Doors open a new revenue stream for Tata Steel

With the uncertainty on steel demand lingering, Tata Steel has literally opened new doors to shore up revenue from value-added products.

As part of its efforts to expand its retail consumer business, the company has developed a range of new products, including steel doors, steel windows, gates, grills and modular furniture.

The company has launched wood-finish steel doors under the brand name ‘Pravesh’ and plans to sell about 4 lakh doors this fiscal year.

The brand has been launched across India, except for the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir. The door business is estimated to be worth ₹50,000 crore per annum and is dominated largely by local carpenters and vendors.

The company is currently working with three companies to manufacture and install Pravesh at the customer’s end. It will add another three companies as volumes pick up.

TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, said the products are customer-led innovations developed under the Tata Innovent programme, which aims to address customer needs.

“The whole thinking is that when we sell Tata Tiscon (steel rebar) to customers it is about 5 per cent of their cost. We are exploring opportunities through our innovative products to grab a share of their remaining spend on house building,” he said.

Tata Steel wants to increase revenue from the B2C business to 30 per cent over five years, with expectations of revenue from services and solutions accounting for 20 per cent of overall revenue.

“So, literally, customers giving 30 per cent of our business do not worry about what is the price of steel in China or India. The whole idea is to change the conversation from price per tonne to price per piece or price per square foot,” he said.

As part of the smart-city programme, Tata Steel has developed a range of products, including smart bus stops, garbage bins with sensors and toilets. It has received orders for toilets from State government projects, including from Delhi and Ranchi.

It has also received orders for 400 toilets from TCS, while Nestle and Mercedes Benz have also placed orders for toilets as part of CSR projects.

“If a company wants to built 200 toilets, it does not want to incur additional costs by putting up a team behind it. They just pick up the phone and order from us,” he said.

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