Finolex Cables Limited (FCL) was established in 1958 and has emerged as India's largest and leading manufacturer of electrical and telecommunication cables. The Company is principally engaged in the manufacturing of of Electricals Cables, Communication Cables & Other Electrical Appliances. Its manufacturing facilities are located at Panjim in Goa, Pune in Maharashtra and Roorkee in Uttarakhand. To support requirement of copper rods for both types of cables, it manufactures continuous cast copper rods (CCC rods), at its Rod Plant in Goa. The Company has added Electrical Switches, LED based Lamps, Fans, low voltage MCBs, Water Heaters and PVC Conduit Pipes to its range of products.
The Company got into the business segment of Fast-Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG) for all electrical products. The addition of a broad range of FMEG products to its well-established cables and wires portfolio bolstered its presence in the margin accretive B2C market. The Goa plant manufactures Continuous Cast Copper Rods (CCC rods) that form a key raw material input for producing copper-based electrical and communication cables.
During the year 1988-89, the company signed a technical collaboration with Norddeutsche Seekable Werke, Germany, for manufacturing hi-tech special submersible cables. Also, they started commercial production at their new plant in Urse. Engineering Monitors (India) Pvt Ltd became the subsidiary of the company during the year. During the year 1992-93, Creole Holdings Company Ltd and Finolex Finance Ltd became the subsidiaries of the company.
During the year 1995-96, the company formed a joint venture with Essex Group Inc, USA and AT&T, USA for manufacturing continuous cast copper rods and with AT&T, USA for manufacturing fibre optic cables respectively. During the year 1997-98, Inoram Sheets Ltd became the subsidiary company, since the equity contribution went up form 50% to 57.88%.
In December 1999, the company's manufacturing facility at Verna in Goa commenced their commercial production. During the year 1999-2000, the company acquired 50% shareholding of SX Mauritius Holdings Inc, Mauritius held in the joint venture company Finolex Essex Industries and hence Finolex Essex Industries became a wholly owned subsidiary of Finolex Cables and was renamed as Finolex Wire Products. Also, Finoram Sheets Ltd was amalgamated with the company during the year.
During the year 2001-02, the company acquired optic business of Finolex Technologies Ltd, which is engaged in manufacture of optic fibre cables. The Company's optic fibre division undertook an expansion during the year, which was commissioned in September 2004.
During the year 2002-03, the company launched V-SAT Cables for V-SAT application for connecting the Dish to the Base Station. The company introduced a new variant of optic fibre cable called 'TOP Cable' wherein the glass fibres are totally encapsulated by extruded FRP sheath over the loose tube. They also introduced UPS Cables used for providing power from the UPS to computer/ appliances in the networking environment.
During the year 2004-05, the company in collaboration with a private sector insurance company introduced a personal accident insurance scheme for the benefit of the eligible electricians from all over the country. They also developed new products which includes, LAN cables, CAT 6 cable, LAN CAT SE cable and CAT 6 + UTP LAN cable.
During the year 2005-06, the company's subsidiaries namely Finolex Wire Products Ltd and Finolex Finance Ltd were merged with the company with effect from April 1, 2005. In August 2006, the company launched Finoglow, their brand of Compact Fluorescent Lamps. During the year 2006-07, the company launched 1.1 KV grade XLPE insulated and heat resistant PVC jacketed flat cable, LAN Cat-6 cable with ring type marking, 50 ohm coaxial cable with conductor dia 2.75 mm, 100 pair switchboard cable and RG11 coaxial cable with copper clad aluminium conductor.
During the year 2007-08, the company commissioned their high voltage power cables plant at Urse near Pune and thus added high voltage power cables upto 66 KV rating to their range of electrical cables. Also, they commissioned their CFL manufacturing facility at Urse near Pune.
In December 2007, the company entered into a joint venture agreement with J-Power System Corporation of Japan and formed as Finolex J-Power Systems Pvt Ltd for offering complete turnkey solutions in extra high voltage cable system in India and abroad. In January 2008, the company was awarded the prestigious trophy by Engineering Export Promotion Council for Star Performer as medium enterprise in the product group of miscellaneous electrical machinery and apparatus for outstanding contribution to engineering exports during the year 2005-06.
The company is in the process of expanding the manufacturing base for light duty electrical cables for use in construction industry, electrical panes wiring and consumer electrical goods. The plant is expected to go on stream in during the financial year 2008-09. The company has undertaken expansion of capacity of compounding plant and of various copper cable capacity at Urse at an estimated capital expenditure of about Rs 400 million. This project is expected to complete during the financial year 2008-09.
In 2013, the Board of the Company approved setting up a captive 5 MW Solar Power Plant at its manufacturing facilities at Urse, Pune. The company was awarded an advance purchase order of over Rs. 200 crores for Metal Free Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) of the National Optic Fibre Network ('NOFN') backbone project, during the year 2014. In 2015, the company entered in to a Joint Venture with J-Power Systems, Japan thereby strengthening the educational infrastructure of rural and semi-urban Andhra Pradesh.
The Board of Directors of Finolex Cables at its meeting held on 10 August 2015 considered and approved the company's plans to enter into the fan business by setting up a new facility during the year with a capacity to manufacture bout 2,00,000 fans per month. The Board also approved additional investment in production facilities at Urse to expand its cable range. Both these investments would primarily be from internal accruals and would require an investment of about Rs 125 crore.
As a further step in the transformation of the company from a cable maker to and electrical products company, Finolex Cables ventured into fans, switchgear and water heaters during financial year 2016-17.
The Company launched its low duty switchgears in the market in December 2016. The product has been perceived well in the market. Several variants of the same have since been released to the market. A completely new range of fans, specially designed for the Company, had been introduced in the market in May 2016. The third product launch during the year in January 2017 was Water Heaters.
During the year 2017, an investment of Rs.196.0 million was made in the equity of the Company's Joint Venture - M/s Finolex J-Power Systems Private Limited.
During the year, the Company injected equity of Rs 196.0 million, taking its participation up to Rs 1,178.5 million.
During the year, the Company incurred Rs.356.3 million towards capital expenditure, predominantly towards sustenance of existing capacity and product development activities.
During the year, the Company injected equity of Rs 159.2 million, taking the Company's participation up to Rs 1337.7 million at the end of FY 2017-18.
During the year 2019, the Company launched the first of its exclusive retail store chains, 'Finolex House', in Chennai. This was followed by progressive openings of 'Finolex House' stores at Vadodara, Bhopal and Ghaziabad.
During the year 2019, the company's JV, Finolex J-Power Systems Private Limited completed its first 220KV order from Delhi Transco, its earlier order from KSEB and won major orders in the 110KV - 230KV voltage grade as well as orders for Pune Metro project. The JV participated in 400KV tenders during the year.
During the year 2019, an equity investment of Rs. 18.9 Crores was made in the Company's JV - M/s Finolex J-Power Systems Private Limited.
During FY2020, the Company incurred Rs. 32.3 Crore towards capital expenditure, predominantly towards existing capacity, product development activities and Land in Gujarat. The Company invested Rs. 43.4 Core in its Joint Venture.
In year 2022, the Company launched decorative ceiling fans, room heaters, LED lighting. Further, it introduced Junction Lights, Double Colour panels and Tri Colour panels.
During the year 2023, Electrical Wire capacity was enhanced at both Urse and Goa. The Company launched Crease Free Irons in its home appliances segment. It launched an entirely new line of BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) compliant decorative & BLDC Fans; launched innovative special cables used for image capture, CCTV cameras and in-power solutions. Additionally, it launched retail stores named Finolex Houses'.