Ramani Kasi, president and CEO, Raychem RPG, aims to increase the company’s turnover to over Rs 25 billion by 2021-22 from Rs 10 billion at present. He lays a lot of focus on research and development, while ensuring that the company’s core values and vision are adhered to.
Commenting on the current state of the power equipment industry, Kasi says, “Transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment manufacturing in the country is stepping up its game on the back of proactive government support. We are on the right track to reach a T&D equipment market size of $100 billion, as outlined in the Vision 2022 for the electrical equipment industry.”
Kasi believes that in the coming years, the use of smart devices that aid in monitoring equipment health will gain traction. There is a need to focus on undertaking preventive maintenance and ensuring remote access to equipment as well as adopting self-healing devices, he emphasises. In the long term, he expects utilities to focus on becoming more customer-centric and turn more to renewables.
Looking back, Kasi feels that his most memorable assignment was leading Raychem through the successful acquisition of TE Connectivity’s Energy Business in India. “It was an inflection point in the history of the company. The access to TE Connectivity’s product portfolio provided us opportunities to deliver greater value to Indian customers,” he says.
Commenting on his management style, Kasi says, “I believe in the maxim – treat others the way you would like to be treated.” He likes to lay down broad directions for his team and then let them chart out growth plans. Kasi is a mechanical engineer by training and holds a postgraduate degree in marketing management from the University of Mumbai. He has also done a Senior Leadership–Accelerated Development Program from the London Business School.
Kasi hopes to write a book on the trials and tribulations that went into building a successful company. He is also fond of reading books, his favourite being In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters. Listening to Indian classical music is a great stress-buster for him. He likes to attend music concerts with his family and is fond of travelling to new places. His wife, he says, is the pillar of the family and “sacrificed her career to take care of my parents and children whilst I was away and busy with my job”. They have two daughters, one pursuing her master’s in the US and the other, in the final year of dental medicine.