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The zeal to excel can transform fortunes. This is proven in the case of Transtron Electricals, a transformer manufacturer, which is among the country’s top 100 small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The company’s motto, “It has to be ‘The Best’ because it has our name on it”, inspires the owners and the staff.

Situated in Meerut’s Partapur industrial area, the unit won the ‘India SME 100 Award’ in August. It is among the four SMEs of Uttar Pradesh to have made it to the list of the country’s top 100 such firms.

Transtron managing director (MD) K N Singhal says the company was selected for the honour out of over 33,102 SMEs of the country.

“It was indeed a matter of pride for us, receiving the award from union ministers in Delhi,” he says.

Singhal claims he has never compromised on quality. He says he has refused to accept advice to use raw material of an inferior quality to bring the cost down.

He reiterates, “Quality is our biggest strength and that is why we proudly announce ‘it has to be ‘The Best’ because it has our name on it.”

The Singhal family has deep roots in Meerut and has been living here for over 100 years.

After graduating in science from Meerut College in 1970, Singhal obtained a Bachelor of Electrical degree from Agra University in 1975. He received job offers from various government organisations but because of his bond with his native place and his father’s ill health, he chose to stay here and joined a transformer manufacturing unit ‘Electra India’ in Partpaur as assistant engineer (quality control).

Soon, he was promoted as director (technical) and got an opportunity to travel to many countries on business before he resigned in 1997.

Singhal says he took the step so that he could utilise his experience to start his own venture.

After providing consultancy in transformer design for a year, he established ‘Transtron Electricals Pvt. Ltd.’ in Partapur in 1998 with a seed capital of ₹ 10 lakh.

His contacts with clients of his previous unit helped him build his own network and Transtron got its first order to supply transformers to Nepal in 1998.

Initially, the company manufactured 200 KVA transformers. By 2005, the company was making 5000 KVA transformers. For the last four-five years, it has been making 10,000 KVA transformers.

Singhal says, “Success is not far if your vision is clear and if you don’t fall prey to greed.” The company has 80-plus employees. He claims Transtron`s transformers are ‘energy efficient’ and many skilled workers of Electra India joined him after closure of the company.

He also says his wife Renu Singhal contributed a lot to his success but she died in 2008. Now his sons Sidharth Singhal and Abhinav Singhal help him in his business.

He minces no words in saying that delay in payment by government departments is the biggest hurdle in growth of SMEs in UP. He explains that 80% business of SMEs depends on government orders and they receive payments in six months, instead of 45 days, as prescribed under the rules.

The SMEs have to procure raw material by paying cash and it takes more than two months to manufacture a transformer and complete the testing procedure, he says.

Appreciating the union government’s ‘ ‘Make in India’ policy , Singhal says, “It has the potential to change the country’s industrial scenario.”

“Our aim is to make a genuine contribution in government policies for ‘electrification of India’, especially in the rural areas. We insist on giving trouble- free service to clients at least for 25 years with each transformer.”

After serving as executive council member of the Indian Transformers Association for years, Singhal has now been elected its treasurer.

He also believes in serving society and bears expenses of many underprivileged girls.

He is also involved with an NGO which conducts eye operations for marginalised sections of the society.

“I do it for my satisfaction. I don’t want any publicity for it,” he says.

“Be honest and dedicated to your mission and Mother Nature will help you in every possible way,” he advises budding entrepreneurs.

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