Openness towards technology need of the hour

Hemant Watve, Managing Director and CEO, WILO Mather and Platt Pumps Pvt Ltd

“We must have openness towards technology and use it to the benefit of humankind. A good technology is meant to be utilised. Today is a globalised world. Let’s not have the barriers of countries for technology”

As the global population continues to expand, the demand for electrical energy is forecast to grow. Moreover, energy production is a challenging industry where process efficiency, emission control and safety requirements are key factors. However, there are several smaller components used in the power generation sector, which are critical for the functioning of a plant. Pumps are said to be one of the critical components in the power sector, and improvements in pumping would largely affect the overall efficiency and productivity. Hemant Watve, Managing Director and CEO of WILO Mather and Platt Pumps Pvt Ltd, shares his views about the pumping technologies and other aspects, which affect the Indian power sector.

How do you reckon the initiatives to promote Indian pumps?
We should not differentiate between Indian pumps and foreign pumps. Instead, we should focus on talking about pumps that benefit the government and the public exchequer at large. Our new range of pumps is imported. But, we will be slowly indigenising them as the demand grows. Right now we have to use the technology, which is already available.

How do you gauge the importance of pumps towards the growth of Indian economy?
Pumps are just one segment. To be fair, we should talk about the water cycle. And, it not only includes pumps, but also prime movers that move the pump and the treatment. There are several things in the value chain. It’s not only restricted to the pump.

What are your views on Indian pumps meeting international demands?
To be fair, we are no less. But, the advanced technologies, which are developed in any of the country, whether it’s in India, Germany or Japan, we should not be averse of using it. Just because we are Indians, we should not necessarily be using only Indian products.

We must have openness towards technology and let’s use it to the benefit of humankind. A good technology is meant to be utilised. Today is a globalised world. Let’s not have the barriers of countries for technology.

We ourselves are exporting almost 20 per cent of our production, which means the pumps manufactured by Indians are well accepted in the world. So, it’s the question of how well you can make the product and how well you are able to assimilate the technology.

What is the uniqueness in Wilo pumps
The uniqueness in our products is that when we do the engineering, it is done in such a way that it is robust, that it can last the time standards. We constantly innovate the use of hydraulic efficiency, handling of the products, and this all will culminate into betterment and this is what we at WILO are obliged to do. Also, the service intervals would be way less.