Business India
THE MAGAZINE OF THE CORPORATE WORLD
April 2013
A chance encounter
BUSINESS INDIA THE MAGAZINE OF THE CORPORATE WORLD
But there are a few people who put themselves into trouble. And they keep putting themselves into trouble, which drives them,” Sachdev adds. He started with back-up solutions initially for homes, and then expanded the product range gradually and, today, services a range of segments including solutions for businesses, green inverters and batteries for OEMS (original equipment manufacturers) and even customized solutions.
Having established himself in the inverter industry, Sachdev now plans to test the waters in the solar power sector. He believes the next decade will see a big boom in the solar power segment and plans to bite big into that pie with an investment of ₹200 crore in the solar segment in the pipeline. “Solar power is a big challenge right now, because we don’t have the products required by India now. Outside India, solar power is grid-interactive, but that can’t work here, because we don’t have stable power. Only Guja-rat and Rajasthan have some solar presence, as there is relatively stable power there,” says Sachdev. His technology is in place and Su-Kam Power Systems currently offers solar inverters for households and offices with a wide range of back-up capacities. The prices start from ₹20,000 and he expects to earn ₹300 crore solely from solar power in the coming year.
Sachdev: a man of ambition
With its constant focus on innovation, Su-Kam has managed to carve a niche for itself in the consumers’ minds
is constant zeal to reinvent and create difficult situations for himself and his company is what makes Kunwer Sachdev, man aging director, Su-Kam work. And building up a workforce of 2,500 people across 26 offices pan-India and three outside India from nothing was quite a challenge he undertook. People called him impractical and overambitious, but it is his attitude of taking up challenges that
made him a success story.
“When people ask me I still can’t believe this has been done by me,” says Sachdev. “I don’t know how this entire business happened. If you ask me today to leave and establish Su-Kam again, I won’t be able to do it. Even today, I don’t have that confidence. I had no idea that the inverter industry would be so big. I just took a chance in that industry, nobody knows their capabilities,
Su-Kam had recorded ₹700 стоге in revenues in 2011-12 and closed 2012-13 with a revenue of ₹1,029.54 crore. The privately held company, which has investors such as Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) and Temasek Holdings on board, is not planning to enter the power generation market, owing to the com-plex nature of the market. Last year, the company had joined hands with Israel-based Gametronics Electronic Industries to make and sell industrial power back-up solutions in India.
With a current production capас-ity of 1.2 million units of inverters, and 800,000 batteries, Su-Kam at present has over 25,000 dealers across India and is also present in countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan,
R&D will remain central to Su-Kam’s growth
Nepal, Pakistan (through Dubai, since direct trade is not possible) and the entire African continent. It com-petes with Luminous and Microtech in the inverter segment.
Coming from a lower-middle class background, Sachdev is not shy of challenges and experimenting. “I keep falling down, but learn from all my mistakes,” he says. He had always aspired to be in the medical profession when he was in school and even managed a decent rank in the pre-medical examination but could not manage a good percentage in his class XII examination. “I studied in a government school and managed just 49 per cent and thus could not get into the medical college,” he adds. He changed school on his own and topped class XII but could not clear his medical examination. “I never planned my life; my life planned me,” says Sachdev.
Though he was getting admission in an engineering college, Sachdev never wanted to become an engineer. But it was engineering that shaped his life. “I never planned things; they were just happening,” adds Sachdev wistfully. He began
working with his brother after class X to support his family, selling pens on a bicycle. As things improved, he still continued working with him. He studied statistics in Hindu College, Delhi, though still doesn’t relate to the subject. He graduated in mathematical statistics and then got an LLB from Delhi University.
Sachdev wanted to grow his brother’s business, but his brother was not comfort-able with the idea. So, Sach-dev left him and joined a cable TV business. Two years later, in 1992, he started his own cable TV business, making amplifiers, modulators and satellite receivers. And he called it Su-Kam.
Pushing the limits
It’s his constant will to do
something in life that still drives Sachdev. While he calls his foray into the inverter segment a chance encounter, he had never anticipated the growth that was in store for him. Having no electronics background, it was a tough task. But he had it clear
Enterprise
in his mind that R&D will always remain central to Su-Kam’s growth. “When I began, inverter technology was poor and in the nascent stages,” recalls Sachdev. “Battery life was low and there were a number of constraints. Servicing was weak. Technology remained our prime focus throughout, and it still is. Distribution and servicing network was the next big challenge, because till we did that, it was just a cottage industry. We began with direct selling, because nobody was willing to become our dealer and distributer,” he adds wistfully.
With its constant focus on innovation, Su-Kam has managed to carve a niche for itself in the consumers’ minds. “Industry hires people from Su-Kam, because we train them well and they are technologically sound,” informs Sachdev, “Earlier, I had used hit-and-trial method to hire people and made maximum losses through hiring the wrong kind of people. But now, for the last three years, things have been looking better. And I have a back-up team to identify the right talent,” he adds.
COMPANY Su-Kam Power Systems
PROMOTER Kunwer Sachdev
PRODUCTS Power back-up solutions
TURNOVER
LOCATION Delhi
Sachdev also wants to give inverters on rent. “When I see dirty generators outside marriage halls, I really want the inverter-on-rent dream to become a reality, even for the parties that hap pen at home. I have ready solutions to give inverters on rent, where no pollution will happen,” says Sachdev. He is a firm believer in experimenting new technologies he plans to launch on himself and his company first, and so, 280 kW inverters are being used in Su-Kam’s Gurgaon office for the last four years. “We have experienced the merits as also its shortfalls. And, we have improved it, wherever necessary,” says Sachdev.
1029.54 Crores of the technology ourselves,
He now wants to focus on acquisitions and admits that acquisition of two companies is in the final stages, which will keep him motivated for the next few years. “I want my life to be a constant struggle,” says Sachdev.
Disclaimer: It is important to note that while Mr. Kunwer Sachdev founded Su-Kam Power Systems, he is no longer associated with the company as of 2019. Any information regarding his involvement in the company’s operations, strategies, or future plans reflects his tenure prior to that date. Therefore, any discussions or analyses of Su-Kam Power Systems should be considered in the context of his past contributions and not his current association with the company.