In a riveting session at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nagpur, the renowned businessman and one of the region’s wealthiest individuals, Chairman of Solar Industries India, Satyanarayan Nuwal shared his inspiring success story with the Management students. The first generation entrepreneur, who managed to set up a company which has current market capital of over Rs 80,000 crore, spoke about his failures and successes. Nuwal said that blessings of the almighty and opportunities that came his way changed his fortune. However, while throwing light on various instances and experiences of his entrepreneurial journey, Nuwal’s personality prominently reflected the rare quality of perseverance and self-belief. “Success and failure are part and parcel of anyone’s life.

 

These factors are not very important. On the contrary, how you handle these and move ahead matters,” he replied to the interviewers at the event jointly conducted by Vigyan Bharati Vidarbha Prant and IIM, Nagpur, on Saturday. R Ramakrishnan, Co-founder, CEO, immverseAI, interviewed Nuwal with Dr Bhimaraya Metri, Director, IIM, Nagpur. Management students, teaching faculty and others also were present to listen to the business mantras of the 10th class-pass entrepreneur who is into manufacturing of a wide range of munitions and its components including propellant, propulsion systems, warheads and fuses for rockets, missiles, air bombs, etc. When R Ramakrishnan asked Nuwal to share with the audience his early days struggle, the business leader recalled his unsuccessful business ventures.

 

“I failed a couple of times but never lost faith in my capabilities. I continued my struggle with great passion,” he said. In search of business opportunities, Nuwal moved to Ballarshah near Chandrapur from his birth place in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. In Ballarshah, Nuwal wanted to start selling explosives using the licence of a person called Abdul Sattar. Nuwal struck a deal of Rs 1,000 per month with Sattar for using the licence. However, Nuwal was running short of money to pay the monthly rent. “When I expressed my inability to pay the monthly rent, Sattar agreed to take it after every three months. This gave me a breathing space and I started my business,” he said. Nuwal also said, one should never give up on chasing one’s dreams. “You will succeed if you have a strong desire for it. Things will fall in place for you. “Sankalp se koi baat badi nahin...” meaning “nothing is bigger than resolution,” Nuwal said, who chose to interact in Hindi. Over a period of time, he moved to Nagpur and set up a small scale industry. Soon he became a leading manufacturer of explosives in the highly competitive sector. Nuwal’s another incident further underscored the quality of strong determination was how he managed to supply ammunition to Armed Forces.

 

Until 2010, there was no policy that could allow private players to supply ammunition to the Indian Armed Forces. “But as the country was largely dependent on foreign countries for it, I was sure the Indian Government would open its doors for private players. We continued putting efforts and finally got success,” he said. Nuwal received a big round of applause from the audience as soon as he said, “Solar Group is today having manufacturing set up in 13 countries and exporting its products to more than 60 countries.” At the outset, Dr Bhimaraya Metri welcomed Nuwal and R Ramakrishnan. Naresh Chafekar of Vigyan Bharati Vidarbha Prant gave a brief introduction of Nuwal and also highlighted the activities of Vigyan Bharati.