Dr.

MAHESH GUPTA
Chairman of kent RO

TO Mr. ANIRUDDHA KUNDU

Done by;
MD SAMIR KHAN
BBA-5B
Mahesh Gupta

 Kent RO's launch in the late 90s was a period when the
water purifier market in India was hardly even in
existence. This is when Mahesh Gupta, founder of
Kent RO Systems Ltd, stumbled into the water purifier
industry and revolutionised it within a few years.
Story behind start-up
 When his children had jaundice, Gupta realised that drinking
water was the culprit for many dangerous diseases. “I started
researching and found that only UV water purifiers were
available in the market. UV does not remove the particles
dissolved in water. After extensive research I figured out that the
process of reverse osmosis (RO) could tackle the problem. I
decided to design a purifier for my own house and imported few
components like the membrane and a pump from the US,” says
Gupta. It took Gupta about three months, but the result of his
design was very good, “It struck me that what is good for me
would be good for everyone else in the country. The idea of Kent
RO was born,” says Gupta
Early days
 Gupta graduated from IIT Kanpur in 1975 and subsequently joined the Indian
Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun. Passing out in 1977 he joined Indian Oil
Corporation as an engineer and worked on the conservation of fuel.

In 1988 Gupta figured out that he wanted to do something on his own. “I
wanted to start a business which could work in the conservation of oil. I started
a company called SS Engineering, which developed products to save oil.
Investing Rs 20,000 from my personal savings I started the business from my
backyard,” says Gupta.

 Gupta’s second business was more by accident after his children fell ill.
“Spurred by the product I had designed for my house, I decided to manufacture
and market it to consumers and get into the water purification business. People
called me crazy since the cost of these purifiers was so high that it was a given
that no one would buy it. A purifier came for about Rs 20,000 while a gravity
purifier was available for a maximum of Rs 4000,” says Gupta.

Reaching out
 By 2006 Gupta realized that to make the product work he needed to
get serious about advertising and marketing. “We needed a well
known, popular star, and a mother to advertise and we zeroed in on
Hema Malini for the same. By that year we expanded to other
metros and mass media campaign had worked. The entire country
started to know Kent as a brand and we clocked revenues of Rs. 30
crore that year,” says Gupta.
 While he does sympathise with the reality of drinking water
conditions in India, Gupta says that the unlikeliness of it improving
is also an opportunity for Kent RO to grow. For the last six years, the
company has been growing at a rate of 15% and hope to clock a
turnover of about Rs 850 crore this year.


Competetion in the Market
 there were some who bought the product and the feedback
Gupta got was very positive. Having said that, the first
month Gupta hardly sold two units and the first year of
operations Kent hardly did a few lakh in sales. The going
was much tougher than he had anticipated it to be

“Capital was not available, that is why my journey was very

slow,” says Gupta. Once the product and company were
ready for launch, he then faced competition from
established international brands, which they outbid on the
basis of the technology being used.
Manufacturing plant
 Kent RO also has three state-of-the-art manufacturing
plants in Roorki , Uttarakhand and a fourth coming
up in Greater Noida. The company currently exports
products to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Nepal and
recently entered GCC Market. They are planning to
double exports in the next two years.
Conclusion
 With an entrepreneurial journey that started in the 80’s
Dr. Gupta has certainly had his fair share of challenges.
“Even now things are not so rosy. Any entrepreneur coming
forward must understand that he has to face difficult times
because within the bureaucracy, things do not move very
easily.” Gupta adds that life is not easy for a businessman
owing to a lack of trust from governments. “Governments
always feel businessmen are not honest and they are not
paying their dues properly,” says Gupta ..