Summary of this article
KEI Industries fell nearly 9 per cent, while RR Kabel declined over 9 per cent
Polycab, Havells and Finolex Cables also fell after UltraVolt’s launch announcement
UltraVolt will invest Rs 1,800 crore and target a top-two position within five years
Aditya Birla Group confirmed it is entering the sector with a new business called UltraVolt, backed by an investment of Rs 1,800 crore. Investors read the move as a threat to the market share of existing players, and the stocks were hit hard right from the opening bell.
KEI Industries bore the brunt of the selloff. The stock opened at Rs 5,000 on the NSE and fell to an intraday low of Rs 4,848.75, down nearly 9 per cent from the previous close of Rs 5,327.
Polycab India fell as much as 6.32 per cent to an intraday low of Rs 8,250, and Havells India fell up to 4.75 per cent to Rs 1,149.70.
Likewise, Finolex Cables and RR Kabel also came under pressure, falling 4.86 per cent and 9.30 per cent, respectively.
On the other side of the trade, UltraTech Cement, the company that will house the new wires business, gained nearly 2 per cent.
The new business, UltraVolt, was announced on September 3, 2026 by group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla. He said the venture will start out as the second largest player in the wires segment by capacity and has set a target of becoming one of the top two players in the country within five years.
This is the fourth new business the Aditya Birla Group has launched in three years. It follows the group's entry into paints through Birla Opus, jewellery retail through Indriya and B2B e-commerce through Birla Pivot, apart from a string of investments and acquisitions in newer areas.
Housed under UltraTech Cement, UltraVolt extends the cement major's footprint in the construction value chain beyond grey cement, ready mix concrete, building products and white cement. The group has added the business to its Building Solutions strategy to benefit from growth in housing, infrastructure and electrification.
Birla said the launch comes at a time when urbanisation, electrification and digitisation are driving demand for wires and cables. He expects more than 100 million new homes to be built over the next decade, while rising power needs and the growth of data centres could further boost demand.
UltraVolt plans to expand its distribution network to more than one lakh retailers and use over 5,000 UltraTech Building Solutions outlets. The initial rollout will cover more than 500 districts and 6,000 pin codes, supported by over 20 warehouses. The company will also use UltraTech’s existing network of home builders, contractors, developers and EPC firms.
UltraVolt will manufacture its products at a new plant in Jhagadia, Gujarat’s Bharuch district. The location is expected to help the company distribute products across the country.
UltraVolt CEO Sriram Rangarajan said the company will begin with home wires, flexible wires and cables for residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure use, and plans to widen the portfolio to other electrical accessories over time. The company is also building an electrician engagement programme covering product knowledge, safety and installation practices. More than 1,600 electricians have signed up ahead of the launch, and the company aims to train over 40,000 electricians over the coming year under the Skill India programme along with ESSCI.
For a sector that has enjoyed strong pricing power and steady demand over the past few years, the entry of a well capitalised group with deep distribution muscle changes the competitive math. The market's sharp reaction on Friday suggests investors will be watching closely how fast UltraVolt scales up and how the older players respond on pricing and distribution in the months ahead.
