Inverter for the poor

The number of entrepreneurs getting bitten by the bottom-of-the pyramid bug is growing by the day. The latest to join the bitten list is the 40-year old Kunwer Sachdev who is planning to launch a Rs. 1,000/- inverter next year.With this he hopes to open up a latent market which is currently managing with emergency lamps and noisy generators in the urban areas and lanterns in villages.

The initial cost to the consumer will include a battery which could be priced at around Rs. 1,500/- Even at Rs. 2,500/- initial investment, the low-cost inverter, Sachdev believes, will be a hit among small shops, which run into a few million in India. With only fi ve percent of urban households having access to generator back-up, Sachdev believes the demand for this inverter will be tremendous. With the capacity to light up two CFL lamps for 48 hours, this inverter can be a boon in remote areas where power supply is erratic.

With the new offering of Sachdev’s Su-Kam Ltd, a 1,200 people, Rs.600-crore power back-up company, may again compete for the ‘Innovator for India’ award of Marico Foundation next year. This year the company won the award for business model innovation – for taking the unorganized power back-up industry from the paradigm of noisy diesel gensets to clean, green, efficient products and solutions that provide self-sufficiency to industrial users and home users alike.

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