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Could you brief us on KOEL and its latest product offerings in portable power solutions?
Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (KOEL) is a part of Kirloskar family, catering to the segments of agriculture, power generation and engines (gensets and industrial). In power generation, we cater to all power requirements, in both portable and stationary power. Our products range from 2.1 kVA to 5,200 kVA and we have an overall market share of 35 per cent in the industry. We are by far the largest in the industry in terms of volumes.

We are connected to the construction and mining industries in two ways; supplying diesel powered gensets in the range of 250 kVA to 625 kVA and supplying industrial engines. Many leading players in these sectors use our engines.

What is the current scenario in portable power solutions?
The power solutions segment is directly connected with availability of power in the country. In some states we have witnessed an improved power scenario in the last 2-3 years, but in few other states the scenario is not that good. Major reason for this improvement in power scenario is the slowdown in economy. So the power requirement for the industry was on the lower side.

This led to improved power supply situation to the commercial and housing segments.

The portable power market is stable and it is not a growing market at the moment. But this year we expect that the economy will turn the tide and it will be a better scenario for construction, road equipment, infrastructure, and manufacturing industries. These segments will start consuming more power and the deficit of power will go back to the normal scenario of 5-7 per cent deficit in the country which will indirectly boost the portable power segment.

What opportunities do you expect from the construction and mining segment?
In the construction and mining sectors, portable power equipment is used for specific applications. In mining, the portable power is used for lighting equipment. When the construction work goes on at the sites where there is no power in the evening, portable power is used to light up the site. Normally, the project sites need power in two ways; one is to run some of the equipment at the site itself, so they go for bigger power sets of 250 kVA-500 kVA range. There is also the need for a smaller power source to support lighting towers.

What are the perceptible changes you see in the customer needs over the years?
We are observing certain changes in customer needs. Since power availability is going up, customers buy gensets for stand-by applications and not for prime power. The change we see is that people are buying gensets for standby use rather than the main power supply. Another change being observed is that in the lower end segment, the market for inverters is also doing well. This is also impacting the portable power segment to some extent. In 2-3 kVA if the power scenario is better, people can go for inverter but if the power cut-offs are more than 3 hours then it is economical to use gensets for a continuous availability of power.

How do you come up with the changing customer needs?
We regularly conduct surveys to evaluate customer needs. We conduct at least two major surveys in a year for the purpose. Apart from this, we interact with the top level purchase executives of construction, mining and other industry sectors and retail shops and understand where the market is heading.

How flexible/adaptable is your product range? Please also specify the range and application areas?
As far as portable gensets are concerned, our petrol product range is available from 2.1 to 4 kW. We also have a diesel range in 3 and 5 kVA. We will be introducing 4 kW range in petrol very shortly. Our portable genset range is sold under the brand name KOEL Chhota Chilli.

We have some added features to these ranges. The feature called Recoil Start is not available in any other diesel portable gensets than KOEL. Sometimes when the genset is not used for a long period, the battery in the genset drains out. The recoil start helps in starting the genset mechanically.

We have introduced few more features to our portable genset range which is not available in competitor products; like alarms for low fuel level and indications for overloading and overheating of the genset.

Which are the industry segments where you provide your range of power solutions?
We have a basket of application areas where we provide power solutions; these include process industries, stone crushers, mining, commercial buildings, and so on.

Brief us on engines and sub-systems used in your range that helps enhance the performance in terms of fuel efficiency; increased power output and lower weight ratio, and increased life cycle at affordable costs?
All customers in our country are obsessed with fuel efficiency. At KOEL, we recently released out new message to the market with the tag line - KOEL Green - ?Efficiency Integrated?. The tagline has an overall message on efficiency. It talks about efficiency in delivering the product to the market, servicing the product fast, and efficient fuel consumption. KOEL Green products in the market are known for at least 3-10 per cent better fuel efficiency than competition.

Customers are substantially concerned on the cost aspect. Before KOEL introduced diesel gensets in portable range, people were restricted to the option of using only petrol gensets. Customers can save up to 50 per cent of their investment through operational efficiency, if diesels gensets are used in place of petrol. A petrol genset will cost a customer Rs 25-30 per unit of power whereas in diesel, it costs Rs 12-13 per unit of power. In terms of total cost of the product, the KOEL diesel genset is at least five per cent lower. So apart from saving fuel cost, there is saving on the price of the product.

What are the features inbuilt that can efficiently counter extreme operating conditions such as temperature and dusty environment?
In our country, both these conditions are a given. High variation in temperature and dusty environment is very common. When it comes to the portable gensets, They have been designed to operate at full power capacity even if atmospheric temperature is 45oC. If the temperature goes beyond 45oC, it can still be used at 90 per cent capacity. For dusty conditions, all gensets come with a canopy which prevents dust from getting into the internal parts of the gensets.

Is there a shift / change in demand from end-user segments? How successful have you been to meet this shift in terms of product / technology?
Going forward, we expect demand for diesel portable genset to increase and petrol genset to considerably decrease. Our diesel portable gensets are easy on maneuverability.

As you may be aware, we are the only company in the industry, which supplies diesel portable gensets. Provision for hand held portability has witnessed positive response from our customers.

Do you have any specific series of gensets for construction and mining sites?
We are in the process of developing an exclusive new range for mining and construction application; these will be dedicated towards extreme dust conditions which is common in construction and mining sites. Though the existing range can be used in this condition, we are going one step ahead to provide double filter protection to the product which will be launched within the next few months.

What are your future plants?
Our present range of portable gensets are good enough to cater the current market In the near future we will be focusing on the larger range of stationary gensets, i.e. the 750 and 1,000 kVA segments.