Data Center, Solar, Defence and EV: Here Are 2 Stocks That Cater To Every Booming Industry

Synopsis: As data centres, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and smart infrastructure expand globally, demand for wires and cables is surging. Polycab India and KEI Industries stand out as deeply embedded beneficiaries, supplying critical electrical and data transmission solutions across almost every high-growth sector shaping the future.

Behind every data centre, defence installation, solar park, EV factory, or smart city lies a silent but critical backbone that rarely gets attention, cables and wires. As global economies push toward electrification, digitisation, and energy transition, demand for reliable power and data transmission infrastructure is rising sharply. The global wires and cables industry is projected to grow at a steady rate of around 7.4 percent annually, reaching nearly USD 410 billion by 2030, driven by rising electricity consumption, renewable energy investments, and expanding digital infrastructure.

Several structural tailwinds are reinforcing this growth. Global electricity demand is expected to nearly double by 2050, prompting massive investments in grid expansion and modernisation. The European Union plans to invest USD 633 billion in electricity networks by 2030, while the United States has committed USD 10.5 billion under its GRIP program to strengthen and expand electric grids. At the same time, the China plus one strategy has encouraged global manufacturers to diversify supply chains away from China, benefitting countries like India as key manufacturing and sourcing hubs for electrical equipment.

The next phase of growth is also being shaped by future-facing industries. Global spending on building data centres is forecast to touch USD 49 billion by 2030 as AI adoption and cloud computing accelerate. Electric vehicles are expected to account for 55 percent of global vehicle sales by the end of the decade, with public charging points rising from about 4 million in 2023 to more than 15 million by 2030. 

Add to this the push for smart cities, where nearly 68 percent of the world’s population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050, and large-scale real estate and infrastructure programs such as Saudi Arabia’s USD 1 trillion Vision 2030 initiative. Across all these themes, cables remain indispensable, making select players deeply embedded across almost every booming sector of the future.

Polycab India Limited

Polycab India Limited is India’s largest manufacturer of wires and cables and has also built a fast-growing presence in the fast-moving electrical goods space. With a consolidated turnover of over Rs. 224 billion in FY25, the company has positioned itself as a provider of safe, energy-efficient, and technologically advanced electrical solutions. Its manufacturing footprint spans 27 plants across India, supported by 15 offices and 34 warehouses, while its distribution reach extends through more than 4,300 authorised dealers and around 200,000 retail outlets. The company also serves customers in 84 countries, underlining its growing global relevance. The stock is currently trading at Rs. 7,130.95, with a market capitalisation of around Rs. 1,07,348.23 crore.

The company’s core strength lies in the depth of its product portfolio. Polycab offers one of the most extensive wire and cable ranges in the country, with nearly 9,700 SKUs spanning flexible wires, building wires, control and instrumentation cables, low and medium voltage power cables, extra-high voltage cables, solar cables, optical fibre cables, communication and data cables, rubber cables, and several special-purpose applications. High-quality imported copper, strong backward integration, and in-house manufacturing capabilities allow Polycab to maintain consistent product quality. Its access to embedded derivatives through suppliers also helps protect margins from sharp commodity price volatility.

Beyond cables, Polycab has steadily scaled its fast-moving electrical goods business, which began in FY14 and now covers fans, lighting products, switchgears, switches, conduits, pipes, fittings, and solar-related products across multiple price points. Its EPC division further strengthens its ecosystem by executing turnkey underground cabling and power projects, enabling wider adoption of its own EHV, MV, and LV cables. This integrated approach allows the company to participate across the full value chain, from product manufacturing to on-ground execution.

Polycab’s products are deeply entrenched across industries such as chemicals, data centres, defence, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, oil and gas, metals, telecom, transport, real estate, and technology. Its client roster includes marquee names such as Reliance Industries, Bharat Petroleum, HP, Vedanta, JSW Steel, SAIL, Saipem, Dangote Group, L&T, Siemens, Honeywell, Asian Paints, Bosch, Tata Motors, ACC, Ambuja Cement, Jio, Vodafone Idea, Tata Power, ISRO, and MMRC. This wide client base highlights its role as a critical supplier across both legacy and next-generation sectors.

Financially, Polycab has delivered strong growth, with compounded profit growth of 29 percent and compounded sales growth of 22 percent over the last three years. The company reported an operating profit margin of around 15 percent on a trailing twelve-month basis. Its balance sheet remains robust, with debt of Rs. 223 crore as of September 2025 and a very low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs. 1,099 crore during the same period. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of about 47.1, significantly higher than the industry average of 20.4, reflecting the premium the market assigns to its scale, execution, and positioning across high-growth end markets.

KEI Industries Limited

KEI Industries Limited traces its origins back to 1968 and has evolved from a house wiring manufacturer into a comprehensive wire and cable solutions provider with a strong global footprint. Headquartered in Delhi, the company operates through more than 38 branch offices and 21 warehouses across India, supported by over 1,900 channel partners. KEI serves customers in more than 60 countries and has steadily strengthened its presence across retail, institutional, EPC, and export segments. The stock is currently priced at Rs. 4,332.60, with a market capitalisation of approximately Rs. 41,419.91 crore.

KEI offers an exceptionally wide product basket that spans extra-high voltage cables up to 400 kV, high and medium voltage cables, low tension cables, control and instrumentation cables, solar cables, EV cables, rubber cables, fire survival and fire-resistant cables, communication cables, ESP cables, marine and offshore cables, thermocouple cables, winding wires, and stainless steel wires. In addition to manufacturing, the company has built strong EPC capabilities, particularly in power sector projects, which allows it to participate in large infrastructure and utility-led opportunities.

The company’s cables find applications across a diverse range of industries including power utilities, oil and gas, real estate, cement, railways and metro projects, automobiles, steel, fertilizers, roads and highways, textiles, telecom, data centres, renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, IT, electric vehicles, and marine infrastructure. KEI’s order book stood at Rs. 38,448 million as of September 30, 2025, with 55 percent linked to domestic cable orders, 18 percent to export cables, 13 percent to EPC projects, and 14 percent to EHV cables, providing healthy revenue visibility across segments.

KEI maintains a diversified client base with limited concentration, as its top ten customers accounted for only 12 percent of sales in FY25 and 13 percent in H1 FY26. Its marquee clients include ABB, Tata Power, Essar, NPCIL, Enercon, Suzlon, BSES, GAIL, ONGC, Oil India, Reliance Industries, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, SAIL, Tata Steel, Garden Reach Shipbuilders, Goa Shipyard, Cipla, Dell, IBM, Infosys, Wipro, Intel, Airtel, Jio, BSNL, and Vodafone. This wide spread across public sector undertakings, private conglomerates, and global technology companies underlines the company’s relevance across both traditional and emerging sectors.

From a financial perspective, KEI has delivered compounded profit growth of 23 percent and compounded sales growth of 19 percent over the past three years. Its operating profit margin on a trailing twelve-month basis stands at around 10 percent. The company reported debt of Rs. 235 crore as of September 2025, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, indicating a conservative capital structure. Cash and cash equivalents stood at Rs. 1,559 crore during the same period. The stock is currently valued at a price-to-earnings multiple of about 52.7, well above the industry average of 20.4, reflecting strong growth expectations and its expanding role across power, EV, data centre, and infrastructure ecosystems.

When people talk about the future, they usually focus on flashy end products, EVs, data centres, solar parks, or defence equipment. What often gets missed is the basic infrastructure that quietly holds all of this together. Wires and cables may not grab headlines, but without them, none of these industries can function. That is what makes companies like Polycab India and KEI Industries so interesting. They are not betting on one trend working out; they are supplying almost all of them at the same time.

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