Raj Lakhani: A Leader Committed To Redefining The Construction Industry In India
Raj Lakhani
Managing Director
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Raj shares his journey so far, the future roadmaps of PERI India, and much more:
Shed some light on your professional background and experiences. What inspired you to venture into the Construction Industry?
After completing my BE in Civil Engineering from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, I did my MBA from BK School of Business Management, Ahmedabad. Being a Civil Engineer, venturing into the construction industry was more of a natural transition. Construction,to me, was a very interesting sector as it allows you to create some thing right from the grass-root level and that’s what made me venture into construction.
Define PERI as an organization. What makes the company unique from its competitors in the market?
PERI is a manufacturer and supplier of formwork and scaffolding systems and is a very horizontal organization from a management structure point of view. All employees at PERI consider themselves an ambassador of the company. All of them believe in contributing to the company. Being a family-owned company, everyone works as a family in PERI and that's something unique about the
company.
Could you give a brief account of Scaffolding technology and formworks in your products that make your constructions more efficient, faster, and safer?
PERI has been the unbeaten global leader for the last couple of decades also have been the largest company in India right from the first year of its operation. We work as well as specialize in the formwork and scaffolding industry. For years, construction operations in India have been and still are being done through numerous traditional as well as conventional methods. We were the first company who introduced system formwork and scaffolding in the country.
Through formwork and scaffolding, we are offering construction equipment that is fast, engineered, safe to use, and has less number of parts that helps in reducing the requirement of labor, speeding the process, and getting a quality product at an optimal time duration. The system that we have developed has less number of parts requiring minimum manual labor to erect as well as dismantle the same. Being an engineered product also makes it safer to use and is considered by organizations that are focusing on a zero accident policy.
Being a part of the construction industry for more than 30 years, how has been your path to success, and what is your success mantra?
For me, it’s been a long journey of over 30 years now. I started my career as a Sales Engineer, which required me to travel as well as meet people at any given time and helped me learn about different cultures. Later on, getting into management and guiding people gave me professional satisfaction. I had the privilege and honor of starting the subsidiary of PERI in India and starting its operation 16 years back in 2006, which helped me in taking complete ownership and becoming a hardcore entrepreneur. I have always believed in creating a good team. One of the major success mantras behind success has to be doing customer-oriented business. As a leader or entrepreneur, client satisfaction should be your primary focus. You also need to know your business inside out to be able to work at any level.
What are the short-term and long-
Could you give a brief account of Scaffolding technology and formworks in your products that make your constructions more efficient, faster, and safer?
PERI has been the unbeaten global leader for the last couple of decades also have been the largest company in India right from the first year of its operation. We work as well as specialize in the formwork and scaffolding industry. For years, construction operations in India have been and still are being done through numerous traditional as well as conventional methods. We were the first company who introduced system formwork and scaffolding in the country.
As a leader or entrepreneur, client satisfaction should be your primary focus
Through formwork and scaffolding, we are offering construction equipment that is fast, engineered, safe to use, and has less number of parts that helps in reducing the requirement of labor, speeding the process, and getting a quality product at an optimal time duration. The system that we have developed has less number of parts requiring minimum manual labor to erect as well as dismantle the same. Being an engineered product also makes it safer to use and is considered by organizations that are focusing on a zero accident policy.
Being a part of the construction industry for more than 30 years, how has been your path to success, and what is your success mantra?
For me, it’s been a long journey of over 30 years now. I started my career as a Sales Engineer, which required me to travel as well as meet people at any given time and helped me learn about different cultures. Later on, getting into management and guiding people gave me professional satisfaction. I had the privilege and honor of starting the subsidiary of PERI in India and starting its operation 16 years back in 2006, which helped me in taking complete ownership and becoming a hardcore entrepreneur. I have always believed in creating a good team. One of the major success mantras behind success has to be doing customer-oriented business. As a leader or entrepreneur, client satisfaction should be your primary focus. You also need to know your business inside out to be able to work at any level.
What are the short-term and long-
term plans that you have developed for PERI India in the coming years? Any bits of advice for the upcoming entrepreneurs or leaders in the same domain?
We, as a company, are very much committed to India. There is a huge potential in India for our industry and systems for the next couple of decades. We recently have set up an R&D hub in India which has been operational for the last three years. We are also setting up a manufacturing plant and have already invested in buying land where development is in progress. Even though there has been a delay in the development due to the pandemic, we are still fully committed to our developmental plans in India and are here to stay.
The advice I would like to give to budding entrepreneurs is to believe in themselves. Be clear and true to yourself. Know your business in and out and take ownership which is one of the important skillsets of being an entrepreneur. Understand the needs of your client and focus on delivering sustainable results as sustainability is very important in today’s world.
Raj Lakhani, Managing Director, PERI India
With an overall experience of more than 30 years in the construction industry, Raj Lakhani, MD, PERI India has been redefining the Indian construction sector through the introduction of formworks and Scaffolding technology. He started the subsidiary of PERI in India in the year 2006 and his hard work and diligent leadership have helped PERI to be the unbeaten leader in India.
Hobbies:Raj Lakhani, Managing Director, PERI India
With an overall experience of more than 30 years in the construction industry, Raj Lakhani, MD, PERI India has been redefining the Indian construction sector through the introduction of formworks and Scaffolding technology. He started the subsidiary of PERI in India in the year 2006 and his hard work and diligent leadership have helped PERI to be the unbeaten leader in India.
Hobbies:Playing Golf, traveling
Favourite Book:21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Favourite Travel Destination: Switzerland Playing Golf, traveling
Favourite Book:21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Favourite Travel Destination: Switzerland
We, as a company, are very much committed to India. There is a huge potential in India for our industry and systems for the next couple of decades. We recently have set up an R&D hub in India which has been operational for the last three years. We are also setting up a manufacturing plant and have already invested in buying land where development is in progress. Even though there has been a delay in the development due to the pandemic, we are still fully committed to our developmental plans in India and are here to stay.
The advice I would like to give to budding entrepreneurs is to believe in themselves. Be clear and true to yourself. Know your business in and out and take ownership which is one of the important skillsets of being an entrepreneur. Understand the needs of your client and focus on delivering sustainable results as sustainability is very important in today’s world.
Raj Lakhani, Managing Director, PERI India
With an overall experience of more than 30 years in the construction industry, Raj Lakhani, MD, PERI India has been redefining the Indian construction sector through the introduction of formworks and Scaffolding technology. He started the subsidiary of PERI in India in the year 2006 and his hard work and diligent leadership have helped PERI to be the unbeaten leader in India.
Hobbies:Raj Lakhani, Managing Director, PERI India
With an overall experience of more than 30 years in the construction industry, Raj Lakhani, MD, PERI India has been redefining the Indian construction sector through the introduction of formworks and Scaffolding technology. He started the subsidiary of PERI in India in the year 2006 and his hard work and diligent leadership have helped PERI to be the unbeaten leader in India.
Hobbies:Playing Golf, traveling
Favourite Book:21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Favourite Travel Destination: Switzerland Playing Golf, traveling
Favourite Book:21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Favourite Travel Destination: Switzerland