Born into a family of doctors, Shah studied engineering and set up a foundry.
Last year he made his maiden entry into the elite club of India’s richest men for the first time, with his net worth swelling to $455 million. Born in a family of doctors, Bhadresh Shah, managing director and promoter of AIA Engineering, chose to tread a different path.
Shah, who studied engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, started his own foundry in 1979. Later, he diversified into the manufacture of grinding components for machinery used in the power, mining and cement industries. Today, his company is the world’s second largest in its niche segment.
In three decades, AIA has seen a transformation from a small foundry in Ahmedabad into a multi-million dollar company with a sales and service network spread across 75 countries.
After setting up the foundry with the support of his father, Shah founded Ahmedabad Induction Alloys in partnership with a friend. His partner later sold off his minority stake to Shah. With more focussed targets, he now started establishing joint ventures with international partners. The company joined hands with Slegten S A of Belgium in 1988, to produce energy-saving parts that are mainly used in cement plants.
It was time for another partnership in 1991, when he tied up with Belgian company Magotteaux and its foundry network by selling 51 per cent stake of his company to the Belgian company, which is the number one manufacturer of grinding parts in the world. Both partners enjoyed working together and also saw growth in the business.
In fact, AIA Engineering Ltd was incorporated in March 1991 with the name Magotteaux (India) Pvt Ltd. Shah’s Ahmedabad Induction Alloys Pvt Ltd was merged with AIA Engineering in April 1991 and the name of the company was changed to AIA Magotteaux Pvt Ltd. with effect from May 1992.
In 1996, Shah bought back a 51 per cent stake in Magotteaux, which had seen a change of guard by then. AIA managed to buy back the stake after a legal battle. The name of the company was further changed to AIA Engineering Ltd. in 2000 due to the termination of the JV with Magotteaux.
With the two companies parting ways, AIA began exporting in the year 2000 and started competing in the international market instead of marketing its products through Magotteaux. Shah with his family and associates owns 70 per cent of AIA.
From 2001, AIA expanded its export operations and after its initial public offer in 2005 the company scaled up its production capacity to 165,000 tonnes in 2008-09.
AIA Engineering now specialises in the design, development, manufacture, installation and servicing of high chromium wear, corrosion and abrasion-resistant castings used in the cement, mining and thermal power generation industries.
Under Shah’s leadership, the company made a technical collaboration with Southwestern Corporation (SWC), USA for process improvement in Raymond Mills in 1995. September 2003 saw a merger between AIA Exports Pvt Ltd and AIA Engineering.
Significantly, none of Shah’s immediate family, including his two daughters, is in the business. A consulting group is conducting a systematic and comprehensive search to identify his eventual successor.
