Domestic UPS Brands to Push Growth & Demand for the Increasingly Matured Indian Market

The rapid digitization leading to sweeping disruption across the sector has recorded an unprecedented positive influence on the growth of the India Uninterruptible Power Supply Systems (UPS) Market. The UPS market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2020-2026 as per the market forecast by KVA Rating. After a moderated growth in the period 2016-2019, the sector is expecting to ride the growth of domestic UPS brands which is flourishing, given the shortfall of electricity supply in the country and demand-pull by various industries, especially banking and IT.

This UPS industry is growing swiftly, both in terms of size and demand, given the fact that it is no more a luxury item. With the digitization revolution also happening in rural and semi-urban areas, the demand for uninterrupted power supply for various tech devices is expected to grow exponentially from these areas also. As an immediate alternative power source for every office and shop, the domestic UPS manufacturers are also seeing a big uptick in demand.

Demand-Pull of the UPS Segment
An additional push has been given by the National e-Governance Plan that aims to usher in an era of e-governance. The main purpose of the initiative is to computerize and digitize various government offices and departments, for which a seamless supply of energy is required, thus again providing a fulcrum to the growth of the UPS sector.

Incidentally, India recorded a power supply shortage of 1,201 million units in October 2021 — the highest in 5.5 years — due to a crunch in coal stocks available with thermal plants. The shortage was mostly restricted to Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Rajasthan, all high growth states in terms of consumption, thus leading to that critical push in the growth of the UPS segment.

Thirdly, India is embarking on a plan to give an impetus to the “Make in India, Made in India” way of growth in the economy which is leading to a boom in manufacturing industries. This invariably leads to the critical methods and nature of processes that cannot afford a millisecond of power disruption. Thus industries, especially modern technology based industries are one sector where UPS is really in demand. Industrial UPS is one of the businesses that is expecting a huge boom.

Fourthly, a comparative index indicates that rural consumers who would previously easily withstand a 7-8-hour long power cut are no longer willing to withstand power cuts of more than 4-5 hours. This change in attitude has opened up the rural markets as a thriving prospective market for power backup systems.

Supply Push for Booming Business
Given the market size and the expectation of growth of the UPS market, both recognized international brands and domestic brands are on an expansion spree to keep up the supply flow. Given that India has a deep and extensive enough market for both organized and unorganized sectors to co-exist, it is a thriving business opportunity for all players including the OEM suppliers. Since the products essentially cater to different sets of consumers, the growth potential is not suffocated by any competition due to pricing differences.
 

The unorganized sector mostly caters to the price-sensitive consumers, organised players mostly target the brand-conscious consumers. While price war is not expected because of consumer patterns, the difference in prices keeps a check and balance over the market pricing of UPS products thus leading to a consumer-oriented market. The low prices offered by the unorganized players compels the organized players to effectively maintain their competitive edge in the market, thus providing a quality product at affordable pricing. The local brands in this case play the role of levelling the price plateau.

Revitalization through Technologies
As the UPS market is seeing a dynamic situation with both the branded and unbranded local manufacturers vying for shelf space and optimum pricing, competitive strategies like partnership, mergers, acquisition, collaborations are also prominent in the market.

Increasing demand-led strategies have also kept up the momentum of improvising on technologies so that the customers can be offered better deals. Thus the sector is seeing more research and development in the product offering.

One of the path-breaking products is the online UPS-- globally the most favored choice regarding ensuring any subtle electronic and electrical hardware or DATA, from power blackouts and fluctuations. Also called a double-conversion UPS; in case of main supply or fluctuations past some predetermined limits, the UPS switches over automatically onto battery mode. As the utility stockpile re-establishes typical, the UPS switches back to mains mode and starts re-energizing the batteries.

There is also a concept of Green UPS systems, which offer efficiency rates of 94-97 per cent as against the usual 80-88 per cent efficiency units, which is one of the latest trends that has emerged in the market. This helps in conserving energy as well as reducing the carbon footprint.

For specific applications, there has been the introduction of transformer-less UPS systems, which are more efficient. There is also a UPS called Flywheel or Green UPS which uses energy under the flywheel (rotor), trying to harness the kinetic energy. The technology in home inverters is moving towards more efficient but smaller machines.

Another futuristic trend is moving towards hybrid inverters. These inverters use solar panels in combination with the main power to charge the battery, thus saving on the electricity cost. These inverters could help in integrating conventional energy sources with regular sources easily and are programmed to use conventional sources in a better way.

Way Forward
The future of the UPS industry will be evolving as the applications become smarter. Right from Smart grid connectivity to smart cities, future UPS technologies and applications will have to be smarter and more efficient.

Also, be it branded or non-branded, growth will come out of satisfied customers implying not only a technically versed sales force but an equally skilled after-sales service force. The UPS system can very well lead the skilling targets of India with a thriving demand market.

- Amitansu Satpathy, Managing Director, Best Power Equipments (India) Pvt Ltd