In conversation with Mr. Sunil Uplap, Founder of Shubham Tanks and Liners Pvt. Ltd.

1. Being a first-generation entrepreneur, what are the challenges you faced?

The early stages of entrepreneurship were a tough test at every step. The challenges which I faced being a first-generation entrepreneur were:

1.Lack of mentorship and guidance on every aspect of business, strategy and growth path.

2.Lack of financial support and very low capability and backing to raise finance.

3. Losses in early phases of business due to wrong decisions taken as a result lack of experience, maturity in business and guidance.

4. External reasons like recession and the industrial downturn in the middle and late Nineties.

2. Is there any reason why you ventured into this particular segment?

In 1999, I pioneered a Professional Service for Scientific cleaning and dis-infection of drinking water storage tanks in the name of TANCLEAN. This business grew rapidly, and we were cleaning and disinfecting over 9500 tanks per day using our proprietary TANCLEAN process in 148 cities and towns across India and five countries outside India.

During this time, we discovered that the biggest challenge in India and surrounding countries was in the tanks themselves, as they were either RCC or MS Fabricated tanks or simply Plastic Rotomolded tanks used for residential and domestic applications. All of these tank types were prone to leaks and seepages and necessitated a high level of maintenance and upkeep. As we were looking for a solution to this, we were approached by Rhino Tanks of Australia, who at the time were the leaders in the manufacture of Corrugated profile Zincalume Tanks with Liners and looking at our network and reach in the Government, Commercial, and Industrial sectors, we both felt that this was the right solution to the problem for which we were looking for a solution. So, in 2009, we signed a technical collaboration agreement with Rhino Tanks and, as a result of our subsequent success, we formed a 50:50 joint venture with Rhino Tanks in 2011.

3. What is the company philosophy of Shubham Tanks and Liners Pvt. Ltd.?

Shubham Tanks' philosophy is to ensure that we deliver without fail and execute without compromise the highest value in everything we do, as well as to be the most trusted partner to all of our stakeholders.

4. What are your key products?

Some of our Key products are:

1.Corrugated Profile, Pre-fabricated Zincalume Tanks with Liners ranging from capacities from 15000 Litres to Three Million Litres.

2.Special Lining for rehabilitation of Leaking Tanks to enhance their service lives by more than 20 years.

3. Glass-Fused-to-Steel Tanks and Epoxy Coated Tanks for critical applications like storage of Industrial Effluents, sewage etc.

4. We have also diversified into manufacture of Special High Technology Packaged Sewage Treatment Plants with Technical Collaboration from Rothwell Water of South Korea.

5. What are your future plans in terms of growth and expansion?

We have firm plans to expand our national reach to cater to the increasing demand by establishing manufacturing infrastructure in at least three locations in India over the next 1-2 years, along with similar facilities in two other countries to address the exports which are also on upswing. There are also clear plans to grow our team and explore M&A opportunities both within the country and in a couple of fast-growing Asian countries.