"EVERY SETBACK IS A COMEBACK

From making energy-efficient pumps and motors to foraying into the electric vehicle segment, Dinesh Patidar's Shakti Pumps is growing stronger and bolder. In an exclusive interview, Dinesh Patidar, Chairman and Managing Director, shares his vision, investment plans and more with Rahul Kamat.

- Rahul Kamat

"Mein ek garib parivar se aata hu and apne babuji ko ghar chalane me madad karne ke liye me sabjiya bechta tha” (I belonged to a low-income household and had to sell vegetables at the tender age of 13 to help my father to run the house), said Dinesh Patidar, Chairman & Managing Director, Shakti Pumps (India) Limited while beginning his hour-long interview with me talking about his company's 40-year journey passionately. Starting as a mere stainless steel pump manufacturer in India in 1982, Patidar invented the solar pumping solutions, which have changed the course of the company and the agriculture industry.

“My major areas of interest were designing and developing new products, experimenting with new ideas and working on complex engineering challenges," claimed Patidar. True to his nature, Patidar's Shakti Pumps recently ventured into manufacturing electronic controllers and motors for electric vehicles — two and three-wheelers. Now, he is preparing to offer similar products for the four-wheeler industry.

THE JOURNEY

The story of Shakti Pumps is nothing less than a rollercoaster ride. In 1982, Patidar, his father and “a partner”, started the company. However, three years later, in 1985, the company suffered its first setback when Sr Patidar and his partner amicably parted away. “We initially struggled a bit, but when the business grew, we decided to list the company in 1995 publicly," an excited Patidar said. “We got the required capital, and from there on, our journey moved at a certain pace, expanding the business gradually, and the rest is the history.”