Thermax rejigs setup, eyes $1 bn turnover

The initiative is to develop managers and make them leaders

Energy and environment engineering major Thermax has reorganised its businesses in order to offer a structured exposure to its business heads to shoulder greater responsibilities as the company moves fast towards its objective of becoming a $1 billion company.

Thermax Managing Director Prakash Kulkarni noted that the initiative is intended to develop senior-level managers and groom them to take up leadership positions in the company's business.

"We have put in place a structure in which we have combined some businesses to form three sizeable business groups so that head of each such business gets exposure necessary to run a large enough size of operation," Kulkarni said.

The company has formed three groups, including projects, energy and chemicals and water, to be headed by three of its senior managers.

The projects unit will be headed by Executive Vice-President M S Unnikrishnan and comprise the company's power business, including captive power, environment division and big boilers and heaters. The energy unit will be headed by Executive Vice-President Shishir Joshipura.

This will include business in the cooling and heating covering chillers and smaller capacity boilers. The third unit, comprising chemicals and water business, will be headed by Amitabha Mukhopadhyay, who is the company's executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

Kulkarni added that after reorganisation, each of these businesses is about Rs 500 crore in size, made up of sub units in the region of Rs 150 crore.

"The new structure will comprise performance units, which will form part of strategic business units, which in turn will make the business group, which will report to the managing director," he elaborated.

Each of the groups will have a service business unit, which will steer the company's new initiative to offer service as a standalone business activity, he added.

"Wanting to become a billion-dollar company has its prerequisites in terms of gearing up the human resource to take up the challenges involved," Kulkarni said, adding that the company has therefore resumed its practice of encouraging employee participation in training programmes available nationally as well as internationally.

A detailed development plan for this is under preparation and the company expects to fine-tune it by this September, Kulkarni informed.

Kulkarni disclosed that a recent order from a major refinery has elevated Thermax into a higher capacity power generation bracket and more opportunity can now be tapped in the power sector, which is poised for big action in the country.

"The recent order will establish us as a contender in the utilities area rather than a player in captive generation," he said.

The company is now getting enquiries for turnkey projects, which will improve profitability, he added.

"Power shortages across the country will trigger new opportunities for the company and we should be able to book business for 500 mw generation every year by 2011," Kulkarni indicated.