Farrokh Bhathena, Director – Sales and Marketing, KSB Limited in an interview with B2B Purchase.

How did you successfully manage your business in the Covid times?

With the pandemic taking over the world in the year 2020, everything came to a halt, and it had a significant influence on the commercial world, particularly the manufacturing sector. As the months passed, certain industries quickly recovered, while others struggled to adjust to the new normal as a result of the pandemic. However, there were a select few that refused to give up and prepared themselves to face difficulties. One of them was KSB Ltd., which not only recovered but also accelerated to new heights.

How do you view the recovery in the Pumps & Valves market so far?

The start to 2021 was at a very good pace. We are slowly recovering as the markets are opening up. As the lockdown restrictions are eased down, overall the Pumps and Valves market is on the recovery path and so is the supply chain.

What are the key challenges in the market apart from the pandemic impact?

Margins have been impacted as a result of rising commodity prices. We believe that this is a cyclical phenomenon and we hope that the commodity price curve will flatten out in the medium term.

Due to the pandemic lockdowns, casting supplies had become the major bottleneck leading to castings shortage at all our manufacturing plants. With proper measures addressed on priority, we are confident of resuming back to normal operations by December 2021.

What kind of policy support is required for the market revival?

In our opinion, schemes like KUSUM should be floated by various government departments. Restrictions on import of Chinese goods can open up lot of opportunities for Indian manufacturers so, we would definitely welcome these. Also, the government should intervene to control the inflationary increase in raw material prices. This will help to stabilise the prices of our products.

What are your strategies for business revival?

The focus has been on product innovation and to bring out products that cater to a much wider demand at an optimal cost. Also, we are working closely on development of solar DC pumps since last few years. KSB aims to become a complete player in solar segment in both AC & DC application and may even eye for the role of a system integrator. With these initiatives we expect to grow our presence in the solar pumps market many fold in the coming years.

Ethanol blending is a good opportunity for sugar production companies and the ethanol business which previously was a by-product has now become a main stream product for sugar industry. To meet government’s target of 20 percent blending of gasoline, ethanol storage capacity of sugar companies needs to expand to three times the current level of about 300 crore litres. This will mean an investment of ₹41,000 crore. This is an opportunity for KSB since KSB has the right products for this application.

How do you assess the growth next year and beyond in the Pumps & Valves market?

To maximise our share in this growth, we are continuing to invest in new products, increase the manufacturing capacity, market entry into new segments, enhance the skills of the employees with learning and development as well as invest in digitalisation. With these measures we aim to increase our product basket and to improve our operational efficiency. This continues to be our strategy for a profitable growth in the coming years.