If you want to connect with these entrepreneurs, mail us at: dare@cybermedia.co.in with their name as the subject line.
Abhijit Barooah, Managing Director of Premier Cryogenics Ltd, a leading manufacturer of industrial gases in the region, set up the company’s first liquid nitrogen and oxygen manufacture unit called Assam Air Products at Sibsagar, Assam.
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Abhijit Barooah, MD Assam Air Products Pvt Ltd. Since: 22 years How to contact him:Maniram Devan Road, Guwahati-781003 |
The company has grown exponentially since its inception, while it earned a mere Rs50 lakh back then, it now earns Rs25 crores. The company has a current work force of 100 employees.
Issues: Lack of technical manpower was one of the major hurdles Assam Air Products in its early years. Another problem in the region is that of transportation. Manufacturing goods in the North East and then transporting them to the outside world has always been difficult and expensive because of the region's difficult terrain.
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Bidhan Deb, MD Bhabani Offset and Imaging systems Pvt. Ltd Since: 21 years How to contact him: Rajgarh Road, Guwahati- 781007 |
Bidhan Deb established his business initially as a letterpress and later went on to install his first offset machine in 1993. Two years later he took a loan from Punjab National Bank to take a press on lease. Fifteen years later today, he is one of the major players in printing sector in the North East region.
The demand for printing and stationary in the state has went up lately as several companies and industries have set up branches in the region in order to avail the incentives under NEIIPP. Emergence of the telecom industry and banking sector have also boosted the printing sector.
Issues: Unavailability of raw materials and limitation in logistics; high production cost as a result of expensive raw materils which again is due to increased transportation costs; lack of skilled labour.
Mr Deb mentions that, "There is no dearth of young talent, entrepreneur skills need to be enhanced by proper guidance and training."
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Kamakhya Borthakur, MD Gargo Motors Since: 36 years How to contact: A T Road, Hijuguri, Tinsukia |
Kamakhya Borthakur started his business with a single vehicle that he used for transporting crude oil for Oil India Ltd in Duliajanm, from its different production centres to collection centres. For long, he and his devoted team worked hard towards reaching their goal of becoming a Civil ‘A’ Class Contractor and a supplier of Crane services to Oil India Limited, Duliajan.
Today he is the owner of Gargo Motors which deals in Tata vehicls. It has been able to achieve an annual sale of 3000 commercial vehicles and 1500 passenger cars and its annual turnover is almost Rs200 with a workforce of 400 people. As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities it is now providing financial support to 6 students for their higher education as well as providing a dead-body-carrying van for the public. He has also donated a Tata Safari to one of the greatest music icons of our country, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika to promote his noble endeavors and provided a sound system to the Rotary club of Duliajan.
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| Prodip Borah, MD Borah Hyundai Since: 30 years How to contact: Dibrugarh, Assam |
‘Scarcity creates demand,’ was the mantra that fired Prodip Borah’s entrepreneurial dream. He saw the problem of connectivity between Guwahati and interior parts of Assam and started with operating a taxi between the two places. Later on he upgraded to a mini bus and subsequently had 11 buses in his fleet by 1983.
He has now acquired a dealership with Piaggio and Hyundai. With a workforce of 170 people and a manpower retention rate of 95 per cent he generates a turnover of 50 crores from his transportation business and dealerships.
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Santosh Jaiswal, MD Jaiswal Group of Industries Since: 24 years How to contact: S J Road, Athgaon, Guwahati- 01 |
Santosh Jaiswal heads the Jaiswal Group of Industries, a leading manufacturer of steel in the North East region with projects spread across Assam, Meghalaya, Jharkand and Orissa. The enterprise's current turnover is over Rs200 crore while it has a workforce of 1800 employees.
The Jaiswal Industries owns the best selling brand of NER, “BISCON”.
He says that, "Of late, this region is undergoing positive changes and development in terms of transportation, logistics, investment and banking activities.
Mr. Jaiswal also feels that tourism is one of the main entrepreneurship focus in North East, but is still left behind due to the lack of good infrastructure facilities. He believes that tourism would be the next big thing that would power North East ahead
Issues: Shortage of technical manpower; unavailability of latest technology; limited transportation facilities; poor communication infrastructure; unavailability of power.
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James Syiemiong, CEO Theodore Since: 17 years How to contact him: Nichol’s Roy Building, Shillong- 793002 |
James Syiemiong started his footwear business in Meghalaya somewhere in the year 1993 with the help of Prime Minister Rozyar Yojna (PMRY) loan. Started with an initial loan of Rs83,000, his total turnover today stands at Rs10 lakh. He has about 10 workers, who make a variety of beautifully crafted shoes against the orders that he brings. He is basically a boot specialist.
Issues: He says that even though his business is doing well, it is bound within the state and that it is very difficult for him to expand it outside his state. The shoe industry does not have many manufacturing units there. They get their raw materials from Agra, Kolkata, Delhi.
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Vikram Singhania, MD Singhania Group of Industries Since: 40 years How to contact: Thana Road, Shillong-793001, Meghalaya |
Their future plan is to come up with a new printing press in Guwahati equipped with the latest technology.
Issues: Regarding opportunities he says that even though various facilities and incentives are being provided by the Government, there is a lack of technical and skilled labor in Shillong which is a major impediment for
their business.
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| C S Bhattacharjee, MD Bulland Cements Private Limited Since: 2 years How to contact: Rajgarh Road, Guwahati - 781003 |
Bulland Cements Private Limited, which started in 2008 in Guwahati, manufactures around 300 tons of cements per day. C S Bhattacharjee says “the company hopes to expand and produce a thousand tons on a daily basis.” It has around 100 to120 employees.
Issues: There is stiff competition in cement industry sector in the North East and having a proper distribution system is an important part of their business. Bhattacharjee says “the roads are not at par with the rest of the country which is why the freight charges are very high.” He explains that having four lane highway will help them solve the purpose.
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| Sushikato Achumi, MD Infoways Since: 10 years back How to contact: E-2, T.S. Arcade, Nyamo Lotha Road, Dimapur -797 112 |
Sushikato Achumi started as a self-funded entrepreneur. He runs a gaming zone, a gaming machine assembly unit, a cyber café and Nokia Customer Care franchise and has 19 people employed under him. He took his first loan of Rs2 lakh in 2004 and his second loan of Rs8 lakh sometime back which he is repaying currently.
He has a turnover of about 5-6 crores.
Issues: Frequent curfews and undeveloped transportation have been a major concern.
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| Ayan Choudhry, MD F.W. Ferro Tech Private Limited Since: 2 years How to contact: 2nd Floor, Assam Ispat Complex, N.S. Road, Fatasil, Guwahati – 781 009 |
Ayan Choudhry from Ferro Tech Private Limited, Guwahati says “We have not really faced much problems in setting up units in the North East as we have been born and brought up here and are used to whatever comes across our way.” The company has taken up a loan from SIDBI, but at least 70% of the company is self funded. The company has a turnover of 1.32 crores.
Issues: Power seems to be the major problem in the region for the last seven years. He says, “This is reason enough for any company to be hesitant to set base here.” He adds that “Drawing power in the region is a very expensive affair and that it is not available at scheduled times either.”
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| Khanjan Baruah, MD Olivia Auto Since: 11 years |
Khanjan Baruah from Guwahati has been in the automobile sector since 1999. He says the response has been pretty good and that his last turnover was as much as 13 crores. He has been dealing with TVS and Mahindra automobiles from long time. He recently joined hands with Bajaj in 2009.
Issues: Baruah says starting a business in the automobile sector is not an issue as long as it is in Guwahati. Beyond this region, the condition of the roads is bad and transportation of vehicles to areas where terrorist activities occur, like Imphal and Dimapur, becomes difficult.
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| Anupam Deka, CEO SRD Nutrients Private Limited, Sundaram Foods Private Limited, Repos Food Private Limited Since: 9 years How to contact: SRD Nutrients, Mangaldoi, Assam |
Anupam Deka has been in the food sector since the last nine years. He owns three companies, the turnover of which is 70 crores. He says the food industry in Assam has definitely improved in the last 10 years. In fact, it is still growing at 15-17% every year.
He believes, “bank are more open to providing loans to the food sector now more than before as earlier there was no thorough project study to show the banks about the prospects of this industry.” Food chains like CCD, Barista and KFC are coming up in Guwahati and Repos Foods provides bakery products to KFC there.
Issues: There is a lack of skilled labor and migration of skilled labor means extra costs. Also, there is a dearth of project consultancies in the area. To overcome this problem the company sent its employees to Delhi and Bombay for training. This way they can get more people through them. They have been doing this since the last 3-4 years. He adds that, "Although this region has immense potential, people are apprehensive about settling down in this part of the country."
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| KK Bajaj, MD Silverdrops Foods & Beverages Since: 26 years How to contact: Amnigown, Guwahati - 31 |
KK Bajaj ventured into manufacturing of packaged drinking water in 1984 in Guwahati and started the Eastern zone’s biggest rice mill later. With 200 people employed, his group’s turnover is Rs100 crore p.a.
Issues: Subsidy amounts are released after 7-8 years and not in the initial stages.
Power plays truant for upto 9-10 hours for which gensets have to be used. “Insurgency has reduced with people getting increasingly employed,” says Bajaj. “Government is just holding on to North East Region as if it could anyday be taken by China/ Myanmar etc. and not giving attention to its development.”
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| Pranab Chakraborty, MD New Tina Studio Since: 15 years back How to contact: 39, Narsingh Coop. Complex, Agartala, Tripura (West) |
Pranab Chakraborty started his photo studio about 15 years back. With some money from his family and from market, he was able to establish his business. He also bought a computer and installed some editing software.
Overtime his business prospered and he was incited to buy enhanced equipments. And while he was looking for a loan, a friend told him about SIDBI. He applied for loan to SIDBI once in 2008 and again in 2009 and got a digital still camera with the amount. Now he earns about Rs2-3 lakh per year.
Issues: He had a problem of transportation and equipment but now he has got a bike and a camera. He plans to buy a bigger camera.
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| Siddharth, MD Biswajyoti Graphics Since: 5 years back How to contact: Krishna Nagar, Agartala, Tripura (West) |
Siddharth’s mother started the DTP and printing unit, where they print books, cash memo, and other kinds of stationery. Unable to find a decent job, Siddharth joined this business. And with loans from SIDBI bought a digital photocopier with networking printer and scanner and offset machines. He has two employees working under him today.
Issues: Commuting is a problem here. Railways is just 2-3 years old in the region. There’s only meter gauge and no broad gauge. Therefore, cargo movement takes place only through roads which translate into high cost and makes their raw material expensive.
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| Rina Saha and Gopalchandra Saha Rina Enterprise Since: 3 years back How to Contact: Rina Enterprise, Sripally, Badharghat, Agartala, Tripura |
Rina Saha and Gopalchandra Saha, a couple from Agartala, started their synthetic gum manufacturing unit 3 years ago. With a loan from SIDBI in 2009, they acquired PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) containers of 30 ml, 200 ml and 500 ml and a weighing scale. Theirs is the only such unit in the area and they sell the gum to wholesale stationery shops and others. They soon plan to start a paper envelope manufacturing unit for which they have already submitted the proposal to SIDBI.
Issues: They haven’t had much problem so far. Things have been good for them.
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| Rupchand Sutradhar, MD Rup Furniture Since: 12 years back How to contact: P.O. Bimangarh, Agartala, Tripura (West) |
Rupchand Sutradhar has a furniture business for the past 12 years. He makes beds, chairs, dining tables etc. With an yearly turnover of Rs1-1.5 lakh.
He had taken a loan amount of Rs1.4 lakh for which he pays an EMI of Rs2,800.
Issues: He initially had problems in getting his machines but SIDBI help him find a solution to his problem.
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| Godwynn Nongrum, MD Fanny’s Fast Food Since: 2 years back How to contact: M G Road, Kachahari Road, Shillong – 793001 |
Godwynn Nongrum runs his fast food shop in Shillong Bar Association, opposite SIDBI’s office. He has 4 employees working under him. Initially started with a loan of Rs70,000, he wants to expand his business now. He has also submitted his proposal for a loan of Rs1 lakh to SIDBI.
He earns about Rs10,000-20,000 pm.
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| C Teeya Imsong, MD Tribes Music & Media Lab Since: 3 years back How to contact: H. NO. 277, Landmark Colony, Dimapur - 797112 |
C Teeya Imsong runs a business of A/V recording and equipment rental. Being the best studio in the area, it caters to the local film and music industry. With 6 employees, he is able to earn upto Rs8-10 lakh per year.
He had self-funded his studio, when he started. And later took a loan of Rs8 lakh from SIDBI for expansion purposes.
Issues: According to him, in Dimapur ( a district in Nagaland) itself, there are 36 dialects. So, marketing is a big problem as people there speak so many different dialects.
“Funding agencies are more interested in manufacturing and handloom based businesses”, he says.
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| Satya Saikia, MD Saikia Developers Since: 1.5 years back How to contact: Saikia Developers, Jail Road, Jorhat, Assam – 785001 |
Satya Saikia undertakes construction of both commercial & residential properties. With base in Jorhat and 65 people as employees, his annual turnover is Rs8.5 crores.
Issues: He has no option but to wait for delivery of raw material as transportation is poor. There are strikes very often. As power comes for only 6-7 hours a day, gensets have to be used. He doesn’t have any option other than to deal with these issues. He’s waiting for the government to take some steps soon.
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