PLI scheme is aimed at making local manufacturing globally competitive and to create global manufacturing champions.

– Farrokh Cooper

Chairman & Managing Director, Cooper Corporation

Despite challenges, India is set on a growth trajectory. How do you see the opportunities for players like you?

India has traditionally been a “sustainable and conscious consumption” economy; however, over the years, the country has progressed into a new era of envisioned growth, which has led the country to sustain a long-term growth plan and overcome challenges, with the economy gradually turning towards recovery early this year. I believe that there is always a place for everything, engines and generators will continue to grow. Worldwide, there is a demand for gensets and engines. In line with the global economy, India is a sweet spot where there is an availability of high-tech resources at affordable prices.

The genset market in India is steadily growing due to the expanding manufacturing sector and rising need for power for commercial purposes. Because of the widespread usage of these gensets in commercial applications such as retail outlets, hotels, telecom towers, offices, and malls, the 5 kVA-75 kVA genset category has secured a considerable market share. I believe that increased investment in the telecom sector, the rapid growth of commercial infrastructure, and rising demand for backup and prime power in residential facilities are driving up demand for engines and generators.

Furthermore, the pandemic situation, accompanied by various phases of lockdown and unlocks, has highlighted the importance of having a continuous power supply. Residential societies, small clinics, stand-alone restaurants, stand-alone offices/retail stores, bungalows, farmhouses, and construction sites, and others require an uninterrupted power supply. We introduced future-ready 5KVA compact diesel gensets to address the issue of consistent power sources. contemporary Cooper Bolt Mini 5 KVA compact genset incorporates the contemporary Air-cooled engine designed by Ricardo, the UK, with whom Cooper has a technical collaboration for designing its cutting-edge family of engines. In addition, we plan to launch a 500kVA engine genset soon. This has been designed by Ricardo, UK and comes future emission ready having the lowest cost of ownership in its class.

Can you tell us your views on the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission that aims at promoting domestic manufacturing?

We support the “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan” initiative and manufacture most of design elements and components in India at our cutting-edge facility in Satara, Maharashtra. We at Cooper Corporation have played a pivotal role in the economic and social development of Satara that dates to 1922. Since our inception, the historic town of Satara has constantly witnessed a new wave of industrialization without losing its rich cultural heritage. Spanning over 120 acres of the land with 11 states of the art manufacturing facilities, Cooper is region’s largest and most trusted company employing over 3000 committed professionals.

I have always believed in being 100% local, I would like to quote the bible says “seek and you shall find” even though I am not a Christian being a parseI have always stood by this phase as I have seen it with my ancestors when they landed in India they looked through their telescope within India and have prospered over the years as we have always believed in being local and sourcing local manpower, machines or material and India has a lot of potential that it offers to everyone, one just needs to look carefully.

How has digitalisation and robotics disrupted the manufacturing processes, enterprise value chain and supply chain? What kind of smart technologies are being used today in the entire process? Tell us about the smart features of your manufacturing processes and how are they enabling in improving productivity, efficiency and lowering costs?

In the 18th century with the use of steam generated power and mechanization of production, it was an important transition from manual labour-based industry to the use of steam powered engines to increase human productivity. Similarly, over the years in India the revolution of hi-tech innovation brought into the country such as cloud computing, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Drones, 3D printing etc all leveraged for the ability to enhance the productivity and lifestyle changes just like how evolution has come from a typewriter to computers robots have come to make life better.

Over the years our businesses have expanded and grown exponentially in the industry verticals of automotive, power, marine, defence, agriculture, and construction industries. We are always one step ahead when it comes to manufacturing excellence, quality control and design innovation. Our state-of-the-art manufacturing plant uses robotics to bring in the highest levels of precision and quality control to create engineering products that are truly world-class. With India’s rapidly growing economy, Cooper is poised to cater to this emerging demand for India’s Automotive, Agri and Infrastructure markets. Cooper Corporation is engined for the Future.

How do you see the production-linked scheme (PLI) announced by the government and the focus on promoting MSMEs benefiting the manufacturing sector?

According to my understanding of the PLI, the goal is to make local manufacturing globally competitive and to create global manufacturing Champions. It is a wonderful opportunity for manufacturers since it works as a growth accelerator, boosting local production and increasing domestic capacity and exports. With an outlay of Rs 26,058 crore, the scheme aims to draw investments of over Rs 42,500 crore by 2026 and incremental production of over Rs 2.3 lakh crore for vehicle and part makers.

What are your plans in terms of investments to increase capacities, adopting newer technologies, acquisitions, etc? How do you see the growth of the company by 2025?

In the future, weplan to launch engines that are designed for various applications. Essentially, for Generator and Pump set application which will be compact & lightweight Aluminium Naturally Aspirated Air-Cooled Engine. These will be rugged, durable design with long service intervals and long overhaul life. It will have Flexi Fuel Options i.e., Diesel and CNG as well. These engines will be future-ready and will be emission compliant.

By 2025 I personally see a phenomenal growth in the company reason being we don’t believe in acquisitions and instead we prefer to establish our own.

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