Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey as the founder of Abaj World.
It's a riveting story of success. Way back in 2012, the foundation of Abaj World was laid. Hailing from the small village of Kadi Taluka of Mehsana District of Gujarat, I graduated as BE (Electronic and communication) in the year 2011. I left the family business to walk my own path. After completing studies, I felt the need to make a name for myself outside my family owned real estate businesses. Then I decided to give the entrepreneur inside me a go and focused on starting my own business.
Starting your own venture different from a family business is harder than you initially think, but interestingly enough, it gets easier as you set a vision and work on it step by step. I started with share market trading, but it was not a smooth start. After bearing a loss of Rs.50,000, I decided to switch to a stock brokerage company by the name SMC Global, which is listed amongst top five franchises globally. This was not enough for me. In 2010, while working for Kaynet I came across a customer who had imported LED TV from Thailand and was struggling with two to three containers for its sales. I helped him out and managed to sell those containers. While I had done this easily I thought that I could get into this venture. Also, I had placed one of the LEDs in my own office and perceived no difference between an LG, a Samsung or this product which that customer was selling under the name of Smart View.
Giving it a serious thought, I felt if China could establish itself as a strong player in the electronic goods market in India then why is it that our country is lagging. Why can't an Indian brand be a game changer? I realized this lag as electronics had no base in India. The ecosystem was completely lacking. Also, there was no local manufacturing; electronic items were often being imported. Then and there I decided to step in. And this is how the seed of Abaj World was sown.
Tell us about Abaj World's upcoming manufacturing facility with regards to its location, size, and capacity. How much investment are you making the same?
The brand which has started its voyage with imports of LED TVs is geared up to set up its own state of the art manufacturing facility at Ghumasan Village, Taluka: Kadi, Dist. Mehsana (North Gujarat) to manufacture LED TVs. The proposed new plant will come up on SH41 State Highway, 50 Kms from Ahmedabad and it will be equipped to produce 6,00,000 units per annum of LED Televisions. In addition to LED Televisions, Abaj has also debuted in other consumer durable categories including ACs, Washing Machines and Sound System etc. The company will invest about Rs.54 crore in this plant. The company today boasts of making volumes as high as 7000-8000 units per month. And definitely, this plant will double up the capacity.
The manufacturing facility is likely to be operational by July 2018. The investment in line with the government's ‘Make in India' initiative to produce energy efficient and innovative products for the Indian market. The land has been procured and by the end of first quarter of 2018-19 (FY) the first phase of the plant will be ready. In addition to building a state-of-the-art facility, we are committed to creating a world-class manufacturing ecosystem in the region, with a base of globally benchmarked vendors and suppliers, which will together generate over 100 new jobs, thereby accelerating the socio-economic progress in the state.
Tell us about your R&D and design capabilities.
At present, the R&D of Abaj Group is based in Ahmedabad. Also, we are planning to start the designing of products in China as it has world famous designers. The operations in China will commence in mid-August in 2018.
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