This document discusses the history and growth of Jakson Limited, an Indian power solutions company. It describes how Sameer Gupta took over the family business in 1990 and diversified it from solely generating sets into turnkey power projects. By introducing soundproof and "ready-to-use" generators, the company saw strong growth. It has since expanded into solar energy production, with several solar farms commissioned. Jakson plans to further grow its solar business to account for 50% of revenues within a year. The company remains focused on power solutions while also entering new sectors like hospitality.

1. u 84 u
april 27-may 10, 2015
Business India u the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ldExecutive Focus
T
he power generation scenario
in the country has improved
over the past few decades. But
the ongoing industrialisation process
will always ensure a demand-sup-
ply gap. Alternative power backup is,
therefore, inevitable. There was sea
change of the power genset indus-
try - from dependence on imported
electrical goods in the beginning to
indigenous manufacturing to intro-
duction of sound proof genset with
focus on engine technology. Right in
front of this change is a closely held
Delhi company, Jakson Limited, pro-
moted by the Gupta family.
Sameer Gupta, the eldest son of the
family and an electronics engineer
from Pune University, joined the busi-
ness of his father Satish Kumar Gupta
in 1990. He later did a short manage-
ment course in iim Ahmedabad and
later at isb Hyderabad. In the business,
he began by taking charge of tender
filling. Soon, for the first time, the
company began to participate in ten-
ders outside northern India. “My first
order through tender was for the Kol-
kata-based epil, worth `10 lakh. I was
excited about it but when my father
saw the purchase order he pointed
out that we would lose money; how-
ever, his advice was that the com-
mitment must be honoured. So, the
order was executed on time. It was a
great learning for me,” recalls Sameer
Gupta, managing director, Jakson
group, now 48 years old.
A young and energetic Gupta rea-
lised that nothing big can happen if
the company sticks only to the gen-
set business. He fought against all
odds to diversify into a turnkey proj-
ect division in the field of powergen,
attending all large tenders across India
with focus on intuitional customers.
His ‘oomph’ moment came when the
company received an order worth `4
crore for a 4 mw diesel genset from the
Faridabad-based Superior Air Products
in 1995. “In those times, it was one
of the largest orders in the segment,”
Gupta says. “I, along with my brother
Sundeep, stayed from early morning
to late night at the site for almost a
month. It was a tremendous learning
experience in the domain.”
In the late 1990s, as the competi-
tion was warming up, Gupta used his
business dna and a canny sense to
take Jakson slowly up the value chain
and work towards backward inte-
gration like control panels, switch-
gear and other value-added items for
genset manufacturing. There were
big companies like Batliboi, Parry &
Co and Escorts in this area but, by
2000, most of them had dropped out
because of cut-throat competition
affecting their higher overhead costs.
“Our business strategy of backward
integration, experience and assembly
facilities, resulting in reliability, put
us ahead of completion,” says Gupta.
From `25 crore revenue with a sin-
gle business vertical in 1990, Gupta
has grown the business to `1,600
crore at present. Jakson, a diversified
power solution company now, has
1,800 people in its rolls across India,
Nepal and Bangladesh. And the group
is today a leading business conglomer-
ate with four verticals – genset manu-
facturing, electrical epc, solar energy
and hospitality. But Gupta does not
take all the credit. “My father is a
repository of wisdom,” he says. “He,
along with my younger brother Sun-
deep, has given me constant sup-
port to achieve the goal.” Sundeep, a
computer engineer, is responsible for
manufacturing, solar business, epc
and finance.
Jakson’s track record in the indus-
try, quality and engineering excel-
lence have helped the company to
become one of three oem partners,
along with engine major Cummins
India, in 2000. Cummins holds about
50 per cent market share in the `6,000
crore genset sales in the country. Kir-
loskar, Mahindra, and Leyland are
the other big players in the industry.
Gupta was the face of the company
initiating the tie-up with Cummins.
“Initially, my father had some reserva-
tions about the deal, but when he saw
the business growing at 23 per cent,
his view changed,” Gupta recalls.
“Jakson has been a close strategic
partner to Cummins India for a long
time. Over time, our association has
broadened and deepened. The rela-
tionship has been sustained on a
foundation of shared core values and
trust,” says Anant Talaulicar, chair-
man & managing director, Cum-
mins India. Looking at his business
acumen and some of Gupta’s moves,
which have brought good fortune
to the business, his father gave him
complete freedom to run the busi-
ness. In 2001, Sameer Gupta became
managing director of the company.
His father, now 77, fully devotes his
time for the social cause through Jak-
son Foundation.
A powerful vision
Sameer Gupta
Managing Director,
Jakson Group
Born: 11 December
1966
Education: Electronics
engineer from Pune
University; a short
management course in
IIM Ahmedabad and ISB,
Hyderabad
Career: Joined the
family business under
his father as in-charge
of tender filling (1990);
managing director of
the company (2001)
sajalbose

2. u 85 u
april 27-may 10, 2015
Business India u the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ld Executive Focus
While visiting an exhibition over-
seas, Gupta realised that noise pol-
lution would be a major issue in the
future in the genset industry. Gupta
had been building up competency in
manufacturing steel and insulation
acoustic enclosures for sound-proofing
since 1998 in Noida. The great game
changer for the business came around
2003, when government pollution
laws made noise level regulation com-
pulsory under pollution control laws.
Jakson was ready to ride the boom and
quickly opened new plants in Daman
to cater to the market growth.
“We were the first to introduce
silent diesel genset in the industry,”
claims Gupta. It impacted the profit
margin up by 30 per cent. The design
of a single unit with acoustic enclo-
sure and chassis also gave Jakson the
‘ready to use’ (rtu) gensets, which
can now be found everywhere on the
backs of trucks and are used in ‘plug
and play’ power supply in minutes.
Jakson-Cummins diesel gensets
range from 7.5 kva to 3 mva, while
the smaller gas-driven gensets vary
from 40 kva to 2 mva. For power
plant applications, these generat-
ing sets can be configured to deliver
power output even up to 200 mw.
It currently produces 8,000 units of
genset per annum. The company has
three integrated manufacturing facil-
ities, with acoustic production and
genset assembly line at Dhabel in
Daman, Kalsar in Gujarat and Kathua
in Jammu.
J
akson offers a complete turn-
key solution to power houses and
power backup facilities in apart-
ment buildings, offices, factories and
any other establishment. They also
provide power solutions for special
application for the defence and oil
sectors. The company has been the
system integrator for sensitive areas
like it facilities for fail-safe power.
“We were the only India company
who successfully designed, manu-
factured and executed fire retardant
silent generating sets for launching of
rockets for isro,” claims Gupta.
Jakson undertakes turnkey con-
tracts which include extensive
design, supply and erection of power
handling equipment. It has its own
service network in 25 towns and cit-
ies across its territories including
being a sole distributorship to Cum-
mins and its own products in Ban-
gladesh and Nepal having a revenue
of `300 crore and growing.
As the genset growth was hit by
recession and growth rates slowed
down. Gupta had convinced the
board to enter into the field of solar
energy – a sunrise industry. He also
hired Ernst & Young as consultant.
“The situation provoked us to diver-
sify into solar power segment in
2010,” Gupta explains. “Since we are
in power business, solar was a natural
choice for us.”
The company had commissioned
the first ipp (independent power pro-
ducer) project a 20 mw crystalline
solar cell power generation plant built
on a 100 acre area in Bap near the
Sun City, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, cost-
ing `200 crore, under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Solar Mission (jnnsm)
policy Phase I. The 20 mw of power
produced is being sold to National
Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, an ntpc sub-
sidiary, under a 25-year power pur-
chase agreement (ppa).
Recently, it has also commissioned
a 10 mw solar ipp in Lalitpur, Uttar
Pradesh, at a cost of `85 crore. The
company is shortlisted for another 30
mw power plant to be set up in Jhansi,
Uttar Pradesh, and has already signed a
ppa with the government of UP before
March 2015. The company plans to
have 100 mw of ipp in the next 2-3
years. In the solar epc business, Jakson
has successfully executed various solar
roof-top and land-based projects. Cur-
rently, the company has an order book
worth `150 crore in epc.
“Gupta is a visionary,” says S. Sun-
derasan, former finance director of
the company. “Diversifying into the
solar energy was a perfect decision
at an appropriate time. It helped the
company to balance the revenue. The
company never felt the heat of the
sluggish genset market.”
The company also manufactures
solar products like mobile solar gen-
erator, solar water purifier, solar
home and street lighting systems in
Noida and has received overwhelm-
ing response in the market. The solar
business has demonstrated an encour-
aging growth. In the next one year, it
expects 50 per cent revenue from the
solar segment.
“Solar is a green power and the seg-
ment is likely to play a major role for
an energy-deficit country like ours.
We want to be part of prime minis-
ter’s vision to have 100,000 mw solar
power country in the next 10 years,”
says Gupta.
However, Jakson has no plans to
go public in the near future. Gupta
brought a major cultural change in
the company, transforming it from
a typically owner-driven unit to a
professionally run company. “He is
transparent and believes in delegat-
ing power,” says Sundaresan.
Jakson has also ventured into the
hospitality sector. It has set up the first
hotel - Jakson Inns in Phaltan, 110 km
from Pune, with an investment of `50
crore last year. The 74-room, three-star
hotel wants to cater to business trav-
ellers. “Pune is our first milestone in
hospitality,” says Gupta. “Our next
hotel will be at Sanand in Gujarat. Our
focus will remain on B towns.”
Gupta has diversified into other
businesses, but he keeps a clear focus
on the core business of genset. ‘Growth
of genset market is inevitable, with
the government’s move to rejuvenate
industrial expansion,” says Gupta, also
chairman, cii, Uttar Pradesh.
A workaholic to the core, Gupta
does not find much time for socialis-
ing. An avid reader of spiritual books,
he and his wife Bhawana enjoy spend-
ing time with family and friends.
Their two sons, Ragav and Siddhant
are perusing studies in electrical engi-
neering in the US.
u SA J AL B OSE
sajal.bose@businessindiagroup.com
Solar is a green power and the segment is
likely to play a major role for an energy-deficit
country like ours