A Sterling Enterprise in DG Sets
Published on : Monday 30-11--0001
For a company that began operations as a small electrical contracting firm over 90 years ago in Mumbai, it has come a long way. What started as Wilson Electric Works in 1927 – the small firm founded by Meherwan Daruvala – became Sterling & Wilson in 1971 when the Shapoorji Pallonji Group invested in the company. Owned jointly by the Daruvala and Mistry families since, it has grown into a multi division enterprise spanning DG sets, MEP, Renewables, Co-Gen, Transmission & Distribution and Data Centre verticals bound by the common thread of energy.
Energy security and efficient energy storage systems are critical requirements and India still has millions of citizens with no access to electricity. The estimated national GDP loss due to electricity shortage is about USD 68 billion. The government has been encouraging development of environmentally safe generators, with a strong focus on improved power delivery, reduced fuel consumption and pollution levels.
Established in 2006, Sterling Generators realised the opportunity early and today, it is India’s second-largest supplier of high horse power (HHP) diesel gensets and one of the leading players in the Indian market. While the engines are sources from like Perkins, Volvo, MTU, Mahindra and Escorts, the alternators come from Stamford, TDPS and Leroy-Somers.
The company’s 8-acre facility in Silvassa, one of the largest in Asia, was established in 2006. A recent visit to the plant, just two-and-half hour drive from Mumbai, was a revealing experience – with safety gear like helmets and goggles for employees apart from motivational posters and concepts like 5S and Kaizen in practice. The plant is neatly organised with separate buildings for different operations, with the fabrication and coating of panels forming an important activity. Sheets of steel are processed with the right cuts and stamped and punched on Amada machines. The welded panels are then subject to pre-treatment, the material thoroughly cleaned passed through a succession of baths, blown and dried before going into the automated paint booths. Samples from each batch are rigorously tested at the in-house facility for the quality of coatings, equipped with cupping testers and other devices. The plant is also equipped with state-of-the-art PLC based testing facility for DG sets up to 3000 kVA. Testing facility with NABL accreditation will also be commissioned shortly.
Speaking on the growth outlook of the business, Sanjay Jadhav, CEO – Powergen business, Sterling and Wilson says “Since our inception in 2005, till the present day, Sterling Generators has grown rapidly and gained considerable market share in the Indian HHP market achieving revenue of Rs 850 crore in FY17-18. We have managed to achieve a commendable production value of about 1000 HHP/MHP generators, higher than most diesel genset companies in India. With power shortages and energy storage solutions being critical issues in the future for India, we will continue to see strong demand from the market. As we enter 2018, we aim to reach 2000 units and continue a robust, consistent growth of 20% in a primarily mature gensets market.”
During the last 10 years, Sterling Generators has invested over Rs 100 crore in the facility and is looking to further invest Rs 50-60 crore by the year 2020. The company aims to reach an annual production capacity of 5,000 gensets. In India, Sterling Generators plans to expand its dealer network from 60 to 120 this year.
Today, the HHP diesel generator set market in India is valued at about Rs 5000 crore and Sterling Generators makes up close to 20% of this, owing majorly to its exports to the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa and Australia.