India’s metal supply chain has long struggled with delays, fragmentation and lack of transparency, forcing purchase teams to chase vendors and juggle uncertain stock. Enlight Metals is tackling these inefficiencies with an AI-powered aggregation platform, multilingual voice-enabled procurement and strategically located dark stores that enable 24-hour delivery – transforming how OEMs, EPCs and infrastructure players source their metals. In a conversation with CW, Dhananjay Goel, Director, and Vedant Goel, Director, shares how the company is reshaping procurement. What problems are you addressing in India’s metal supply chain and at what scale have you been able to solve them?Dhananjay Goel (DG): India’s metal supply chain has long been slow, fragmented and opaque. Buyers, especially purchase teams at large OEMs, spend days calling vendors, comparing manual quotes and waiting for confirmations, without real-time stock visibility. Procuring the right metal at the right price and time has always been a challenge. We address this through our AI-powered aggregation platform, which integrates with ERP and CRM systems. It connects registered suppliers, displays stock availability and uses logistics intelligence to generate instant quotations. By the end of this month, we are also launching a multilingual AI voice agent. Customers will be able to call or use our website in Hindi, English, or Marathi, share their requirements, and the agent will process and forward them directly to our sales team. A key differentiator is our 24-hour delivery promise in many regions for HR, CR, GP, TMT bars, MS pipes and structural steel. We operate on a ‘dark store’ model, with facilities in Pune and Mumbai. Using historical demand data, our AI predicts material requirements by location and pre-stocks dark stores accordingly, enabling rapid delivery within 24 hours and bridging inefficiencies in industrial supply.Why did you decide to launch the AI voice agent as your next step?DG: We want to scale pan India and the voice agent helps us serve customers in multiple cities without time restrictions. Purchasers often need to share requirements outside working hours, sometimes even at midnight. The voice agent, available 24/7, captures their needs. Another reason is accessibility. Many of our customers are not very tech-savvy and prefer speaking to a person rather than navigating digital platforms. The AI voice agent replicates this experience, making procurement as simple as a conversation with a friend.Does the voice agent address language barriers?DG: Yes, we are initially launching in Hindi, English and Marathi, since we are focusing on Maharashtra first. Soon, we will add more languages such as Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu. This ensures even customers in Tier-2, 3 and 4 cities can comfortably place orders without language limitations.For EPC companies and OEMs, how does your AI-enabled platform directly help in procurement?DG: Traditionally, procurement involves multiple calls, emails and follow-ups with vendors, who then contact mills such as JSW, Tata or Jindal. This process usually takes three to five days. Our AI platform reduces it to a few hours, providing real-time availability and instant quotations. Orders placed by 2 pm are processed, sent to our dark stores, and delivered the next morning. This saves time and manpower for purchase teams, enabling them to focus on higher-value tasks. With supplier tie-ups and high volumes, we also secure competitive rates and pass these savings on to customers.Vedant Goel (VG): We work closely with leading OEMs and EPC contractors. For instance, a client once needed specific C-channel sizes early in the morning. Instead of waiting to reach us, he simply used our AI voice agent to check availability instantly. Crucially, 95 per cent of our orders are delivered within 24 hours, supported by a logistics team of over 10 people dedicated to delivery management. Timely supply is a major pain point and we address it effectively.Please share examples where your platform helped reduce steel usage or contributed to sustainability goals.VG: A strong example is pre-engineered buildings (PEB). Traditionally, manufacturers used HR sheets cut and fabricated manually, which offered limited strength and efficiency. In 2017, while working with Pune Metro, we introduced MS pipes with direct forming technology (DFT). This reduced steel usage by over 20 per cent, improved structural strength, and extended lifespan from around 10 years to more than 25 years. Fabrication also became faster and more efficient. Though still niche in India, DFT is transforming the sector.DG: For Pune Metro’s underground project, we reduced logistics costs by about 10 per cent by supplying from our Pune dark store instead of distant locations. This not only saved costs but also lowered the carbon footprint.Which projects are you currently engaged in?VG: We are supplying steel for Udaipur Airport, Pune Metro, CITCO’s Mumbai project, Bihar Medical College, and the redevelopment of Ratnagiri and Nanded railway stations. On the private side, we supply to Mahindra, Tata Motors, JCB, Sany, automotive component manufacturers and PEB builders. Our current mix is approximately 60 per cent private projects and 40 per cent government projects.You have also entered value-added segments like solar structures, cable trays and TMT bars. Please tell us more.VG: The steel market in Pune alone consumes more than 3.5 lakh tonne a month and value-added products like solar structures are growing rapidly. While most talk about solar panels, the real backbone is the solar structure, which is critical for installation. With government policies pushing solar adoption and subsidies, demand will surge. By entering solar structures, cable trays and, soon, crash barriers, we can generate higher margins compared to raw steel supply while addressing evolving industry needs.DG: Our AI platform is flexible and can be extended beyond metals to any material category. By combining AI-driven procurement with strategically placed dark stores, we can ensure timely, cost-efficient and high-quality supply, giving us a strong competitive edge in these new verticals.The steel industry is highly volatile. How does Enlight Metal protect clients from the consequent challenges?DG: Steel prices can swing 5-10 per cent in a month and policy changes often impact costs overnight. To shield our clients, we use several mechanisms such as forward contracts with locking rates for large, long-term projects (e.g. quarterly); just-in-time procurement, avoiding stockholding risks while ensuring availability; a multi-source strategy without relying on one supplier; and critical SKU stocking, using our dark stores to hold essential grades and sizes.This ensures customers always get quality material at competitive rates without exposure to extreme volatility.VG: I’ll add that reliability is crucial. Many of our clients, like auto component manufacturers, cannot afford downtime. If 200 workers are idle due to lack of raw material, the cost is huge. Our 24-hour supply and strong logistics team make us a trusted partner – 95 per cent of orders are already fulfilled within a day and we aim for 100 per cent soon.What are your targets for FY 2025-26?DG: Our target is bigger than Rs 4 billion; we have already achieved 60-65 per cent of that figure. Crossing Rs 10 billion by March will not be surprising. We are also preparing for an IPO by 2028. Alongside domestic expansion, we plan to launch an international trade division to serve global importers and exporters of raw materials. This year, we expect to supply at least 1 lakh mt of steel; by 2027-28, our goal is 5 lakh mt.