Premium Transmission provides high quality, precision-engineered power transmission products and solutions to the global engineering industry, catering to the needs of customers across the globe. Neeraj Bisaria, Managing Director & CEO, Premium Transmission, shares more on the company and the market.

What are the core competencies and achievements of Premium Transmission over the years?
Premium's core competency is in manufacturing industrial gearbox, geared motors and fluid couplings for primary industry segments like steel, sugar, material handling, power, FMCG and various others. We are more than the first indigenous industrial gearbox manufacturing company with more than five decades of experience, and we believe that is our greatest achievement.

In 2011, Premium acquired the entire business of Rexnord Stephan GmbH & Co KG, Germany. The acquisition of Stephan was a major step taken forward by the company to build a global business.

What are the products and solutions offered for construction equipment segments?
Premium Transmission boasts of its exemplary efficiency in providing solutions across diversified sectors of which the construction, mining and material handling industry are of prime importance. Having a rich experience in heavy-duty material handling, we offer a broad and scalable product range of bevel and helical gearboxes. Tailoring to consumers' requirements, we also provide solutions for conveyors, crushers, stacker reclaimers and various apron feeders, along with pan mixers, bucket elevators, batching plants etc.

How do you look at the market dynamics of infrastructure equipment in India? What is the current demand scenario from these segments?
Infrastructure and core industry development has been one of the primary focuses of the government. This has led to a positive rise in the demand scenario of equipment in India. Amongst others, earthmoving equipment, road building, material handling, air compressors, concrete manufacturing, transporting and placing equipment, and crushing and screening have opened up immense potential for our industry in the coming years. We foresee similar opportunities in FMCG and commercial construction sector as well.

What are the new opportunities you foresee for your products for these segments as infrastructure development in India is taking place at a greater pace and the equipment market is growing accordingly?
Infrastructure is booming in India. Evolving consumer demands, technological advances and upsurge in infrastructural development in different parts of the country, especially in the North-Eastern market, have generated enormous scope for evolving more industry-specific products to keep up with the pace. This is one of the primary reasons for strengthening our new product development initiatives and simultaneously updating our existing product range. We believe this will unwrap new horizons for developing more energy-efficient products for the market.

What are the emerging technology trends in gears and transmission products? How do you look at the changing customer needs over the years?
Novelties in the industry with diverse and evolved consumer requirements are regarded as the catalyst for any product manufacturer. Transmission market in India is taking an exemplary shift from worm gearboxes to helical and planetary ones with high power to weight ratios and high torque requirement with compact size. This is one of the major challenges for the product designers compared to others. I believe that the shift in the consumer requirements towards more energy-efficient and industry-specific products and growing demand for after-sales solutions are boosting the trends of the transmission industry. As one of the key players in the industry, we aim to meet up with the consumer expectations by developing best-in-class products.

Could you elaborate on the new product development centre in Kolkata? What are your key R&D initiatives?
Increased consumer demand and technological advances have accelerated newer prospects for us. The development centre of Premium Transmission, being the first in the eastern region, unwraps immense potential. Kolkata is the gateway to several prospective SAARC and South-East Asian countries and this is one of the primary reasons for choosing Kolkata for this Eastern region's first product development centre.

This innovation-led development unit, which aims to research and design new products for mechanical power transmission market, is poised to propel the growth. Catering services to core sectors like steel, power, oil and gas, sugar, cement, construction etc, the company strives for continuous research and implementation of the latest technologies. Another important initiative from our end is to introduce energy-efficient products for the industry, which is expected to boost the industrial growth in West Bengal as well as be instrumental in the infrastructural growth of India.

How do you see the market outlook for Premium Transmission and its products in the coming years?
We expect the market outlook to be quite favourable for us in the coming years. One of the primary reasons contributing to the same is our strong direct sales network presence in India as well as in other continents. We also have a healthy enquiry pipeline and our plan to expand internationally is fuelling our varied projects in different locations.

What are your expansion plans?
We aim to double our top-line growth in the next four years with existing and newly developed product range. In addition to this, we are planning to establish our product service segment as a separate and independent business vertical in next three years by setting up 'Premium Care centre' at key locations in India and abroad.

The development centre of Premium Transmission, being the first in the eastern region, unwraps immense potential. Kolkata is the gateway to several prospective SAARC and South-East Asian countries and this is one of the primary reasons for choosing Kolkata for this Eastern region's first product development centre.'