The sugar industry has given me so much, I can’t ask for anything more: G.D. Agarwal

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Shrijee is a household name in sugar industry. The company seeded some 37 years ago, by Mr.G.D. Agarwal, and nursed and nurtured by him, has grown into a sprawling fig tree, throwing tendrils, branches and leaves to reach out to the sugar world. An accomplished and acclaimed sugar technologist, Mr. G.D. Agarwal is an unassuming, self-styled, home grown entrepreneur who believes that ‘you cannot run away from responsibilities and your sincerity and hard work always pays’. Mr. P.K. Balasubramanian speaks to Mr. G.D. Agarwal, Chairman, Shrijee Group to unfathom his unwavering commitment and pursuit of excellence in his chosen engineering field. Excerpts:

Mr. G.D Agarwal, Chairman, Shrijee Group
Mr. G.D Agarwal, Chairman, Shrijee Group

Q. Shrijee is today a multi-product, multi-faceted company. Your comments?
Yes, Shrijee started off with sugar plants and turnkey sugar projects way back in 1976. Slowly, but steadily, we added several other products and services to our portfolio. These include Tower and Solar Structures, Wind-powered Exhaust Fans, Engineering Spares, Agricultural Equipment, Heavy Fabrication and Hot Dip Galvanizing.

Q. So you are omnipresent?
Omnipresent in the sense we have our headquarters in Mumbai, and regional offices in Delhi, Chennai, Ahmednagar and in Colombo. We have our full-fledged , state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in four strategic locations in western and southern India. We have successful sugar projects in almost every state in India and nearly 30 countries across the globe – right from Ecuador in South America to Fiji in South-East Asia. That’s our spread today.

Q. In sugar projects you have a predominant position – right?
Yes. Execution of sugar projects is the primary and the largest activity of our group. Over the years we have executed more than 30 process house projects and achieved the rare distinction of manufacturing India’s largest process house i.e. of 15,000 TCD.

Mr. G.D. Agarwal receiving the coveted Life Time Achievement Award from the Sugar Technologists' Association of India
Mr. G.D. Agarwal receiving the coveted Life Time Achievement Award from the Sugar Technologists’ Association of India

Q. For sugar plants you said you offer virtually everything – isn’t it?
As a sugar machinery supplier, we enjoy a unique position in that we are capable of designing, fabricating, erecting and commissioning a complete sugar process house which comprises, boiling house with in-falling film evaporators, continuous vacuum pans, centrifugal and steam economy measures to give high efficiency with steam consumption not exceeding 35% on cane. We are now in the process of entering into complete sugar projects i.e. mills, boiler and co-generation being added in our scope of work. In the specialty equipment range, we make duplex heat exchangers, in-falling film & radial evaporators, direct contact heaters, condensate flashing systems, rapid boiling pans and continuous vacuum pans.

Q. What are the different agricultural products you offer?
These are all related to sugar crops. We have sugar planters, loaders for cane handling, harvesters, infielders and trash separators. All these lend to mechanization and high productivity.

Q. Your wind -powered exhaust fans came as a natural extension. What’s your niche in this sphere?
We are the pioneers in wind ventilators. We introduced our 100% wind powered exhaust fans in India in 2001. These are installed on rooftops of factory sheds to throw our hot air and bring in fresh air without consuming any electricity. They generate continuous air circulation in workplaces, thus creating a conducive work atmosphere and enhancing productivity. Today there are over 50,000 Shrijee ventilators in operation in the country. And the users include Crompton, Eicher Motors, Hereo Honda, Hindalco, Hyundai Motor, ITC, Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Toyota-Kirloskar and so on. Hero Honda was our first customer for ventilators.

Q. You are also into Tower & Solar Structures. Can we have some details?
We specialize in supplying high quality mounting or racking solutions for solar power plants. We have supplied structures to both photovoltaic and concentrated solar power projects. These structures come with single or dual-axis trackers, variable seasonal tilt, fixed tilt and rooftop application. Our clients include SkyFuel-USA, Thermax, BHEL, Tata BP Solar, Mahindra Solar and Punj Llyod.

A Process house installed at customer's place.
A Process house installed at customer’s place.

Q. You have a separate Division for Hot Dip Galvanizing. How did you feel the need to branch out into this?
Galvanizing is required for all the components of our end products including solar mounting structures. Hence this Division was set up in Supa MIDC, near Shirur with complete facilities for pre-treatment, galvanizing, effluent treatment and so on. We have an eminent team and a galvanizing capacity of 25,000 MT per annum. We also have an Engineering Spares Division to cater to the needs of engineering hardware and spares of the industry.

Q. Using heavy fabrication, what are the end products you make?
The Division meets all our fabrication needs. It is fully equipped with materials handling facilities to manufacture gigantic equipment and components including evaporators, heat exchangers, vacuum pans, crystallizers, reactor vessels, etc.

Q. Who are your major clients for sugar plants?
Our major clients are Bajaj Hindustan, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bannari Amman Sugars, Thiru Arooran Sugars and Renuka Sugars in India; Kaset Thai Sugars, KSL Group, and Mitr Phol Sugars in Thailand; Kamdhenu Ventures in Cambodia; Nagarjuna International and NATL in Vietnam; Fiji Sugar Corporation in Fiji; Fincha Sugar in Ethiopia; West Kenya Sugar Mill in Kenya and Kakira Sugars in Uganda, just to mention a few.

Q. Please throw some light on your management and human resources.
We are a family owned enterprise. I am a sugar technologist and the founder chairman(G.D. Agarwal). My brothers Dinesh Agarwal and Anil Agarwal are also directors involved in day-to-day operations. The second generation Sachin Agarwal, Saurabh Agarwal and Sudeep Agarwal have also joined the business and look after specific portfolios. Sachin has done his Masters in Business Administration from the US, and also worked with the World Bank. Saurabh has done his MBA from UK, while Sudeep has taken his MBA from Spain. He is also a sugar engineer. So all are professionals, fully involved and giving their might to the running and growth of our business.

Talking of our workforce, we have a total strength of 250 employees, out of which 50 are engineers involved in design, manufacture and project execution. We also have some 500 workmen at different sites. As you know, we are in project engineering wherein everything has to be orchestrated and well-knit so that there is no let up on quality or delivery schedule. Our people are fully dedicated and highly committed.

Q. What should we understand about your operating philosophy?
Well, at Shrijee we have a family atmosphere. Everyone feels at home. We have given the employees all facilities, freedom and the most sophisticated tools and software to perform their best. Power is decentralized and at the operating level everyone can take decisions in the best interest of the company. If someone makes a mistake, we seldom take it as a crime. We expect him to learn from the mistake and improve. We believe that fundamentally all are good. We maintain a personal touch with our employees who are a part of our family. They also perceive that way. We are all accessible any time.

We delegate things and if they perform well, they are promoted to the next level and given more responsibilities. We are genuinely interested in their progress and they also work for the progress of the company because they know that if the company gains, they also get their bread. We are a 37 – year old company. With young .blood coming in, the average age of our employee has come down drastically. This has a telling effect on the expectations of the people. We are quite realistic about this and are making necessary amends to help the company surge ahead. At the same time we have retained the good things and good values from the existing system.

Shrijee product spectrum
Shrijee product spectrum

Q. You have won the EEPC Awards for several years consecutively. May we know something about your export performance and turnkey engineering overseas?
Yes, we have won EEPC Awards for export excellence for several years in a row. We are a registered export house. Our exports are mainly sugar plants and towers. Our first major export order came in ‘98 for setting up a Process House and Sugar refinery in Vietnam (from NIVL Ltd.}. Since then we have done several projects in Vietnam, Fiji Island, Cambodia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Indonesia, etc. Today exports contribute 50% to our annual turnover which is hovering between Rs.110 – Rs.160 crores depending on the market conditions.

Q. You have won the Life Time Achievement Award from the Sugar Technologies’ Association recently!
This was bestowed on me on 26th August 2009 for my outstanding contribution to the sugar industry. It followed after we executed the largest number of continuous vacuum pans (200 numbers) installed in India and abroad. The world’s biggest Continuous Pan was supplied to Kaset Thai, Thailand sugar plant. I personally took it as a recognition for my passion, dedication, relentless efforts and pursuit of excellence. It was a great honour to me. The sugar industry has given me so much. I should now give something back.

Q. Which was your first client for Continuous Vacuum Pan?
We received the first order for continuous vacuum pan in 1992 from Mula Sahakari Sakhar Kharkhana, Ahmednagar. It was indeed a milestone!

Q. Have you accomplished all that you wanted to do, making the most of your education, experience and resources?
I think so. I have helped the nation save enormous energy from the sugar sector. Sugar business is cyclic. This is why for the last couple of years we have been concentrating on overseas business. Our target is tapping three new countries or five new customers every year. This year so far we have been able to add one country and one new customer. For the last four years, I am the President Of the Indo-Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce & Industry- IVCCI . The Chamber strives to enhance trade between the two countries. And in Vietnam Shrijee is well-known.

Q. What is your vision for Shrijee?
We have fixed a target turnover of Rs.800 crores which we must achieve in the next few years. Till then I am restless.

Q. What’s your advice to young entrepreneurs?
Work sincerely. Consider your client as God. Never ever mislead him.When I get a new order, I consider it as my own baby and take utmost care. I am emotionally attached and do everything possible to accomplish it to my client’s satisfaction. One should not see short-term benefits. Aim for long-term relations. This is what I have been doing all these 37 years. And undoubtedly the industry has given me so much in return!.

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