Monday 10 February 2014

How IITian Rahul Gupta built RaysExperts, a multi- crore solar power company in less than 3 years

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.

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