Industrial Economist (IE): What are your main product plans for 2026?
Pushkar Yeshwant Gokhale (PYG): We are expanding our security portfolio with products tailored to the fast-growing silver-loan segment while also strengthening our gold purity testing machine range for jewellers, banks and NBFCs. With silver prices rising, lenders will increasingly deal with bulkier items like plates, lamps and utensils, which require far larger storage volumes than gold. We are working ahead of time so that when silver loans expand, the industry has proper solutions ready. Along with our home-security products, our overall looks steady.
IE: What new technologies are you integrating in your products and process?
PYG: Many of our safes already come with sensors, one-time passwords, mobile alerts and mobile-as-key features. Some models send alerts directly to mobile phones if anything unusual happens. We are also working on face-recognition systems and fully connected safes.
On the process side, we are using AI to modernise our factories, connect machines and improve the efficiency of our supply chain. This helps us roll out new products faster and improve productivity.
IE: Can you elaborate on your growth and revenue.
PYG: In the last two years, we have grown around 20 per cent nationally. Tamil Nadu has grown even faster at about 25 per cent. Today, B2B accounts for about 65 per cent of our revenue and is growing steadily at 10 to 12 per cent a year, driven by banks, NBFCs and commercial establishments. B2C makes up the remaining 35 per cent of the revenue and is growing much faster and will continue at about 20 per cent. In this, Tamil Nadu contributes close to 10 per cent of our revenue and Chennai alone accounts for about 42 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s business.
IE: How are exports performing, especially after the US tariff impact?
PYG: We export to more than 50 countries, including Africa, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Middle East, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, UK and US. The US earlier contributed around 18 to 20 per cent of our export revenue, but fell sharply after tariff changes. To balance this, we are strengthening our presence in Europe, Australia and the Middle East, where demand is steady.
IE: What is your expansion plan across the south?
PYG: At the moment, our Mumbai facility has adequate capacity. Over the next two years, we will review whether we need to expand. Currently we have around 350 retail counters in Tamil Nadu and plan to increase this to about 500 by 2027. Our expansion is focused on Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy, and we are also strengthening our presence in tier two and tier three towns. Apart from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are major focus states because gold ownership and gold-loan activity are high. Kerala and Karnataka are important too.
IE: What steps are you taking to strengthen channels, logistics and dealer networks?
PYG: We are expanding across furniture stores, hardware shops, appliance outlets and modern trade chains. We follow a layered channel strategy with club counters and dealer incentives, so high-performing partners can scale faster. On the logistics side, we focus on quick replenishment so that retail counters do not run out of display products, as this directly affects sales.
IE: Where do you source raw materials? What has been the impact of GST revision?
PYG: About 95 per cent of our raw materials, including steel, are sourced within India. This gives us better control over quality and supply. GST on our products has not changed, so there is no direct effect. But broader tax reforms that increase disposable income can indirectly improve demand. When people buy more jewellery or valuables, the need for security products naturally increases