It’s not a phrase you will find on Google (we checked). But “socket needs of a home” is what Anil Rai Gupta says his company’s products fulfil and it’s a very apt descriptor. “We now cater to 76% of the socket needs of a home. The idea is to get even deeper into homes,” says the chairman and MD of Havells, one of India’s largest electrical equipment manufacturers. It’s a process that started a decade and a half ago when the Noida-based company, which had a humble beginning in the 1970s as a cable and switchgear maker, decided to transform into a consumer durables player. Over the next 10-12 years, Havells added switches and its portfolio now includes fans, lighting, home and kitchen appliances, personal grooming gadgets and, following the May 2017 acquisition of Lloyd’s consumer durables business, even large appliances such as air-conditioners, LED TVs and washing machines.