Cxo of the week: Vasu Naren, Director & CEO, Sona Machinery

Sona Machinery, an agro-processing equipment manufacturing industry, its subsidiary Can Engineering Solutions Pvt. Ltd., offers turnkey grain processing solutions for ETHANOL distilleries while another, Absstem Technologies, manufactures medical-grade oxygen and industrial-grade nitrogen generators. The company specializes in a complete turnkey rice mill setup with a tonnage between 4TPH to 10TPH. It also manufactures rotary drum cleaners, acentric pre-cleaners, fine cleaners, Vibro screen cleaners, stone separators, material handling equipment (such as bucket elevators and chain/belt conveyors), dust collection equipment (such as centrifugal blowers and cyclone separators), etc.

Vasu Naren, 2nd generation Serial Entrepreneur & VC, is the Managing Director&CEO of Sona MachineryGroup. Under his leadership, Sona Machinery Group has become one of the country’s leading OEM and supplier of a diversified range of Agri-Machinery Processing& EPC Solutions for Grain based Distilleries. The Group has its presence and reaches not only across several cities in India but also across the Globe.

Recently we have engaged in an interview with Vasu Naren, Director & CEO, Sona Machinery. He shared his views on key offerings and key USPs of Sona Machinery, his entrepreneurial journey, the company’s growth, and much more.

Introduction.

Sona Machinery Pvt. Ltd., is an agri-machinery manufacturer that offers a variety of products ranging from turn-key Rice Mill set-ups to Grain Cleaning and Processing Machinery to its customers in India & across the Globe. The product range includes top-of-the-line milling equipment for cleaning, processing, and handling grains like millets and pulses wheat, gram, maize seeds and poultry feeds, etc. In addition, the brand offers holistic services to its clients with its tailored machinery as per the specific requirements.

The company specializes in complete turnkey rice mill setup with a tonnage between 4TPH to 10TPH. It also manufactures rotary drum cleaners, acentric pre-cleaners, fine cleaners, Vibro screen cleaners, stone separators, material handling equipment (such as bucket elevators and chain/belt conveyors), dust collection equipment (such as centrifugal blowers and cyclone separators) etc. It also specializes in manufacturing grain milling machines and EPC Solutions for grain-based distilleries with a capacity between 50 to 500 kiloliters per day, grain pre-cleaners, and material handling equipment with tonnage between 3TPH and 100TPH.

The 27+year-old brand also caters to its customers who are engaged in Grain Milling (Distilleries), by providing them with turn-key plant set-up solutions through our subsidiary Can Engineering Solutions Pvt Ltd. Additionally, another subsidiary, Absstem Technologies, manufactures medical-grade oxygen and industrial-grade nitrogen generators. These portfolio additions are just the beginning of the expansion of its operational footprint in India and International Markets.

Among other services, Sona Machinery is gearing up to fulfill the growing demand for Ethanol production in India by providing EPC Solutions for grain-based distilleries, how this will help the industry as such.

Sona Machinery’s expansion into a new business vertical comes at a time when India is aggressively pushing to more than double its ethanol production capacity from the current 684 crore litres to 1,500 crore litres. This increased production will be integral to achieving the government’s ambitious target to have a 20% ethanol blend in petrol fuels by 2025. If achieved, this target is expected to save foreign exchange worth INR 30,000 crore every year while also improving India’s energy security and reducing pollution. It is this massive market opportunity that Sona Machinery aims to facilitate and tap into.

Tell us about the sectors where the company operates, and the products or services offered by it in the respective segments?

The company specialises in complete rice mill turnkey setup with a tonnage between 3TPH and 10TPH. It also manufactures rotary drum cleaners, acentric pre-cleaners, fine cleaners, vibro screen cleaners, stone separators, material handling equipment (such as bucket elevators and chain/belt conveyors), dust collection equipment (such as centrifugal blowers and cyclone separators), and flour silos. It also specialises in manufacturing grain milling machines for grain-based ethanol distilleries with a capacity between 60 and 500 kilolitres per day, grain pre-cleaners and material handling equipment with tonnage between 3TPH and 125TPH.

How has Covid-19 accelerated the transition to digital for the traditional Agri-tech industry? What will be the new normal in the industry?

All industrial sectors, including the agri-tech sector, were pushed to innovate and develop rapid fixes to get past the uncertainity brought on by the lockdowns as a result of the epidemic. Although the effects have varied throughout the agriculture industry, overall, we can detect a favourable change. The agro industry in India is once again undergoing an irreversible metamorphosis as a result of several digital enablement. More farmers turned to internet forums to talk about their crop and livestock problems since they could no longer come face-to-face with their peers as access to local advice services suffered. As a result, there were 30% more enquiries on agri-networking sites about crops and livestock.

Businesses like agri-retailers and small makers saw the urgent need for a business-farmer digital network to power their transactions. Up until that point, these companies had mostly operated their businesses using traditional techniques. During the Covid era, the use of such techniques greatly rose.

This will continue and the new normal will be technology driven with AI enabled technology which will be time effective and help in saving on both resources and budget. Overall, the agri-tech businesses rose to the difficulties posed by the epidemic and were successful in developing technologically advanced goods and services that satisfied consumer needs, opening up new prospects for Indian farmers who had previously been resistant to technology. As a result, the Indian agricultural industry has advanced in order to adapt to and benefit from the difficult times.

What, as per you, are the five important things that Sona machinery should be looking at today?

Sona machinery actively invests in R&D and will continue to do so in the years to come, contributing to the industry’s growth. Secondly, we believe in working on the technological front and help in generating advanced tech in the agriculture machinery sector. Thirdly, we will focus on enabling ethanol production thereby contributing to the country’s economic growth, helping it create sustainable energy. Lastly, the other two factors that we will focus on include enhancing the supply chain management and expanding our business overseas making Sona Machinery a global entity.

How can small financial players overcome the challenges faced while adopting technology into their business?

By 2025, the Indian agri-tech industry is anticipated to reach $30-35 billion, according to Bain & Co. As a result, investors have been paying close attention to the agri-tech startup market. The rate of adoption of technologies like digitalization, supply chain innovations, big data, machine learning, AI, data analytics, IoT, and similar ones, are a must. To enable the expansion of small players, the tech adoption procedure needs to be expedited.

What changes is Sona machinery bringing to the industry?

The supply of food and agricultural produce across the globe is a rising matter of concern. The expansion of Sona Machinery in Africa, one of the world’s most prominent food producers, may mitigate some of the impacts of these issues by making its cutting-edge equipment more accessible and available to interested businesses all over the continent, thus supporting the push for more localized food processing. The opening of its Nairobi office will also enable the company to provide quality after-sales service and support to its customers with its physical presence in the region.

With the opening of the Nairobi office, we aim to provide high-potential businesses in the region with the tools and support they need to increase their scale, speed, efficiency, and profitability. With the extensive and expanding product portfolio of Sona Machinery and its subsidiaries such as Can Engineering Solutions, we will empower the Government of Kenya and homegrown African businesses to fulfill the growing global demand for food-based products.

Hence, Sona Machinery has taken Indian agri-industry to a global level, making it prominent and eminent in the space.

What are the changes that you have been observing in the agricultural sector over the past few years as comparison to now? How has it been impacting your business?

By 2025, Inc42 projects that the Indian agriculture sector would grow to a value of US$24 billion. The sixth-largest food and grocery market in the world is in India, where 70% of sales are made through retail. The third advance estimates predict that India would produce 314.51 MT of foodgrains in FY 2021–22. India's rapid population growth is the primary force behind the industry's growth. This is further supported by the increasing income levels in rural and urban regions, which have boosted the demand for agricultural goods across the country.

Tell us about any major factors that had driven Sona Machinery’s earnings in the pandemic times.

Sona Machinery understands that an organization's success is mostly driven by its commitment to research and innovation. The highly skilled and knowledgeable staff at Sona Machinery's research and development division work tirelessly to meet the changing demands of the sector. Sona Machinery is the indisputable leader in the agro-processing machinery sector as a result of their persistent efforts, innovation, and professionalism. The key focus lies on ideation, process and development aspects of R&D which has helped in accelerating the company’s growth.