Sitting in his Chandigarh home, 70-year-old Surjit Singh Bhurjee, managing director of Hesbee Machine Tools, tells us where the next big spurt in growth for his gun manufacturing business is going to come from, and how he’s preparing for it.
“The CNC machine has been bought and I am 80% into getting the new specialised pistols and rifles as per the National Rifle Association of America (the governing body for rifle and pistol sports) requirement for Olympic shooters. By year-end we should begin exports to the US and European markets,” he says. Once patronised by princely states, nobility and sportsmen, Hesbee Machine Tools, which manufactures shotguns, air rifles and air pistols, is now banking on exports to give it a fresh lease of life.
And sports constitute the bulk of this new opportunity for Bhurjee. For the past few months at his three-acre plot in the Chandigarh industrial area this electrical engineer has been remodeling and incorporating safety features in his air rifles largely to cater to the export market and for Indian shooters. So even when a loaded gun falls from a height of four feet on a hard surface it wouldn’t go off. And while loading the gun a shooter wouldn’t be able to press the trigger.
All this would come at a much lower cost compared to imports. “An imported weapon costs between Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 (individuals can’t import and only State Rifle Associations can do so) and we will produce them for Rs 15,000,” says Bhurjee.
To drive sales in this segment, Bhurjee even plans to go a step ahead. “I am trying to talk with regional schools and colleges to make shooting a part of their curriculum. If this happens, then we will be able to touch a regular production of 500 per month, which will spur growth,” he said. Currently, Hesbee has a network of 30 dealers across India and this is expected to grow exponentially over the coming months as volumes are expected to rise.
For the record, the company’s other manufacturing unit Hesbee and Co. Mandi, in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, was the first factory in independent India to get a gun manufacturing license.
“It was by chance that my father who was an engineer and had just migrated from Lahore got the opportunity to repair the armoury of the King of Mandi. Slowly he learnt the manufacturing and established the business. Till 1955 we were the only Indian unit who were competing with international brands like Webley, Scott, Greener and Greener,” says Bhurjee.
The Mandi unit currently has a license to manufacture 1,000 short guns, which are tested at the Indian Ordinance Factory in Jabalpur, before they are released for sale in the market.
The guns are nitro proof tested for strength of material action and its firing mechanism. The short guns manufactured by the company are priced at Rs 14,000 for single barrel and Rs 35,000 for double barrel and between Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 for air guns and air pistols.
An electrical engineer from Punjab Engineering College, Bhurjee worked with Ford Motors and Warwick Admiral Corporation in the US, before heading back to run the family business after his father’s sudden demise. Now 57 years later, he’s readying to hand over the reins to his 26-year-old daughter Sherry. Guns apart, his other big passion is vintage cars and he owns 25 cars.
“If only the government could issue the license to the private sector to manufacture rifles, revolvers and pistols we would have been able to compete with the international players. Also, with the capacity to manufacture been frozen by the Government of India since 1958 it is has been tough to survive in the industry,” said Bhurjee while voicing his concern.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the story at
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Engineering/Going_great_guns/articleshow/msid-2353816,curpg-1.cms
Regards
Saptarshi