Global manufacturing capacity may reach pre-COVID levels by May-end: Sterlite Technologies

Data network solutions provider Sterlite Technologies is hopeful that its global production capacity will reach near pre-COVID levels by May-end if calibrated moves to reopen economies and businesses proceed as per expectation, according to Group CEO Anand Agarwal.

The company, which designs and deploys high-capacity converged fibre and wireless networks, said export shipments from India have commenced to Europe, Middle East and Latin America.

With a portfolio ranging from optical fibre and cables, network design, and deployment and network software, Pune-based Sterlite Technologies positions itself as an integrated solutions provider for global data networks, with optical preform, fibre and cable manufacturing facilities in India, Italy, China and Brazil.

"We are operating at 60-65 per cent of our global production capacity...I foresee we should be back to operating globally at pre-COVID levels of capacity by end of May unless something unexpected comes up. We are going by the expectation that things will keep opening up," Agarwal told PTI.

The company has put in place rigorous measures to ensure that staff on duty at its units adhere to social distancing norms and come in staggered shifts.

"Manufacturing is one part of the business but there are many people who work on projects, then also in our software business. So people who are in software business continue to largely work from home.

"People on projects between the ones that are required to be on sites, where we have got permission in green and orange zones, are there...again from supervision, design and planning, we have balanced it out so that work continues but at the same time we don't crowd the location," he said.

Before the pandemic struck, the company was operating fibre business at 30 million fibre kilometres annual capacity and cable business at 18 million annual capacity.

The manufacturing units in India produce preform, fibre and cable, while China unit focuses on fibre, and Italy and Brazil units on cable.

The factory shutdowns due to the global coronavirus pandemic impacted different geographies at varying points of time.

"Broadly everywhere we had two weeks' period where it was almost fully shutdown, but in most places because it qualifies under essential services, manufacturing started for supplying products for networks that had broken down or networks which needed capacities...and then gradually moved onto business which were like pending orders," Agarwal said.

He asserted that the shifts on data demand and higher utilisation of network are here to stay.

"Previously, people were focused on downloads but with the current situation most of the workflows have moved to internet. This is only way of staying connected, and demand is 30-40 per cent higher," he said.

In India, economic and business activities are slowly restarting outside containment zones, and partial movement has resumed within states in the third phase of lockdown.

The government has announced an extension of nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic till May 17, and issued new guidelines permitting different sets of relaxations in green, red, and orange zones, thus paving the way for a staggered exit while reopening the economy.

As on Sunday, the death toll due to coronavirus pandemic stood at 2,109, while the cases have risen to 62,939 in the country.