Transformers & Rectifiers (India) Limited CEO Interview 

Q1.  Can you introduce your role and share an overview of TARIL today? How would you describe the company's journey, capabilities, and position within the global transformer manufacturing landscape?

TARIL has been manufacturing transformers for more than five decades. We began as a focused domestic manufacturer and, over the years, through consistent investment and an uncompromising commitment to quality, have grown into one of India’s largest transformer companies, with an annual capacity exceeding 75,000 MVA. This scale has been built deliberately, over generations, and through sustained engineering discipline.

As Managing Director and CEO, my responsibility is to protect what has been built and continue to strengthen it. We supply transformers to utilities, industrial customers, power generation projects, and grid infrastructure worldwide. While transformers may not always receive attention, they sit at the heart of every electricity network. Without them, nothing moves—and that is what we make, and we make it well.

Q2.  What have been the key factors behind the company's growth and reputation in India and international markets? What differentiates your approach from others in the sector?

Honestly, it comes down to not compromising. Engineering integrity, long-term relationships, and reliability have driven everything. In this business, when something fails, it is not a minor problem. It means blackouts, shutdowns, and real consequences for real people. Our customers know we take that seriously, and they have trusted us because of it.

What sets us apart is that we have scale, but we have not allowed scale to make us slow or distant. Customers can reach us. Decisions get made. And because we have invested deeply in our own manufacturing capability across critical components, we are not at the mercy of supply chains the way some manufacturers are. We compete on engineering and delivery. That is it.

Q3.  The transformer industry is experiencing significant global demand. How do you see this growth evolving over the next five to ten years? What major opportunities and pressures is this creating for manufacturers?

This is not a temporary spike. The demand we are seeing globally is structural, driven by electrification, the explosive growth of data infrastructure, and the renewable energy transition. The grid has to expand to carry all of it, and transformers are at the core of that growth. Lead times that once were a few months are now multiple years in many markets. That tells you everything.

The pressure on manufacturers is real as well. Materials are stretched, good engineering talent is hard to find, and customers are more rigorous than ever about who they buy from. The manufacturers who will benefit from this wave are those who have prepared for it, not those scrambling to catch up.

Q4.  India is one of the fastest-growing energy markets in the world. How is this shaping your strategy and investment priorities? What challenges come with scaling to meet this demand?

India's growth is significant by any measure. The scale at which generation and transmission capacity is being added here is remarkable, and every bit of it requires transformer infrastructure. We are squarely in the middle of that buildout, and we are investing to ensure we remain there—in capacity, in people, and in how we run our operations.

The honest challenge is that transformers are not a commodity. Every unit is engineered to specification. You cannot simply increase the volume and expect quality to take care of itself. Maintaining our standards as we grow is the discipline that matters most, and it is something I think about constantly.

Q5.  How is TARIL scaling responsibly while maintaining quality, delivery timelines and reliability for customers?

We start by being realistic about what we can take on. We do not chase orders we cannot fulfil properly. In a market where everyone is hungry for supply, that kind of discipline is harder than it sounds, but our customers’ trust depends on it.

We have also invested in bringing more of our supply chain in-house. When you control more of the critical components yourself, you control quality and timing more directly. Less dependence on external vendors means fewer surprises. And we have put real effort into our internal processes and teams to ensure that as we scale, the standard remains consistent. That does not happen on its own.

Q6.  What is your experience working with international markets and how do you see demand developing there? What do global customers expect from transformer partners today?

International customers are rigorous, and rightly so. The procurement processes are thorough, the technical specifications are detailed, and the expectations around documentation, testing, and after-sales support are high. You have to earn your place in those markets. There are no shortcuts.

What I have found is that beyond the technical requirements, what global customers are really looking for is confidence—confidence that the transformer will perform for its full operational life, confidence that if something needs attention, we will be there, and confidence that the relationship will hold over decades, not just for the duration of a purchase order. That is what we are focused on building, market by market, customer by customer.

Q7.  Innovation is critical in power transmission and distribution. How is the company investing in R&D, engineering capability and next-generation transformer technologies?

People sometimes assume transformers are a settled technology. They are not. The demands being placed on transformer equipment today—higher voltages, variable generation sources, digital monitoring integration, and more challenging installation environments—are real engineering problems that require continuous development.

We are investing in engineering depth across the product categories where demand is most technically demanding, and in our testing capability to validate performance against the most stringent international standards. My view is straightforward: the transformer your customer needs tomorrow will be more demanding than the one they need today. We intend to be ready for that.

Q8.  Sustainability and grid modernisation are reshaping the sector. How is your product strategy evolving to support the energy transition and more resilient infrastructure?

The energy transition is good for our business, but more importantly, it matters. The shift to cleaner generation requires more grid infrastructure, and transformers are central to all of it. We take that role seriously.

Grids are becoming more complex and more demanding. The equipment within them needs to be more capable and more resilient. We are engineering toward that future, not just serving what customers need today, but understanding what they are going to need as their networks evolve. That forward orientation runs through everything we build.

Q9.  What message would you share with your current and future customers about partnering with TARIL? What can they expect in terms of long-term value and collaboration?

We are in this for the long term. A transformer operates in your network for thirty to forty years. That means the relationship with your manufacturer has to last at least as long. We understand that, and we behave accordingly.

Fifty years of operating history is not something you can manufacture—it is earned. For anyone evaluating us as a new partner, I would say: come and see for yourself. Audit the facility. Look at our quality systems. Put your most demanding specifications in front of our engineers. We are not in the business of making promises we cannot keep, and we have nothing to hide.

Q10.  Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for the company and the broader transformer industry? What excites you most about the role manufacturers will play in shaping the future global energy landscape?

The goal is to be genuinely world-class—not just a strong Indian manufacturer, but a name that is trusted in every major electricity market globally for engineering quality and reliability. That is the standard we are working toward.

The broader industry is entering a period that will define electricity infrastructure for a generation. The investment going into grids globally is unlike anything we have seen before, and transformer manufacturers are at the centre of it. I find that genuinely exciting, not because of what it means commercially, but because of what it means for the world. The infrastructure we build carries power to hospitals, industries, and communities. Getting that right matters. And that sense of purpose is what drives us every day.

 

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