Ever wondered who manufactures the air conditioning systems for the Shatabdis, Rajdhanis and even the Delhi Metro coaches. There is a good possibility that most of these units would’ve been supplied by Sidwal.
The Delhi-based Sidwal Refrigeration Industries Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of air-conditioning units for mobile and stationary units. The company was founded in 1974 by Mr. Sher. S. Sidhu, a first generation entrepreneur, who gave up his fledgling career in the US to set up a manufacturing facility in India. Mr. Sidhu says: “We initially started by manufacturing desert coolers and water coolers. In 1975 we signed an 8 year contract with Voltas for manufacturing and supplying air conditioning equipment for 5 star hotels and for Central air-conditioning of buildings”.
Sidwal has been part of many prestigious projects, including the recent order for the air-conditioning of 188 Delhi Metro coaches. The company has an endless list of prestigious projects to its credit which includes air conditioning of the Shatabdis, Rajdhanis, Palace on wheels given to the Rajasthan Government, the Deccan Odyssey operated by Maharashtra and the Golden Chariot of Andhra. And if you think Sidwal is strong only in Rail ACs, the company has executed some very prestigious orders in the bus segment as well including the air-conditioning of the Delhi Lahore bus flagged off by the then Prime Minister, Vajpayee and even the Kolkata-Dhaka bus.
All this the company has managed to develop indigenously without any technical tie-up. In that sense, Sidwal is a true Indian manufacturer. The success of Sidwal is Mr. Sidhu’s very strong technical competency. This has been the reason for developing Sidwal into a multi product company over the years.
Sidwal has also built very strong competency in the Bus air-conditioning business. The company has fitted over 2000 units on various types of buses including luxury coaches for long distance travel, for tourist purpose and even some of the Tarmac coaches for airport applications. In 2007-08 the company sold over 500 units and the target for the current year is 700 units. The company has also executed some major orders for staff transportation buses.
Another important vertical where the company has developed competency is Defence. Sidwal has developed cooling units for many important projects including the cooling units for missile launchers like the Brahmos, military shelters and radars.
Sidwal’s strength lies in its ability to absorb technology and its strong base in manufacturing. The company already has three manufacturing facilities in the North. Sidwal employs over a 1,000 people out of which 400 people are employed in service alone along all the rail network across the country to provide 24/7 service support for Railways. This is a big advantage for Sidwal as these service centers can also be used to service its other products.
Sidwal is currently a 100 per cent Indian company with no technology tie-ups for any of its products. Going forward Mr. Sidhu says he is open to forging technical tie-ups for specific product segments. To enable the business has been clearly segmented into various verticals like rail, bus, Defence and telecom. This could give an opportunity to forge partnerships with multiple partners, says Mr. Sidhu.
The company has a fully integrated manufacturing facility with ISO 9001-2000 accreditation, in-house testing facilities to meet international quality standards under demanding weather conditions of Indian sub-continent. It also has a well equipped R&D; centre, tool room and manufacturing facilities for condenser, evaporator coils and fabrication of frames with metal / fiber with PUF insulation for heat resistance. The major components for bus air-conditioning units are sourced from the top manufacturers such as Bitzer, Prestolite, SPAL, Minoli, Parker, etc.
Sidwal clocked a turnover of Rs. 100 crores in 2007-08 and is looking to double this in the next couple of years. Sidwal is also providing ventilation systems for Mumbai suburban trains. This project has been awarded to Siemens and Sidwal is executing the project on behalf of Siemens. Already 300 rail cars have been done, and this could get extended to all the coaches. Siemens has approved Sidwal as a vendor for its global sourcing of HVACs.
