In 2009, Rahul Gupta was worried that his marks would rule out a job
during campus placements at IIT Roorkee. So, instead of preparing for
interviews, he sat reading a newspaper in his room, whereby he came
across an article on the setting up of a solar plant in Amritsar.
By the time he finished reading it, he was convinced that solar power
was his calling. Since the last semester was relatively relaxed, he
devoted his time to conducting research on the sector. He soon
discovered a classmate who was equally interested in it, and the duo
took a trip to Rajasthan, his home state, for more research in December
2009. The two soon made up their minds to start a small solar plant.
"Thermal power fetched a profit of Rs 3 per unit, but solar power got
Rs 18 a unit," says Gupta. Before returning to the campus, they had
registered their venture, Rays Power Projects, in Jaipur.
However, they faced their first setback when they learnt that they
would need Rs 1.37 lakh to apply for a tender. "Since we knew everything
about the sector, we decided to help other companies install solar
plants in Rajasthan while waiting to drum up the cash," says Gupta.
After graduating in April 2010, the duo shifted base to Jaipur and
started working as full-time consultants. They soon bagged their first
client, whom they helped set up a 1 MW project in Jaisalmer.
Once they managed to save the required amount, they applied for the
tender of a project, which was to be commissioned by March 2012. The
estimated cost of the project was nearly Rs 12 crore, but they were
confident of raising the money. "In mid-2010, there was an expansion of
solar power sector in Rajasthan. This was a boon for our consultancy
business," says Gupta.
However, due to a difference of opinion with
his partner, he left the company in March 2011, taking Rs 13 lakh as his
share. He relocated to Delhi, changed the business model for his new
venture to engineering, procurement and construction for solar
companies, and set up RaysExperts three months later. Before the end of
the year, he had eight companies as clients
Then, in early 2012, he decided to revisit his solar park dream. He
figured his firm would take care of all the details, from procuring the
tender to setting up the project and its maintenance, while investors
would hand him the money. He bought land in Bikaner and set up a 2 MW
solar park, which opened in October 2012. By the end of the fiscal year,
the revenue was Rs 80 crore.
Today, Gupta manages three projects, spanning 500 acres in Bikaner,
collectively producing 55 MW. As maintenance fee, he charges Rs 8 lakh
per MW, per client, annually. In October 2013, he started his own 250 KW
plant. The 120-employee company is eyeing a turnover of Rs 350 crore in
this fiscal year.
Srikanth Nyshadham +91-98665-06729