Mahaveer Golechha: The Legend Who Pioneered World Class Construction Equipment In India
Mahaveer Golechha
Founder & MD
Under his visionary leadership, the company has built an unassailable legacy of dealerships, encrusting everything from Cranes to Hydras, Backhoe Loaders, Concrete Batching Plants, Off the Road heavy duty tires, air Compressors for industrial construction & mining. Today, while MKG's decade long journey is proving to be highly successful and with Rajat Equipments continuing to break new ground across India, Mahaveer is at the epitome of the construction and infrastructure development solutions industry. I was recently able to get in touch with him and he was happy to spare a few moments to reminisce his journey over the past four decades, and walk me through the latest endeavors of the company. Below are the snippets of the interview.
Looking back, how has been the journey so far? How did it all begin and what was your inspiration?
It's been a satisfying journey to say the least. I was born and brought up in Rajasthan. I graduated in commerce from the University of Calcutta and my professional journey began right after my graduation at the age of 21.My entrepre neurial journey originally started when I moved from Kolkata to Raipur in 1977. The major inspiration to start this venture was the demand and supply gap between the construction industry and the latest tools available. Ever
since then, our success mantra has been around filling this gap by bringing innovations closer and providing the industry with cutting edge tools. But the industry back then was not strong as it is today, and hence, we had a humble beginning, but things really took off from 2000 onwards, when the investment in infrastructure started blooming. We kept on augmenting our portfolio and in the process, joined hands with most of the leading manufacturers in the infra structure arena.
The launch of our brand MKG in 2010 was an important milestone in this journey in terms of lifting the industry to the next level.
After four decades, where is Rajat Equipments positioned in the industry today?
I take great pride in the fact that our company and brand are best-known for our customer relationships and customer support infrastructure. Also, in addition to our intact reputation in the construction equipment segment we are also recognized in the hiring segment thanks to our ability to provide skilled human resources to optimize the construction machines and equipment (in both real estate as well as infrastructure development segments).
On the other hand, one of our main strengths is the trust we have built over the past four decades. We are the only company or dealership that have provided services to the customers constantly and consistently for the past 40 years.
What are the unique factors that make MKG the best in business?
At MKG, we strive to be the support system for the infrastructure development and ambitions that will help in nation building. In order to ascertain that this support system is world class and advanced, we have developed a state-of-the-art R& D wing and manufacturing ecosystem that cater to our clients across India. Our two state-of-the-art manufacturing units in Raipur are span across a covered shed of 15,000 square feet Our facilities focus on real time data tracking of the efficiency of the people and production through an MIS driven system, and this helps us deliver only the best quality, without any compromise on any parameter
Our portfolio includes more than 30 products.Ranging from power press machines (10-75 Tones) to welding table & welding machines, lathe machines, drilling machines (from stand drilling to pillar type and magnetic drill), hydraulic sheet shearing, sheet bending, thread rolling, & plate rolling/bending machines, plate cutting machine (CNC plasma & OXY fuel type), band saw machine, and gas plant with gas cutting set and flash back arrestor. We go beyond just delivering products & spare parts to act as a complete support system that includes servicing and 24x7 customer support response across India.
What did the pandemic mean for your company? How bad was the
The launch of our brand MKG in 2010 was an important milestone in this journey in terms of lifting the industry to the next level.
After four decades, where is Rajat Equipments positioned in the industry today?
I take great pride in the fact that our company and brand are best-known for our customer relationships and customer support infrastructure. Also, in addition to our intact reputation in the construction equipment segment we are also recognized in the hiring segment thanks to our ability to provide skilled human resources to optimize the construction machines and equipment (in both real estate as well as infrastructure development segments).
On the other hand, one of our main strengths is the trust we have built over the past four decades. We are the only company or dealership that have provided services to the customers constantly and consistently for the past 40 years.
What are the unique factors that make MKG the best in business?
At MKG, we strive to be the support system for the infrastructure development and ambitions that will help in nation building. In order to ascertain that this support system is world class and advanced, we have developed a state-of-the-art R& D wing and manufacturing ecosystem that cater to our clients across India. Our two state-of-the-art manufacturing units in Raipur are span across a covered shed of 15,000 square feet Our facilities focus on real time data tracking of the efficiency of the people and production through an MIS driven system, and this helps us deliver only the best quality, without any compromise on any parameter
Our portfolio includes more than 30 products.Ranging from power press machines (10-75 Tones) to welding table & welding machines, lathe machines, drilling machines (from stand drilling to pillar type and magnetic drill), hydraulic sheet shearing, sheet bending, thread rolling, & plate rolling/bending machines, plate cutting machine (CNC plasma & OXY fuel type), band saw machine, and gas plant with gas cutting set and flash back arrestor. We go beyond just delivering products & spare parts to act as a complete support system that includes servicing and 24x7 customer support response across India.
What did the pandemic mean for your company? How bad was the
impact?
We are an SME and also a service provider with a fair amount of workforce strength. So the first three-to-four months of the pandemic proved to be extremely challen ging. Me and my son, Malay M Golechha (Director) spearheaded the workforce with the support of our excellent management team, while our CRM platform helped significantly in the fight back. By the end of last year, we regained almost 95 percent of our previous year's growth pace. We also used those difficult times to devise new strategies, reduce cost and optimize productivity.
Going forward, what are the opportunities that you foresee? Also, how do you plan to propagate in the post pandemic world?
We foresee significant opportunities in the market, since we are established now and our brand is sup-ported by the legacy of 40 years. Our customers trust us and that's why more than 70 percent of our new business comes from repeat buyers. In addition, we are witnessing huge investments in real estate as well as infrastructure projects. In Union Budget 2021, the government has given a massive push to the infrastructure sector by allocating Rs. 233,083 crore to enhance the transport infrastructure alone. On the other hand, investments in the Indian real estate sector stood at Rs. 21,170 crore during the first six months of this calendar year, which is more than a two-fold increase from the year ago period. This trend is set to continue at least for the next five years and it can be interpreted as a huge opportunity for our company.
What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs in the segment?
One of the most important things is that you should not be over committed and you should not over leverage yourself. I always suggest everyone to have a reasonable target for growth, never over leverage, and most importantly, take care of your customers. They will take care of you. Also, I always believe in the bottom line and not the top line.
Mahaveer Golechha, Founder & Managing Director, Rajat Equipments
Four decades ago, Mahaveer embraced the path of entrepreneurship at the age of 21. In 1979, the Young Turk established Rajat Enterprises, which later became a high-profile concern with the dealership of many prestigious brands in the construction and industrial equipment segment across Mumbai, Faridabad, Coimbatore and Pune. A journey that started from scratch, Rajat Enterprises evolved into Rajat Equipments in 2006 to become a private limited company, and in 2010, the growing business, progressive thinking, dynamic approach and bigger ambitions led to the launch of MKG, which today is one of the leaders in manufac turing of light and medium level construction equipment.
We are an SME and also a service provider with a fair amount of workforce strength. So the first three-to-four months of the pandemic proved to be extremely challen ging. Me and my son, Malay M Golechha (Director) spearheaded the workforce with the support of our excellent management team, while our CRM platform helped significantly in the fight back. By the end of last year, we regained almost 95 percent of our previous year's growth pace. We also used those difficult times to devise new strategies, reduce cost and optimize productivity.
Going forward, what are the opportunities that you foresee? Also, how do you plan to propagate in the post pandemic world?
We foresee significant opportunities in the market, since we are established now and our brand is sup-ported by the legacy of 40 years. Our customers trust us and that's why more than 70 percent of our new business comes from repeat buyers. In addition, we are witnessing huge investments in real estate as well as infrastructure projects. In Union Budget 2021, the government has given a massive push to the infrastructure sector by allocating Rs. 233,083 crore to enhance the transport infrastructure alone. On the other hand, investments in the Indian real estate sector stood at Rs. 21,170 crore during the first six months of this calendar year, which is more than a two-fold increase from the year ago period. This trend is set to continue at least for the next five years and it can be interpreted as a huge opportunity for our company.
What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs in the segment?
One of the most important things is that you should not be over committed and you should not over leverage yourself. I always suggest everyone to have a reasonable target for growth, never over leverage, and most importantly, take care of your customers. They will take care of you. Also, I always believe in the bottom line and not the top line.
Mahaveer Golechha, Founder & Managing Director, Rajat Equipments
Four decades ago, Mahaveer embraced the path of entrepreneurship at the age of 21. In 1979, the Young Turk established Rajat Enterprises, which later became a high-profile concern with the dealership of many prestigious brands in the construction and industrial equipment segment across Mumbai, Faridabad, Coimbatore and Pune. A journey that started from scratch, Rajat Enterprises evolved into Rajat Equipments in 2006 to become a private limited company, and in 2010, the growing business, progressive thinking, dynamic approach and bigger ambitions led to the launch of MKG, which today is one of the leaders in manufac turing of light and medium level construction equipment.