Rewiring Legacy: How A Strategic Vision, Crisis Navigation, And A Breakthrough Fire Cable Built A Global Industrial Leader
In an era where legacy manufacturing businesses are often disrupted, Abhinav Batra, the CEO of Batra Henlay Cables, has done the disrupting. Steering a 33-year-old family enterprise, Batra has not merely adapted to changing times; he has actively rewritten the rulebook for the cable industry in India and beyond. His recent recognition as one of the World’s Leading Leaders 2025 at the Global FutureMakers Summit in London is a testament to a leadership style forged in strategic daring, rooted in sustainability, and executed with unflinching resilience.
Batra’s vision became action in 2020 with a bold capital allocation: diverting 30-40% of working capital to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Greater Noida. This was not just an expansion; it was a declaration. The facility, engineered from the ground up with variable AC drives, IoT-integrated extrusion lines, and LED-lit, energy-neutral systems, increased the company’s production capacity by a staggering 10x. “The objective was to be future-ready, sustainable, and self-functioning,” Batra’s strategy document notes, a move that directly addressed a critical demand-supply imbalance and fueled exponential turnover growth.
However, Batra’s true leadership mettle was tested not in times of growth, but in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a “universe of dilemma,” with lockdowns freezing operations and choking cash flow. His response was a masterclass in agile leadership. Batra pivoted focus to essential, non-restricted projects—COVID rescue zones, hospitals, and Supreme Court-monitored housing projects. By structuring deals with 100% advance payments and leveraging reverse costing, he secured cash-backed orders that brought factories back online. He simultaneously invested in comprehensive worker welfare—providing commuting facilities, lodging, medical insurance, and COVID protocols—penetrating what he calls the “resistive chain” of labor challenges. This dual focus on financial ingenuity and human capital preserved the organization’s core through its most fragile period.
The cornerstone of Batra’s legacy is radical innovation born from regional necessity. Confronted with India’s adoption of stringent fire safety codes (NBC 2016) and the exorbitant cost of imported fire survival cables, he spearheaded the development of an indigenous alternative. The challenge was monumental: creating a cable that could survive 750°C for 120 minutes using aluminum, which melts at 615°C. Collaborating with physicists, material scientists, and electromechanical engineers, his team didn’t just meet the standard—they shattered it. The resulting cable was tested at 950°C for 180 minutes at BRE Global in the UK. This “carefully tested and confirmed product” bridged international standards (BS 7846) with local needs, becoming the first of its kind in India. Its adoption led to over 10x growth in the segment and, critically, its specifications were incorporated into the CPWD Technical Specifications, effectively setting a new national standard.
Driving this innovation engine is a deep commitment to R&D and digital transformation. Batra earmarked 15% of working capital for R&D, establishing a “top of the line” zone that enabled the company to offer 10 to 25-year product warranties—a previously unthinkable promise in the industry. On the digital front, Artificial Intelligence is deployed from the copper rod breakdown stage, monitoring for imperfections to minimize waste and rejection. For sales, an AI-driven analytics tool calculates real-time, variable cost quotations in seconds, accounting for volatile inputs like LME copper prices and USD fluctuations. This system has been pivotal in securing and managing long-timeline infrastructure projects, enhancing customer experience and revenue generation.
Batra’s leadership philosophy extends to cultivating a robust and equitable organizational culture. He states there is “no such thing as a gender pay gap ratio” at BHC, focusing purely on skill. His leadership pipeline begins with a two-day onboarding experience and progresses through tailored workshops on financial acumen and emotional intelligence. This investment in “Leader of Leaders” has resulted in a key talent retention rate above 60%, with 20% of critical roles having identified internal successors. Furthermore, his governance model proactively allocates budgetary funds for sustainability—reducing emissions, controlling electricity usage, and optimizing water reuse through a third-party environmental management system.
His influence now spans continents. From being a preferred supplier for the Wyndham Group of Hotels across EMEA and Asia to having his fire survival cables specified in projects like the Central Vista Avenue and the Amazon Web Services Centre in Navi Mumbai, Batra Henlay Cables under his command is a global player. The company’s flagship products have not only been adopted by peers but have actively phased out environmentally harmful predecessors, pushing the entire industry toward halogen-free and fire-safe standards.
Abhinav Batra’s story is not one of inheriting a throne, but of forging a new kingdom. It is a narrative that demonstrates how deep technical expertise, when guided by strategic courage and an unwavering duty to stakeholders, can electrify an entire industry. He hasn’t just built a better cable; he has built a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable blueprint for industrial leadership itself.
