The co-founders of Zetwerk, Srinath Ramakkrushnan and Amrit Acharya, speaking to CNBC-TV18 at the Zetwerk Smart Manufacturing Summit 2024, shared valuable insights into the state of Indian manufacturing, the company’s strategic investments, and their vision for the future.
Ramakkrushnan believes that India’s focus on import substitution is a fantastic opportunity for Indian companies in the manufacturing sector. He emphasised the need for incentivised domestic manufacturing capacities, especially in critical areas like defence and aerospace.
Amrit Acharya, identified exports as the next wave of growth for Indian industries. Acknowledging the fragile supply chain exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the over-dependency on China, Acharya urges the Indian government to focus on promoting exports. He pointed out that customers are not seeking a complete decoupling from China but a diversification of their supply chain, with India as a crucial component.
Recognising the multi-decade opportunity in renewables, aerospace and defence, Zetwerk is positioning itself as a key player in these sectors.
“There are definitely spaces where capacity is a bottleneck, where either there is monopolistic capacity or supply side or the capacity side is actually really nascent, where we see multiyear demand. And India still doesn’t have the reliable capacity to feed into this multiyear demand that we see. And those are areas where we have not shied away as a company and have aggressively invested in capacity building,” Ramakkrushnan stated.
“So electronics is one important area, and aerospace and defence is another important area in which we are investing. Even with renewables as a theme, we look at renewables as solar or even wind as a multi-decade opportunity for the country. And, when you look at the current capacity, it is not going to be enough. So that’s where we realise we need to play our part,” Ramakkrushnan added.
Amrit Acharya provided a snapshot of Zetwerk’s financial journey, stating that the company turned profitable on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) basis last year. With a substantial investment of ₹250 crore into capital expenditure, Zetwerk is setting up manufacturing facilities both in India and the USA. The ambitious plan also includes going public in the next 18–24 months.
Founded in 2018, Zetwerk became a unicorn in 2021 and has secured a total funding of $674 million till 2023. The company’s unique model enables custom manufacturing of over 9 million parts, ensuring timely delivery to assembly lines for 1,800 clients across 20 countries. Notable clients include industry giants like GE, Tata Group, L&T, and ISRO.
Watch accompanying video for entire conversation.