Part 5 of “My Story” — The Kunwer Sachdev Journey
Building the Empire: 6 Factories, $10 Million from Reliance-Temasek, and the SMF Battery Gamble
How Su-Kam Scaled from a Single Unit to India’s Largest Power Backup Manufacturer
Kunwer Sachdev
Founder of Su-Kam and Kunwwer.ai, and mentor at Su-vastika and several other companies — the “Inverter Man of India”
📖 Previously: Part 4 — Sine Wave, Solar & Home UPS | Part 3 | Part 2 | Part 1
🏢 The Corporate HQ — “Imagine A City Powered By…”
Su-Kam Corporate Headquarters, Gurgaon — “Imagine A City Powered By The Sun.” The vision that drove everything.
After 2000, Su-Kam grew explosively. I built a world-class corporate office on a 1,000 sq metre plot in Gurgaon. It took 2.5 years to construct — seating for 150+ people, a proper canteen for 100, and interiors I personally designed and oversaw. Looking back, I now realize how much prime time I spent on construction. But at the time, I wanted every detail to be perfect.
Inside the Su-Kam corporate office — a world-class workspace housing 150+ people
💰 $10 Million from Reliance-Temasek (2005)
The turning point: Reliance Capital & Temasek invested ~$10 million in Su-Kam
In 2005, the Reliance Energy India Power Fund (a Reliance-ADAG and Temasek Holdings joint venture) acquired a 20% equity stake in Su-Kam for Rs 45 crore. This was unheard of in the Indian inverter industry. The investment culture for manufacturing companies was just starting — investors had been burned by the dot-com bubble and were now realizing that manufacturing companies with brands could be the future.
The investors sent me to the US to explore an acquisition. I saw a US company functioning for the first time and realized we were good in certain areas but needed to improve in others. The deal didn’t mature, but the learning was tremendous — I brought back sample documents, processes, and standards that transformed how Su-Kam operated, especially in R&D.
🏭 Building 6 Factories from Scratch
With the Reliance-Temasek investment fueling expansion, I built factory after factory:
📍 Gurgaon (Haryana)
2 manufacturing units + R&D building + Corporate office. The nerve center of Su-Kam — where all product design and innovation happened.
📍 Baddi (Himachal Pradesh)
4 manufacturing units — inverter assembly, battery unit, transformer manufacturing. Built under the Himachal government’s subsidy scheme.
📍 Katha (Himachal Pradesh)
The palatial SMF battery factory — 6 acres, state-of-the-art, with a training hall like a cinema. The dream project.
Su-Kam factory in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh
The Katha factory — Su-Kam’s state-of-the-art SMF battery manufacturing plant
15 years of building — dealing with government agencies, approvals, architects, and contractors. All certified under OHSAS-18001 for occupational health and safety. Looking back, I realize how much of my prime time went into construction. But these factories turned Su-Kam into a manufacturing powerhouse.
The Katha SMF battery factory inauguration — with CM Himachal Pradesh Mr. Dhumal. One of the best manufacturing facilities in India at the time.
🔋 The SMF Battery Gamble — A Dream Project That Taught a Brutal Lesson
Inside the SMF battery factory — lead casting, plate formation, and assembly lines
The SMF (Sealed Maintenance Free) battery factory was my dream project. I built it on 6 acres in Katha with the investment from Reliance-Temasek. The idea was revolutionary: everyone in India was using Lead Acid batteries that needed regular water refilling and released unhealthy lead fumes. I wanted to bring sealed, maintenance-free batteries to the Indian inverter market.
💔 The Costly Mistake
I hired people from the battery industry who assured me SMF batteries would work on inverters. We had been using Chinese-imported SMF batteries successfully in our export markets — Africa, Middle East — where the warranty was only 6 months.
But in India, the minimum warranty was 2 years and above. The SMF batteries we manufactured couldn’t survive the deep-cycle usage patterns of Indian homes — long power cuts, daily cycling, extreme temperatures. The battery people I hired didn’t understand the difference between UPS backup (15-30 minutes) and inverter backup (4-8 hours).
A state-of-the-art factory. A dream vision. But the fundamental assumption was wrong. This was one of my most expensive lessons.
Transformer manufacturing at Su-Kam — building the power infrastructure that went into every inverter and UPS
Su-Kam at Its Peak
5,000+
Employees
90+
Countries
6
Factories
70+
Patents
📖 Next in “My Story” Series
Part 6: Solar Pioneers — From Home Lighting to Megawatt Projects
How Su-Kam became one of India’s first companies to install megawatt solar projects, powered BSF posts at the Indo-Pak border, and created the Su-Kam Solar brand.
🔗 External References & Proof
- 📰 Business Standard: Reliance-Temasek Acquires 20% Equity in Su-Kam for Rs 45 Crore →
- 📊 Tracxn: Su-Kam Company Profile, Funding & Financials →
- 📊 PitchBook: Su-Kam Power Systems Valuation & Investors →
- 🏭 Electronics For You: Inside Su-Kam’s Manufacturing Floor →
- 🏭 IndiaMART: Su-Kam Power Systems Baddi Manufacturer Profile →
- 📖 Su-Kam Power Systems — Wikipedia →
- 📊 Crunchbase: Su-Kam Company Profile & Funding →
- 📺 Su-Kam Solar — YouTube Channel →
- 📖 How Su-Kam Came to File 77 Patents →
- 📖 National Wastage: How 77 Su-Kam Patents Went to Zero →
- ◀️ Part 4: Sine Wave, Solar & Home UPS →
Disclaimer: This article is written by Kunwer Sachdev, mentor of Su-vastika. Kunwer Sachdev is no longer associated with Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd. in any capacity. Anyone dealing with Su-Kam should be aware that Kunwer Sachdev has no association with the Su-Kam brand or company. All photographs are from the author’s personal archives.
Kunwer Sachdev
Founder of Su-Kam and Kunwwer.ai, and mentor at Su-vastika and several other companies — the “Inverter Man of India.” Read his story →
