions. What differentiates Brother is our focus on long-term value rather than short-term pricing. We combine competitive cost-per-page economics with robust build quality and dependable after-sales support, which is critical for Indian customers. As the Indian market continues to grow while many global markets mature, we see a clear opportunity to build sustainable leadership by focusing on technology, service depth and customer trust. Live Events ET: You have spoken about Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as key growth drivers. What structural changes, digital infrastructure, IT adoption, and SME formalisation are you seeing on the ground that make these markets central to Brother’s strategy?AN: For Brother International India, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities have emerged as powerful growth drivers due to the structural transformation taking place across India’s economic landscape. On the ground, we see these markets benefiting from improved physical and digital infrastructure, rising internet penetration, and greater access to technology-enabled services. Government-led digitization initiatives, coupled with expanding broadband and mobile connectivity, have helped smaller cities leapfrog traditional adoption cycles, making technology more accessible to businesses and consumers alike. These changes are creating demand for reliable, efficient, and productivity-focused solutions that support everyday business operations. From an IT adoption perspective, small and medium enterprises in these regions are increasingly formalising and investing in technology to scale their operations. Many SMEs are transitioning from informal setups to structured businesses, driven by GST compliance, digital payments, and easier access to financing. This shift is translating into higher adoption of office automation, documentation, labeling, and workflow solutions, areas where Brother’s portfolio is well-positioned. Importantly, these businesses are no longer limited by geography; they are serving regional, national, and even global customers, which raises expectations around quality, efficiency, and operational reliability. These structural and behavioural shifts reinforce why Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are central to Brother’s long-term strategy in India. We are responding by strengthening our distribution, service reach, and partner ecosystem in these markets, ensuring customers receive the same dependable experience they expect anywhere else. As digital maturity deepens and SMEs continue to professionalize, these cities represent not just incremental growth but sustainable, future-ready demand, making them integral to how Brother plans, invests, and grows in India. ET: How is India’s SME and MSME ecosystem reshaping demand, from basic printing to automation,workflow optimisation, and productivity tools? What are customers asking for today that they were not five years ago?AN: India's SME and MSME ecosystem is evolving rapidly, with businesses shifting from basic, transactional printing toward solutions that support automation, workflow optimization, and productivity. For Brother International India, this reflects a broader change in how small businesses operate today, more structured, compliance-driven, and growth-focused than they were five years ago. Customer expectations have shifted just as decisively. Where price once dominated purchase decisions, SMEs now prioritise integrated solutions for documentation, labeling, scanning, and digital workflow. Reliability, ease of use, and total cost of ownership matter far more than upfront cost alone. Brother's SME strategy mirrors this evolution. Rather than positioning standalone hardware, the company is delivering purpose-built business solutions designed to streamline workflows, boost productivity, and support sustainable scaling, establishing Brother not just as a product provider but as a long-term productivity partner for India's growing businesses. ET: Brother is positioning itself as a solutions-led partner rather than a hardware seller. Can you explain this transition and share examples across offices, retail, apparel, logistics, or warehousing?AN: Brother is transforming from a hardware manufacturer to a solutions-led partner that addresses specific operational challenges across industries. Rather than simply selling printers, Brother now develops comprehensive solutions tailored to business needs in offices, retail, apparel, logistics, and warehousing, recognising that customers need integrated systems that solve real problems, not just equipment. This approach is exemplified through THE NEXT Partner Program and ISV partnerships, which provide co-development funds and engineering support for industry-specific applications. In logistics, Brother delivers mobile printing solutions integrated with warehouse management systems. For retail, they offer end-to-end solutions connecting mobile printers with POS systems. In apparel, their direct-to-garment solutions include workflow optimisation alongside equipment. This strategic shift enables Brother to create deeper customer relationships by understanding entire operational ecosystems rather than just printing needs. By offering managed services including deployment, maintenance, and supplies management, Brother moves conversations from price comparisons to total cost of ownership and operational efficiency gains that resonate with decision-makers across all sectors. ET: Are India-specific use cases influencing product design, software integration, or workflow solutions at Brother globally? Can you share instances where Indian customers' needs have driven innovation?AN: India is actively shaping Brother's global product strategy, not just serving as a regional market. The company has introduced innovations specifically for Indian conditions, including auto-duplex printing in ink tank printers, rare in this category locally, and cost-per-print optimized to as low as 33 paise per page. These developments directly address demand for affordable, high-volume printing as growth accelerates beyond metros into tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where cost efficiency and durability are non-negotiable. India's challenging operational environment has also driven meaningful engineering improvements. Brother has built printers to withstand dust, humidity, and power fluctuations, resulting in more rugged, reliable hardware with relevance well beyond India. Similar conditions across Asia, Africa, and Latin America make India an effective proving ground for innovations that can scale globally. As Brother targets a 25% market share amid India's printer boom, the insights gained here from localised dealer networks to high-volume, low-cost workflow requirements are feeding back into its global product roadmap, particularly for other price-sensitive, fast-growing markets where comparable customer demands exist. ET: As India pushes for Make in India, how is Brother approaching localisation, whether in manufacturing, sourcing, assembly, or product customisation? What constraints and advantages do India offer?AN: Brother is strategically embracing Make in India through its new machine tool manufacturing facility in Tumakuru, near Bengaluru, which began operations in September 2024. This plant, Brother's third global manufacturing base alongside Japan and China, produces tapping centers for India's growing automotive and motorcycle industries. The localisation enables faster delivery times, closer proximity to customers, and positions Brother to serve both domestic demand and export to regional markets, demonstrating significant commitment beyond mere market access. However, Brother's approach reveals both advantages and constraints of Indian manufacturing. While the facility handles assembly and production, precision critical components are still sourced from Japan, highlighting India's ongoing challenge in developing a high-precision component ecosystem. The advantages include access to a skilled workforce, cost-competitive labor, renewable energy infrastructure (the plant uses solar power), and India's strategic location for exports. The growing domestic manufacturing sector, particularly in automotive and two-wheelers, provides strong market demand that justifies local production investments. The constraints include maintaining quality standards requiring imported precision parts, navigating complex regulations, and building supplier networks meeting Brother's specifications. Despite these challenges, the Tumakuru facility represents Brother's long-term commitment to India's industrial development. By investing in local production, Brother gains supply chain resilience, reduces logistics costs, and positions itself to benefit from India's manufacturing growth trajectory while contributing meaningfully to Make in India objectives and building deeper integration into the country's industrial ecosystem. ET: With a presence across metros and smaller towns, how critical is after-sales service and channel depth to winning India? What investments are being made in service infrastructure and partner capability?AN: After-sales service and channel depth are critical to Brother India's success, especially as the company expands into tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where reliable support determines brand loyalty. Brother has adopted a "within arm's reach" service philosophy, ensuring customers across metros and smaller towns have access to timely support and maintenance. This approach recognises that in India's diverse geography, dependable after-sales service often matters more than initial product features, particularly for businesses that cannot afford printer downtime disrupting operations. Brother is investing substantially in localised service networks with on-site service capabilities, ensuring technicians can reach customers quickly even in remote locations. The company is also heavily investing in dealer and partner capability development through training programs, diagnostic tools, and spare parts inventory that enable partners to resolve issues locally rather than escalating to regional hubs. This empowers channel partners who serve as the primary customer touchpoint in smaller markets to deliver consistent, high-quality service experiences that build trust and loyalty. ET: The printing and imaging space is seeing pressure from digitisation and paperless workflows. How does Brother balance this structural shift while continuing to grow its core business?AN: Brother's response to digitalisation isn't defensive; it's strategic. Rather than treating the shift away from paper as a threat, the company has reframed its position around "digital-enabled" workflows, where printing and scanning serve as bridges between physical and digital worlds. Paper, Brother argues, remains essential for compliance, contracts, labels, and tangible outputs, even as digital transformation accelerates. This thinking has pushed Brother beyond hardware into software integrations, cloud connectivity, and document capture tools that embed its devices into broader digital ecosystems. Multifunction printers and scanners now connect seamlessly with document management systems, supporting hybrid workflows rather than forcing all-or-nothing paperless transitions. Digitalisation has also opened new growth vectors that Brother is actively pursuing: on-demand label printing for e-commerce logistics, mobile receipt printing for retail, and direct-to-garment printing for custom apparel. By diversifying into these application-driven categories while modernizing traditional office printing, Brother converts a structural industry shift into a tangible commercial opportunity. ET: Looking ahead, what does Brother’s five-year roadmap for India look like in terms of manufacturing investments, localisation, retail expansion, and technology-led solutions?AN: Brother India's five-year roadmap focuses on aggressive expansion into tier 2 and tier 3 cities to capture a larger market share in India's growing print market, driven by SMEs, e-commerce, education, and government digitisation. The strategy emphasises strengthening distribution networks and dealer partnerships to deliver consistent experiences across urban and semi-urban markets, positioning India as a strategic priority for sustained growth. On manufacturing and localisation, Brother is expanding beyond the Tumakuru machine tool facility with a new Technology Center in Pune (opened June 2025), signalling India's growing role in global operations. This suggests deeper localisation potentially extending to other product categories, component sourcing, and India-focused R&D. The long-term vision positions India as a comprehensive manufacturing and innovation hub, not just an assembly location. Brother's five-year vision treats India as integral to global strategy, balancing local manufacturing, retail expansion, and innovation that serves domestic demand while enabling potential exports to South Asia and Middle Eastern markets. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
Manilam Industries India's Rs 40 crore SME IPO opened for subscription on Friday. Investors can bid in the IPO till February 24, with listing scheduled on the NSE SME platform on February 27. The company is engaged in manufacturing decorative laminates and trading plywood. Proceeds will fund capital expenditure, loan repayment, and working capital. View More
Manilam Industries India' Rs 40 crore SME IPO opened for subscription on Friday and will close on February 24, with listing scheduled on the NSE SME platform on February 27. The grey market premium (GMP) stood at 0%, indicating muted expectations of listing gains at this stage. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of 0.47 crore shares worth Rs 32.42 crore and an offer for sale of 0.11 crore shares aggregating to Rs 7.53 crore. The price band has been fixed at Rs 65 to Rs 69 per share, with a lot size of 2,000 shares. Ahead of the issue opening, the company raised Rs 11.30 crore from anchor investors on February 19 by allocating 16.38 lakh shares. Of the total issue, 47.36% has been allocated to qualified institutional buyers, 14.30% to non-institutional investors and 33.30% to retail investors. Incorporated in 2015, Manilam Industries is engaged in the manufacturing and sale of decorative laminates and in the trading of plywood. The company operates a manufacturing facility in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, spread across 20,650 square metres. It follows a business-to-business model, supplying products to distributors catering to residential and commercial segments. The company has launched multiple laminate collections, including Artistica, Vogue, Dwar and Magnificent, along with newer offerings such as Chromatic Tales and Wall Cladding. It has also set up experience centres in cities such as Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai to strengthen brand presence and distributor engagement. Live Events On the financial front, Manilam Industries reported total income of Rs 142.16 crore in FY25, compared with Rs 138.04 crore in FY24 and Rs 148.82 crore in FY23. Profit after tax stood at Rs 7.38 crore in FY25, up from Rs 3.10 crore in FY24 and Rs 1.53 crore in FY23. The proceeds from the fresh issue will be used towards capital expenditure for purchase of machinery and installation of solar panels, repayment of certain loans, working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. Out of the net proceeds, Rs 16.65 crore has been earmarked for working capital, Rs 3.50 crore for loan repayment and Rs 3.45 crore towards capital expenditure. ( Disclaimer : Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times) .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company plans a major restructuring. The agriculture business will be separated by April. This move precedes a planned Initial Public Offering by December. The company aims to reduce its debt significantly. This will strengthen its financial position for the listing. The company is also shifting towards renewable energy sources. View More
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company plans to complete the demerger of its agriculture arm by April, a key step ahead of its planned initial public offering for December, a top official has said. "We are targeting an IPO by December for MSEDCL (Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company), and before that, we will demerge our agriculture business, which we aim to complete by April," its Chairman and Managing Director Lokesh Chandra told PTI on the sidelines of the Mumbai Climate Week. The agriculture segment will be carved out as a separate company, not a subsidiary, ensuring its liabilities do not remain on the balance sheet of the core distribution utility, Chandra said. MSEDCL carries total dues of about Rs 96,000 crore, of which nearly Rs 76,000 crore relates to unpaid agricultural consumption, he said. The accumulation of these arrears has led to higher working capital borrowings and financial strain, despite the core distribution business being operationally viable, Chandra added. Live Events Post-demerger in April, the residual entity will retain debt of roughly Rs 20,000 crore, which the company considers sustainable, he added. Following the carve-out, the company will undertake a balance sheet clean-up and debt restructuring before launching the IPO process. The listing is targeted for completion by December this year, Chandra said. The government is planning to dilute up to 10 per cent stake in the company through the IPO, he said, adding that IPO proceeds are likely to be deployed towards capital expenditure in transmission and distribution infrastructure. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced that the state's intent to list the energy utilities, including MSEDCL and also the generation and transmission arms in December 2025. He hinted that the process will start with the listing of the transmission company in 2026. Chandra said that discussions with the state government are underway to address agriculture-related arrears. Once resolved, the restructuring is expected to strengthen financial metrics and improve valuation prospects at the time of listing. The company expects to save nearly Rs 66,000 crore in power procurement costs over the next five years through a strategic shift towards renewable energy backed by optimal storage planning. The utility has redesigned its resource adequacy and power procurement plan to raise the share of renewables from around 15 per cent currently to 52 per cent, while carefully balancing solar, wind and storage capacities, he said. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)
Battery storage costs plummeted by over a quarter to a record low of $78 per megawatt-hour last year, significantly improving the economics of pairing storage with renewables. This decline is crucial for strengthening solar project revenues, supporting renewable deployment, and accelerating grid balancing away from fossil fuels. View More
Battery storage costs fell more than a quarter to a record low last year, improving the economics of projects to pair the equipment with renewables and which can help tackle curtailment of solar and wind. The benchmark levelised cost of electricity for a standalone four-hour battery project declined 27% in 2025 from a year earlier to $78 per megawatt-hour and is expected to fall to $58 per megawatt-hour by 2035, BloombergNEF said in a report published Wednesday. “As costs continue to drop, we expect battery storage to strengthen solar project revenues, support broader renewable deployment and accelerate the shift toward storage‑led system balancing over fossil-fuel‑based peaking capacity,” said Amar Vasdev, a BNEF senior energy economics associate and lead author of the report. Bloomberg Lowering the cost of battery storage — which can soak up surplus electricity generated through the day and release it in the evening, when demand is highest — is seen as crucial, particularly as an influx of solar and wind generation in some countries begins to strain grids, forcing the curtailment of renewables projects. Wider adoption of storage technology is also improving the resilience of energy infrastructure as electricity demand rises sharply, and helped to cushion the impact of last month’s severe US winter storms. For developing economies, providing cheaper and reliable clean alternatives to the cost competitiveness of fossil fuels is regarded as key to promote decarbonisation. Live Events Battery storage was an exception in 2025 among most energy technologies, with supply chain constraints or other factors driving costs higher for wind farms, fixed-axis solar projects and combined-cycle gas turbines, the BNEF report said. Lower battery cell prices, improved designs and more competition helped propel the savings, and outpaced BNEF’s projection for an 11% cost reduction last year. Stationary energy storage deployments, excluding pumped hydro, are forecast to increase by a third in 2026 to 122.5 gigawatts, led by growth in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, BNEF said in a separate report last month. Bloomberg Installations are being supported by the expansion of utility-scale projects, residential demand and the co-location of batteries with solar farms. Even with higher financing costs and the impacts of protectionist policies and supply-chain snarls, further innovation and competition should enable further cost reductions across clean energy, BNEF said in the Wednesday report. By 2035, additional levelised cost of electricity reductions could total 30% for solar, 25% for battery storage, 23% for onshore wind and 20% in offshore wind. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
India's power sector tendering pipeline is now shifting towards hybrid and storage-based projects, reflecting a growing focus on improving energy reliability and supporting renewable energy integration, according to a report by Nuvama Research. View More
The solar eclipse on 17 February will be a Ring of Fire event. Live coverage will be available online via NASA and Google, allowing global audiences to safely witness the rare phenomenon. View More
The ?30,000 crore expansion to add 50GW of capacity is led by companies including Waaree Energies, Adani Solar, Reliance Industries Ltd, ReNew Energy Global Plc, Avaada Group and Premier Energies. The immediate reason: The impending debut of ALMM rules for the solar sector. View More
The first solar eclipse of 2026 will occur on February 17, but the annular “Ring of Fire” event will be visible only from limited parts of the world—not including India or the US. View More