Mr. Amitansu Satpathy started Best Power Equipment (I) Pvt Ltd (BPE) in 2000, which is now a leading manufacturer of UPS solutions and modular data center. As a student of engineering, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in electrical from NIT Kurukshetra, and then took up a job in the UPS industry. He started working for domestic and international brands and built an understanding of the know-how, challenges, and shortcoming of the industry.
July 29, 2021. By Manu Tayal
Education and Background:
Mr. Amitansu Satpathy started Best Power Equipment (I) Pvt Ltd (BPE) in 2000, which is now a leading manufacturer of UPS solutions and modular data center. As a student of engineering, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in electrical from NIT Kurukshetra, and then took up a job in the UPS industry. He started working for domestic and international brands and built an understanding of the know-how, challenges, and shortcoming of the industry.
Work Experience:
Through the 90s, Mr. Amitansu helped several international UPS companies setup their operations in India. This experience proved to be a turning point for him. He picked up in-depth knowledge about international alliances, product technicalities, sales, operations. He took more in-depth knowledge & understanding of Indian market and product localization.
In an era when every engineer was enamoured by the software boom and the computer industry, Amitansu had the far-sightedness to see the talent deficit in the UPS industry and the longevity of this industry and set his sight to build his career within it. After 8 years, he started his entrepreneur journey. At that time, a JV between his employer and an Indian conglomerate was breaking up and instead of shifting to a new job/industry other than UPS, or a new role within his company, he decided to bet on his own understanding of the industry and set up his own firm. Thus his entrepreneurship was the outcome of both the turn of this event and his
deep-set ambition to do something big.
The initial years were full of challenges be it sourcing funds through friends, business contacts, etc. Within 1.5 years of starting up, when the company was facing challenges, he chanced upon afriend’s brother who was looking for investment opportunities. His investment in the business gave it a new lease of life. Along with funds, he also brought in financial acumen and good import-export expertise which stood the firm in good stead in its early growth years.
Company’s Journey:
BPE started its journey at Noida, India with a dream to provide energy-efficient power solutions to Indian companies. It has now become the Indian power manufacturing brand that provides end-to-end strategic power solutions for most critical applications targeting all domestic market, emphasizing on Make-in-India initiative. Presently it is the no. 1 domestic manufacturer of UPS recognized by MSME Ministry.
With over 2 decades of manufacturing experience, it has expanded to international markets including the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Dubai, and Taiwan.
Its revenue exceeded Rs 200 crore in FY19-20. The company’s mission is to provide cost-effective and reliable solutions to its customers powered by its belief that ‘Work should never stop’.
BPE is popularly known as the largest supplier of high-quality UPS to various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) widely distributed through corporate partners and system integrators. Every month, the company is selling more than 60,000 UPS in India and overseas. Its especially designed UPS includes an isolation transformer at output, input power factor correction, fully digital monitoring & control plus international certifications.
The company has served over 2 million customers from 6 industries including industrial & plant automation, IT/ITES BPO services, banking, insurance & finance, government sector, corporate sector and small-scale businesses all over the world.
Current Work Goals and Achievements:
In the coming years, Mr. Amitansu wants to concentrate and put his energies into innovation, R&D, expansion and technology. He wishes to align his company to 4.0 technology, which is enabling faster, more flexible and more efficient processes to produce higher-quality goods at reduced costs. His company’s future objective is to be the leading manufacturer in the industry, with innovation and adapting to market changes. BPE is also planning to expand its reach world-wide by 2025. BPE will also enhance its after-sales services which enable its customers to minimise business interruptions, improve system availability, enhance the manageability of power devices and optimise the cost of ownership.
BPE won various awards and accolades from industry sector events. It was one of the leading players that supplied UPS’ for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It had also won the largest single order from Panchayat Raj rural development department, Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 30 crore, to supply 15,000 UPS.
Edge over Peers:
In the words of Mr. Amitansu, “the biggest difference we see between us and others is the product support. As we are Indian manufacturers and more than two decades old in the industry, we understand the market very well. This has led us to reach the level of product localisation. We understand the demand of each industry and based on which, we have been expanding and customising the product range. We have seen a 25 per cent year-on-year revenue growth, which gives us more confidence to expand and innovate.”