With India’s core sector likely to grow fast, there is a good growth prospect for mechanical power transmission companies. Increasing requirement for energy-efficient gearbox and clean energy sources are driving the growth of the industrial gearbox market, says Neeraj Bisaria, CEO and MD, Premium Transmission Pvt Ltd - a leading player in the industrial gearboxes, geared motors and fluid coupling segment. Banking on vibrant domestic market and its strong global footprint continents across geographies, the company aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 1000-crore by 2025. In this interview with Rakesh Rao, Neeraj Bisaria analyses impact of Make in India on manufacturing sector and highlights emerging trends in gearboxes.

 

Recently, Premium Transmission launched seven products in the industrial gear segment. What is so unique about these products? 

Premium Transmission recently launched products such as PCX-SERIES Cooling Tower Gearbox, Small Planetary Gearbox, Smart Modular Series- Helical Gearbox, Inline Geared Motor, Geared Lift Machine, Gearless Lift Machine and Modular Fluid Coupling. These technologically advanced products are highly efficient and will cater to industries varying from oil & gas, steel, cement, food and beverages, power, material handling to textile, elevators etc. These products have features like unparalleled efficiency, ease of maintenance, enhanced mechanical rating, modular construction, improved thermal rating, rugged design, reliability and stability to name a few.

 

How do your customers benefit from Premium transmission’s products?

We provide solutions to wide spectrum of industries like sugar industry, cement industry, wind energy, mining, power, iron & steel industries, etc. Also, we make custom made application-specific gearboxes for conveyors, lift, agitators, crane duty, etc. We cater to the demand from our four manufacturing facilities in Pune, Kolkata, Aurangabad and Germany also through a development/technology centre in Kolkata. At Premium, we manufacture various types of gearboxes like worm ranging from 112 mm to 1700 mm, helical ranging from 80 mm to 1150 mm, planetary up to 2500 mm, fluid couplings ranging from 200 mm to 1320, and geared motors ranging from 25 mm to 120 mm, etc. 

Digitalization and automation indeed help us to service better quality and compliance by reducing manual errors and variability, as well as by allowing faster and effective resolutions of problems. Also, we have a strong team of engineers to maintain automated systems. All our manufacturing units are certified with ISO 9001:2015. 

 

In May 2019, Premium Transmission opened first exclusive Service Centre in Pune. How will this move help the company in generating additional revenue?

We have recently opened a development centre in Kolkata and a service centre in Pune. The development centre focuses on developing engineering platforms for enhancing our current industry offerings. The aim is to design products for the industry where we have very limited products or no products available. The newly launched service centre will focus on repairs and overhauling. The centre provides highest level of expertise to the customers. 

 

Increased consumer demand and technological advances have opened up new possibilities for the company. The development centre of Premium Transmission, being the first in the Eastern region, unwraps immense potential. This innovation-led development unit, which aims to research and design new products for mechanical power transmission market, is poised to surge the growth momentum ahead. Catering services to core sectors like steel, power, oil & gas, sugar, cement, construction, etc, the company strives to introduce energy-efficient products for addressing the present issue of energy-scarcity.

 

What is the co-relation between power transmission & distribution sector and the demand for your products?

In India, the power transmission sector has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past few years, with line length and transformer capacity growing. Further, it is imperative to say that both operational and financial performances of the transmission utilities have witnessed an improvement in the pastfew years.

 

Internal demand cycle of the country has always been the major growth driver in India. The demand for power transmission and distribution equipment correlates with investment in transmission and distribution network. However, due to the strong push on the infrastructural development in all states, an outcome of which is an increase in purchasing power. This has further resulted in lower and middle level growth driven small and micro financing. The Indian market has shown strong fundamentals on economic KPIs and I believe the same will continue.

 

How is Premium Transmission expanding its global footprint?

We have a significant presence in Europe owing to our German operations along with a good sales volume in the SEA market through our dealer & distribution network. We are now planning to enhance our presence in the Middle East, Africa, and American market with technical and commercial alliances with prominent players in respective geographies

 

Government’s Make in India initiative will be completing 5 years this September. What are the advantages and shortcomings of this initiative? Do you think this initiative needs more refining to meet the industry’s need?

The prime advantage of Make in India initiative is the ease-of-doing business across sectors.  Also, the improved policies and external relations are helping in a surge of FDI inflow; thus, increasing the output of the economy. Along with Make in India initiative, GST implementation has increased the transparency and improved the logistics problems faced earlier. It has in turn helped MSMEs to strengthen their business potential due to better/easier taxation policy.

 

The Make in India initiative focuses majorly on the manufacturing sector. We need to penetrate in IT, service industry, etc for a full-fledged growth. The initiatives to increase domestic demand are on a lower side. We should focus more on creating an internal market rather than creating an export-centric market.There needs to be some refining in the policies which are structural in nature sectorally since each sector has its own demands. 

 

What are emerging trends in industrial gearboxes and geared motors? How is your company tapping these trends?

Increasing requirement for energy-efficient gearbox and clean energy sources are driving the growth of the industrial gearbox market. In addition to this, the increasing automation in manufacturing technology is facilitating the growth of the industrial gearbox market.

The top three emerging trends in the industrial gearboxes and geared motors are use of 3D printing for engineered gearbox and drives component manufacture, provision of attractive financing options, and growth of equipment rental business. 

 

Technology plays a crucial role in designing and maintaining the quality of the products during manufacturing. We have the latest CAD software for gear design and calculation, 3D modeling and analysis. We have also deployed product management lifecycle tools (PLM). Our focus is on simulation-driven design to develop efficient product platform and architecture. Also, we have in-house 3D printing facilities for prototyping and well-equipped testing lab for physical validation of the product. 

 

What are your growth plans for the company?

The core sector in India will grow faster therefore I see good growth prospects for mechanical power transmission companies. Premium Transmission is an innovation and technology driven company, and our focus is to provide innovative and customer specific products which in return deliver real value for money. Premium Transmission is the only company that indigenously designs products. By 2025, Premium should be Rs 1000-crore company with strong global footprint in different continents across geographies.

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Internal demand cycle of the country has always been the major growth driver in India. The demand for power transmission and distribution equipment correlates with investment in transmission and distribution network. 

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The Make in India initiative focuses majorly on the manufacturing sector. We need to penetrate in IT, service industry, etc for a full-fledged growth. We should focus more on creating an internal market rather than creating an export-centric market.

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Increased consumer demand and technological advances have opened up new possibilities for the company. We strive to introduce energy-efficient products for addressing the present issue of energy-scarcity.

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