GM vs Goldmedal: Two Companies, a Director in Common Until 2013

Is GM and Goldmedal the same company?

GM Modular and Goldmedal are two separately registered companies. Company records show they had a director in common until 1 April 2013, when their boards separated; today they share no director. Each has its own registration number, its own registered office and its own board.

Both are Mumbai companies, both brand names start with a G, and both sell switches, wires, LED lights, fans and MCBs. Put the two boxes side by side on a dealer’s shelf in Andheri and it is easy to assume they come from one maker. On paper they are separate today; what links them is board history, set out below.

Below is what each company says about itself, what the company register shows, the places on a switch box where you can see who made it, and a buying checklist that works for any brand. We do not rank the two, and we make no claim about either one’s quality or prices.

Who owns GM Modular?

GM Modular is run by a private limited company, GM Modular Private Limited, registered in Mumbai. The company register gives an incorporation date of 25 June 1999, while the brand’s own history page says it was established in 2002. Both can be true: a company is often registered before the brand it later sells.

CIN U31900MH1999PTC120544 Registered 25 June 1999 Brand: est. 2002 Andheri West, Mumbai 400053

GM’s own site names a Chairman a CEO and a Director, and the register lists three whole-time directors today.

On its own account, GM launched a modular switch line in 2004, a series called Fourfive with colours and textures, LED lighting and switchgear such as MCBs and RCCBs in 2016, and fans in 2018. Its About page describes a manufacturing facility of about 2.5 lakh sq ft but does not say where.

Who owns Goldmedal?

Goldmedal is a family business that, by the company’s own account, was set up in 1979 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, first as a retailer of other brands, and is now run by the founder’s sons. The operating company today is Goldmedal Electricals Private Limited, registered in Mumbai in 2007.

CIN U31401MH2007PTC171667 Registered 14 June 2007 Brand: est. 1979 Malad West, Mumbai 400064

Its history page lists the milestones: wires under the Goldmedal name from 1981, a first factory in Goregaon, the G-Magic polycarbonate switch series in 2001, a modular switch unit in Vasai in 2006, and the Curve modular range in 2011. It says it now has manufacturing units in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana, and headquarters in Mumbai.

The register shows eight or nine current directors, depending on the date of the record.

Why do so many people think GM and Goldmedal are the same?

People ask whether GM and Goldmedal are the same because the two look alike from the shop counter, and because the two companies had a director in common until 1 April 2013.

Here is what overlaps on the shelf. Both names start with G and Goldmedal’s early switch series was called G-Magic. Both are Mumbai companies, with registered offices in Andheri West and Malad West. Both sell the same families: modular switches, wires, LED lights, fans, MCBs and home automation.

Here is what the company register shows. Here is what the company register shows. The two boards had a director in common until 1 April 2013. On that day one director moved from GM’s board to Goldmedal’s, and the boards separated. Today the two companies have no director in common. Today the two companies have no director in common.

Today the two have different CINs different registered offices and different boards. Goldmedal’s history page does not mention GM, and GM’s history page does not mention Goldmedal.

GM vs Goldmedal: how old is each, by its own account?

Goldmedal is the older brand: it dates itself to 1979, and GM dates itself to 2002, so Goldmedal has been in the electrical trade 23 years longer by the two companies’ own dates. The registered companies tell a different order: GM’s was incorporated in 1999, Goldmedal’s in 2007. Their boards had a director in common until 1 April 2013.

Brand date is the year a company says it started trading. Registration date is when today’s legal entity was incorporated. A shop that becomes a company, or a company that restructures, will show a later registration date than its story. That is common in Indian family businesses and is not a red flag.

What does each company sell?

GM and Goldmedal sell broadly the same product families, so a buyer can do a whole house in either brand’s switches, wires and lights; the difference you will notice is in the named ranges, not the categories.

GM groups its site into Switches & Accessories Home Automation LED Lighting Fans Wires & Cables Pipes & Fittings and Home Protection (distribution boards, MCBs, RCCBs).

Goldmedal lists modular switch ranges including Curve Nixon Air and Mini Modular, plus Wi-Fi switches, home automation, LED lights, FR wires, LAN and CCTV cables, spike guards, doorbells, MCBs and fans.

GM or Goldmedal, which is better?

Neither is better for every home, and we will not pick one: the switch that suits you is the one whose licence checks out on the exact product, whose warranty you get in writing, and whose range your local dealer actually stocks.

Searches like gm or goldmedal which is better and is goldmedal a good brand ask for a verdict. A fair verdict would need the same switch from each, tested side by side to IS 3854, and we have not done that.

What you can compare yourself, in ten minutes at a counter: the CM/L licence on the product the warranty card spare modules in stock plate finish in your colour and the price on the box. These decide whether you are happy in five years far more than a brand name.

How to tell who made the switch in your hand

To find out who made a switch, turn the box over: Indian packaging rules require the name and address of the manufacturer or packer, and the ISI mark must carry the IS number and the factory’s CM/L licence number, which you can look up.

Where the maker, the licence and the standard appear on a switch box

Drawn by us; a generic box, no real brand. Layouts differ by maker, but every item shown should be somewhere on a genuine pack. Tap the diagram to open it full size.

Read it in order. 1 Brand is the name you bought. 2 ISI mark carries the standard, IS 3854 for switches, on top, and the licence, CM/L- plus digits, below. 3 Manufactured by is the company that made it, with a full address. 4 MRP and date and 5 consumer care are also required on retail packs. 6 Module back: the rating and the mark should be on the switch itself, not only on the box.

How to check an ISI licence on the BIS site

You can check any switch’s ISI licence for free in about a minute with the Bureau of Indian Standards’ BIS Care app: enter the CM/L number from the product and it fetches the licence holder’s details.

Step by step: Install BIS Care from the Play Store or App Store. Open Verify Licence Details. Type the CM/L number exactly as printed and tap Go. Then compare three things with the box in your hand: the company name and address the product covered the licence is valid.

The same check is possible on BIS’s online portal, Manak Online. BIS shows the licence number in a 10-digit format, CM/L- followed by ten digits; older boxes may show a shorter number.

If the number belongs to a different maker or a different product, that is the signal. Our page on how to spot a fake ISI mark walks through the four results you can get, and the IS code for each electrical product lists which standard should be printed above the mark.

A buying checklist that works for GM, Goldmedal or any brand

Whichever brand you lean to, check these five things on the exact product before you pay; they apply equally to GM, Goldmedal and every other switch on the shelf.

ISI on the exact product: the CM/L number should verify to a switch licence, not a socket or an MCB one. Warranty in writing: years, what it covers, and who you call. Range in stock: a range your dealer cannot reorder leaves a gap in the wall later. Spare modules: buy one or two extra of the switches you use most. Plate finish: see the plate in daylight, and check the module count your box needs with the plate size calculator.

GM, Goldmedal, Anchor, Legrand or Havells?

People comparing GM and Goldmedal often add Anchor, Legrand or Havells to the list; all five sell modular switches through dealers across India, and the same five checks above decide between them better than a brand ranking.

The owners differ: Anchor belongs to Panasonic of Japan, Legrand is a French group, and Havells is a listed Indian company. Our list of ten switch brands in India gives each one’s owner, headquarters, start year and named ranges, in alphabetical order and not ranked.

Some searches ask how to remove a GM or Goldmedal switch from the board. Modular switches from most brands come out the same way: plate off, then the module released from its frame. Switch off the MCB first. Our guide on how to remove a modular switch plate shows the steps. For anything on fixed wiring, call a licensed electrician.

Where we fit in

We are a third Mumbai name in this market, and we should say so plainly since we wrote this page: we make the KEMPS and VIZA modular switch and plate ranges at our works in Marol, Andheri East.

Our switches carry IS 3854 under licence CM/L-7567794, and you can check that number in the BIS Care app the same way as any other. If you are still choosing a brand, our guide on how to choose a modular switch brand sets out the same checks in more detail, with no brand ranked first.