We feel proud to announce that almost 99 per cent of our products and components are developed and “Made in India”.

Amit D Popatwala,
Managing Partner, Cosben Equipment

Cosben Equipment is a home grown manufacturer in powder material handling equipment such as conveying and feeding equipment, specially developed dust /pollution control solutions, valves and actuators, aeration systems for fluidisation, pressure control equipment, vibratory equipment and bag unloading equipment. Having established the brand and goodwill in the construction, cement, glass and paint industries, the company is now diversifying into other sectors like chemicals, food and pharma and its Managing Partner Amit D. Popatwala is quite upbeat on this movement. Excerpts from his interview:

Which are the sectors that are driving the growth of your company?
Apart from construction sector, cement, glass and paint are the sectors where powder is handled in bulk. These are the ones that are helping us grow.

What are the opportunities you foresee in this domain?
It’s high time that all the sectors start moving at a brisk pace. Many major projects are announced by the government which will fuel the increase in the demand. There may be a kind of slowdown due to demonetisation. However, by the end of the January, we expect the situation to be normal.

What are your expectations for 2017?
In terms of growth, we expect the growth to continue in double digits like it has been for the past two years. Apart from the current focus sectors, we would like to diversify our focus in to chemicals, food and pharma. We have introduced specialised screw conveyors with the intention to target these sectors. It’s our endeavour to churn out new products on periodical basis, based on industry needs. One of such product is Automatic Bag Slitting Machine which has been very well accepted not only by local customers but also by overseas customers. This product has been fetching us substantial revenue and instrumental in our growth. We feel proud to announce that almost 99 per cent of our products and components are developed and “Made in India”.

What will be your growth focus for the next one year?
Without food and pharma, we expect a growth of 20 per cent over the past year. However, if we include food and pharma, we target a growth up to 30-35 per cent. We will have a clear picture about our readiness in the food and pharma industry by the end of May 2017.

How are the things moving at the construction sector?
The way we were expecting a surge in the demand, it has not taken place. Hence the growth is steady. We are looking at reducing the cost and providing more dimensions to our business. The company was formed with the same philosophy. We will be holding hands with the OEMs to work on the same and we believe it will help us to grab more business across new spectrum.

How about the competition?
There is not much of a local competition in the construction equipment sector for us. One needs to offer quality solutions on time. Our philosophy of offering “global quality at local price” is helping us to stand out from the competition.

Can you tell about the company’s presence in the overseas market?
First and foremost, we wanted to get well-established in the local market. That is why for the first year, we did not try to extend our reach in the overseas markets. However, in subsequent period, we started exporting our products to Middle East, Far East, Africa and Europe (including Italy) a kind of reverse trend about which we are very proud of. We are developing products to suit the strict norms of developed economies, so as to cater their market.