Ihad joined Shakti long time back in 1982 as an aid to my father who was running the unit during those initial days. It was really a challenge in those days to manufacture and market engineering products such as pumps though there were only few organized players. Market was dominated local cast iron products that consumed high energy and energy efficiency was not a concern in those days. However, the determination and urge to excel helped me to tide over the difficult times. Followed by an opportunity to see the stainless steel pump for the first time during a visit to a gulf country, I decided to set up a unit with advanced fabrication technology to manufacture SS Pumps and Motors, but the availability of fund was a challenge.
After few years of initial struggle to arrange finance for development projects, it was realized that going public would be the right choice to support our development plans. In 1995, company had come out with a public issue which was oversubscribed several times which in turn multiplied our confidence to surge ahead.
After that there was no looking back, company embarked on a major modernization and expansion plan with concrete vision and strategy on product development and marketing. In a couple years, we were able to develop world class stainless steel pumps with advanced SS fabrication technology supported by imported machineries for the first time in India in contrast to conventional practice of cast iron pump manufacturing. It was indeed a major leap forward. With high tech imported plant and machineries, we were able to manufacturing world class pumps and motors.
Realizing the energy efficiency advantages of stainless steel pumps, Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Bureau of Indian Standards extended 5-star rating to our stainless steel pumps which later dominated in pumping sector on a global scale.
Years followed had seen tremendous growth and wider market acceptability in domestic as well as international markets. With a view to establish and widen the market, company has put in all efforts with a strategic approach and introduced new and improved product portfolio that helped us forge ahead beating the competition. Products at global quality bench marks manufactured with help of high-tech plant and machinery brought Shakti to the forefront of its peers. With a competitive edge over service and quality, the way forward was steady and relatively smooth.
In the year 2012, the story about renewable energy particularly solar energy applications was in focus and we identified the opportunity for a breakthrough innovation that later paved way for development of solar operated irrigation pumps for the first time. However, the journey ahead was not smooth as the affordability of the same was a challenge to farmers due to higher costs. However, gradually, the solar pump market transformed into today’s scenario with strong support of the central and state governments for the promotion of green energy applications which also contributed immensely to climate change mitigation goals set by the government.
As prime mover in this segment, we successfully developed a wide range of solar pumps in line with market requirements that brought us to the centre stage solar irrigation. This was in addition to our core business of energy efficient pumps and motors for diverse applications with substantial exports to over 100 countries globally. We were instrumental in establishing our brand by undertaking two major marketing campaigns with mega star Amitabh Bachhan as brand ambassador. Lately we have forayed into power electronics space and started manufacturing solar pump controller in our new in-house E&C plant which can cater to our own requirement and also to the market. Now Shakti is a brand synonymous with quality and workmanship compete effectively with global giants.