The Power Economy article in India Today

India Today’s December 2008 ‘Unusual Entrepreneurs’ profile of Kunwer Sachdev: how a maths graduate from Hindu College who once sold pens and cable equipment built Su-Kam Power Systems into a Rs 430-crore inverter major in 50+ countries.

India Today’s ‘Unusual Entrepreneurs / Innovators’ feature in its 10 December 2008 issue puts Kunwer Sachdev — then 42, Chairman & MD of Su-Kam Power Systems — on page 131 as the man who lit up Indian homes through the country’s worst power-cut years. Nivedita Mukherjee’s piece walks through the numbers: Rs 10,000 to start in 1992, Rs 430 crore in annual turnover by 2008, and a footprint in 50+ countries — all built with no formal management or engineering training.

The cable guy who became the game-changer

Mukherjee opens on an image that stuck: not many people would notice the cable guy fixing the connection just when the cricket match is at its climax. Fewer still would believe he could turn into the man who set new benchmarks for a whole sector. That, in her framing, is exactly what Sachdev did — a “can do” attitude, a willingness to take risks, and no formal management or technical education getting in the way.

Selling pens, cables — then the inverter that changed his life

Son of a section officer in the Indian Railways, Sachdev tried selling pens with his brother, worked a short stint as a sales executive in a cable company, then set up a cable-equipment business that never took off because he had no technical skills. The turnaround came from a domestic frustration: the locally-bought inverter he had installed at home simply couldn’t keep pace with long, frequent power cuts. He decided to improvise on it, went to banks to fund the venture, and was turned down. So he put his personal savings in, and Su-Kam was born in 1998.

The first 100 inverters came back — and he hired engineers anyway

The launch year was a lesson in humility. The first 100 pieces were returned by buyers because of glitches. Instead of retreating, Sachdev — the maths graduate from Delhi’s Hindu College — hired engineers with proven technological experience, even though the company was running dangerously low on cash. It was, in his words, the only choice if his desire to create a brand was to succeed. The gamble paid off, and Su-Kam moved from a repair shop’s idea to a national brand.

“For Sachdev, wealth creation lies not just in the coffers but in the energy of his team, which he drives with equal passion. His associates vouch for his ability to motivate people.”— Nivedita Mukherjee, India Today • 10 December 2008

Four factories, a Baddi plant that ships 5,000 batteries a day

By 2008 Su-Kam had four state-of-the-art production facilities, including a Rs 100-crore plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh that produced 5,000 batteries a day. Mukherjee describes them as sophisticated assembly lines backed by integrated in-house component manufacturing and R&D centres. The company had also picked up a 20 per cent equity stake from the Reliance India Power Fund — the PE vehicle jointly sponsored by the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

50+ countries — and a Rs 250-crore expansion plan

Su-Kam’s footprint at the time of the profile was already in over 50 countries, built through product innovation, design sensibility and a hard-won sales-distribution network. Mukherjee reports a fresh Rs 250-crore expansion plan for the next fiscal, with new inverter applications on the roadmap: aircraft, boats, golf carts and battery-operated gadgets — a deliberate move up the sophistication curve from the home-inverter mass market.

The founder’s mantra: give people room to grow

The profile closes on the softer side. An introvert who doesn’t mind shaking a leg at parties with peers, driving a Toyota Corolla, Sachdev tells Mukherjee his real wealth is his team: “I believe in giving the requisite independence to people to take decisions in their respective spheres and grow professionally.” That, more than any factory or fund, is what he says will power Su-Kam’s next chapter.