E T Polymers

S.P.Y. Reddy
The Lifesaver Polyman

Knowing the pulse of the farmers and the problems faced by them, the Nandi Group introduced a number of innovative schemes to address various issues.

�Water is Life� � they say! And who else but S.P.Y. Reddy, Chairman of the Nandi Group, can bring this statement to reality.

Way back in 1966, Reddy�s village in AP had 120 wells catering to the irrigation needs of the orange trees. Draught started to take its toll and the practice of three cycles of irrigation (morning, afternoon and evening), with the hope of surviving the crops, was worsening the situation. Water used to run through the open channels ~ 1000 ft long, where the water either used to get sipped in the soil or get evaporated, leaving it sufficient only for 1/5th of the crop. The trees had to be cut due to scarcity of water. As a class XIth student, S.P.Y. Reddy was left with the thought, which turned into his passion��Only if I had a Pipe�.

Even after joining Loyala College and REC Warangal, Reddy was obsessed with water and its effective use in agriculture. Even though he was studying his mechanical engineering, he was mainly interested in agricultural applications. He joined BARC after completing his B.E. (Mechanical) in 1973. Throughout his career in BARC he kept on visiting the markets in Mumbai, gathering information about pipe-related processing machinery. Meanwhile, he applied to APSFC for setting up a cement pipe (for agricultural use) manufacturing facility, but the proposal got refused on the basis that there was no feasibility of the project.

The Evolution

In the markets of Mumbai, he came across a plastic pipe-processing unit at Reay road, producing plastic pipes from the recycled material. Fascinated by the idea, he again approached APSFC for setting up a plastic pipe-manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh. His application was again rejected on the basis of inexperience of application of plastic pipes in agricultural applications. After several rounds of discussions and constructive arguments with the APSFC MD, he ultimately got the project sanctioned by APSFC with the approved funding of ~ 1.425 lacs. The project could get through APSFC because of his mission � saving precious water in the region!

Finally, Reddy resigned from BARC in 1977 and raised Rs. 10,000 which he required as an initial investment, by investing his PF, other benefits and selling off his wife�s bangles. He finally had to settle down at Nandyal, as he needed a ready-made shade to start the work. He categorically mentioned that human values were very high at that time and without paying a single paisa, an electric transformer was installed within an hour�s time.

The group started its business by recycling PE waste material to produce plastic pipes. He was able to overcome the initial hiccups with his engineering knowledge and completed the first order of 400 metres. Buyers from Nandyal used to travel all the way to Vijaywada to get the plastic pipes. S.P.Y. Reddy managed to capture the local market.

The machine used for the recycled material processing started to give off the quality and hence a new machine was procured in January 1979. The group then started getting good orders and it virtually started buying a machine every 3 months.

In 1981, FCI announced auction of around 700 MT of black polyethylene covers. With foresight and strong business acumen, Reddy could manage the entire material @ Rs.2/kg. It is worthwhile noting here that at this point of time, his processing capacity was only 30 � 40 tonnes. Fortunately for him, the demand for polyethylene sheets increased that year and he could sell off good polyethylene sheets at a price of around Rs.12/kg and earn good profits.

In 1984, the group entered PVC processing business, with a 40kg/hr machine. There was no other machine available at that point of time. He finally bought a Windsor make high-speed (180 kg/hr) machine, which was one of its kind.

His major problem matching with the companies like Finolex was the ....

....contd.

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