Anand Group to set up new JVs to tap electrification trend

Partnership is a key growth pillar for Tier-1 supplier Anand Group. The Rs 10,000 crore Group has 12 join ventures with 10 partners. The list is set grow as the Group focuses on tapping new opportunities offered by the electrification megatrend.

“It (EV) is here is a reality, and hence I would say that definitely we would be going into the EV space, and into the related electronics space as well,” Anjali Singh, executive chairperson, Anand Group told Autocar Professional in her first media interview after taking on her current role in mid-January. At least one new JV will be announced possibly this month. “I think there will be a number of new joint ventures on the EV front that will come out as a work from that,” says Singh.

Singh, a second-generation entrepreneur, took on her new role in the 60-year-old Group amidst some challenging times. “I have been working in the Group now for almost 15 years, in different areas and in different departments and going up the ladder. Of course, the last 5 years have been very closely driven between our CEO Mr (Deepak) Chopra who retired and moved up to the Group supervisory Board so we still have him with us,” says Singh, who was a guest in the Autocar Professional Dialogue interview series. An organisation of Anand Group’s size and age can take pride in its culture and processes, but on the flip side rigidity could also set into the system. One of Singh’s short-term goals is to make the company more agile.

A key learning for all companies during the pandemic has been that cash is king. According to Singh, what helped companies in the auto component industry to tackle the pandemic better is the community approach in facing the challenge. “I don’t know about the other industries, but certainly the auto component industry came together to help each other, in sharing best practices, sharing doubts and fears, and really coming together,” she says.  Managing the ‘V’ shaped performance in the market added to the challenge. “We had a steep decline, and an inability to really have any business, and then of course an incredible steep recovery which is great news but it has its own challenges. Supply chain has gone through an incredible challenge,” says Singh.    

Singh may have taken a role in the organisation some 15 years ago, and now reached the top position, but she’s been a regular visitor at Anand Group’s facilities since she was born. “Most of my holidays, and most of my time was spent in or another of our facilities, and surrounding residential areas. We have many, sort of Anand residencies around our facilities and I spent a lot of time there while growing up, which was great because I got to know lot of people who were in and out of the factory and never had a fear of it, and never felt in any way that it was out of normal for me,” Singh reminisces. Now at the topmost role in the Anand Group, Singh has a long-term goal to make Anand a more diverse Group, “both on the diversity index, but also in terms of product, in terms of business line,”. And by doing so she wants Anand Group to double its turnover “at the very minimum”.

The full interview with Anjali Singh below
<>