Meet The Pure Waterman of India Mr Mahesh Gupta founder of Kent RO

Necessity is the mother of invention and this spells perfect on the Pure Waterman of Modern India Mr Mahesh Gupta.  In the words of Mr Gupta Kent RO System was borne of the need to provide clean water to my kids, when both of them fell ill in 1998. I was compelled to consider installing a water purifier at my south Delhi home, but the available options left me disappointed. Being an IIT engineer from Kanpur, I decided to piggyback on the existing technology and develop it further to make a better water purifying system for my family.

Mr. Mahesh Gupta, Chairman, KENT RO Systems Limited had an illustrious academic career. He received his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. He earned his post graduate in Petroleum Technology from IIPM, Dehradun. An invertebrate man in science, his passion for invention and creativity is matched only by his spirit of giving and desire for unshackled expression, which drove him to quit a high profile job with Indian Oil Corporation at great personal risk and set him on his mission of exploring new frontiers, that would usher an era of revolution in conservation, environment and health care for the mankind. A perfectionist, Mahesh Gupta expects not only the very best from himself and also from all the employees and associates of the Kent – Simply, to give the best to the consumer.

The story of Mahesh Gupta started in 1985, from a small room in his house, with nothing bit dreams and self belief. He had mere Rs.25,000/- his savings from his job with IOCL to invest. His first invention was in the field of Petroleum conservation instruments, where he earned fame and half a dozen patents to his credit. Thus S.S Engineering came into being, the mother company. Its products became famous under the brand name KENT.

Providentially bit unfortunately, in 1997, Mr. Mahesh Gupta’s young son developed Hepatitis due to contaminated water, and this incident became the ‘Cause Celebre’ for Mahesh Gupta’s quest for pure, germ free drinking water. From then on, Mahesh Gupta started thinking and dreaming of pure, germ free water for the people of India. The dream and missionary vision of Mahesh Gupta actually turned to reality in 1999, at NOIDA, when in a bigger room, and with the help of another technical comrade, the first RO based domestic purifier was made and sold, incidentally, Mahesh  Gupta was the first person who brought RO Technology to India. Till then, only UV based water purifiers ruled the market. KENT had arrived. From 1999 to 2005, the Company involved itself in the innovation of this unique product, its marketing, growth and consolidation against very strong opposition and stiff competition.

In February 2006, the Company struck awe in the water Industry, by inventing and introducing the revolutionary “Mineral RO Technology”. This patented, first of its kind in the world technology is a generation ahead of the existing RO technology, making KENT a leader in the filed of water purification. In 2009, the company stamped its supremacy on all its competitors by inventing and introducing the ultimate technological marvel – The KENT+ (Plus) Computer Controlled range of water purification systems in the world. This has also exhibited genuine interest of Mahesh Gupta providing the best product to its customers.

During his journey of discovery and innovation, Mahesh Gupta also adopted the philosophy of providing whole some healthcare and wellbeing for the mankind, by adding an array of Ozone based, food and air purifiers to his product range, thus bringing pure water to drink, pure food to eat and pure air to breathe. Healthcare is not just a business for Mahesh Gupta, but it is a passion, in fact, the very purpose of existence of KENT. From humble beginnings, KENT has now two large factories and third in the making, it has a spanking new ultra modern corporate office in Noida, with a pan India Presence, and foreign forays of KENT are promising a multi-national future.Currently the kent product are being exported to South Africa, Middle East, Bangladesh etc.

Vision of Mahesh Gupta is powered by a highly motivated, committed and result oriented KENT family all over 1600 persons, dedicated to serving lacs of Customers. The company is growing at 30 per cent and leads the Rs 3,000-crore market for RO Purifiers with a 35-40 per cent market share.

The existing manufacturing facilities are running under full capacity and now Kent is working toward doubling its manufacturing facilities. It is coming up with another state of the art manufacturing in Noida in next 2 years with an investment of Rs 100 crore. The another breakthrough was getting into a license agreement with global home appliances brand Electrolux. The tie up with Electrolux has opened new vistas for Kent patented technology to reach globally.

Though Mr Gupta did not conduct any market survey before starting my business, however it was a common fact that 80% of diseases in India are caused by water-borne micro-organisms, and that 80% of urban families do not even purify tap water. Obviously, there was a huge market for Kent water purifier.

Today, Gupta's perseverance is paying rich dividends. Kent is a Rs 650-crore company with more than 1,600 employees, and three manufacturing units—working at full capacity—in Roorkee. Its technology has also been validated by UNESCO and certified by stringent world standards like the Water Quality Association and NSF, an international not-for-profit labs

It took them eight years, or until 2006, to breach the Rs 25-crore mark. But, in the past five years the company has multiplied 10 times over. They had sold 130,000 units in 2009 and jumped to 180,000 units in 2010 and touch 5, 00,000 units in 2014

Kent is on a mission to provide safe water. The goal is to come up with a "four digit" pricing for its purifiers, once the production reaches a million. The new manufacturing units in Greater Noida are on the anvil. "You can't imagine what this can grow to. People will eventually upgrade to RO machines. People begin by buying a scooter. But, they upgrade to a full transport, a car, don't they? That's what will happen here as well