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Kochouseph Chittilappally, Veega Land, Kochi |
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More than 25 years ago, a young man with post graduation in Physics, who worked as a supervisor in an electronic goods manufacturing unit, Telix, at Thiruvananthapuram resigned his job to start a voltage stabilizer manufacturing unit.
The banks refused to put their money on an unknown horse when proven voltage stabilizers of Keltron and Tata were in the market. As a last resort, Kochouseph Chittilappally obtained Rs.1 lakh from his father to start ‘V Guard’, the voltage stabilizer unit.
25 years down the lane, the 2-employee unit has grown into Rs.120 crore annual turnover company. If he had used his second hand scooter for marketing the product till the employee strength reached 150, it was an indication of the confidence and perseverance that was to be his hallmark during the later growth and expansion of the company.
Today the company employs 700 persons directly and has a product range of 12 electronic items. For many years Chittilappally was the highest tax payer in Kerala. His justification for the honesty is this: evading tax increases the profit but decreases peace of mind.
Though a labour strike in 1986 resulted in the closure of factory for 2 months, the way he handled the episode with equanimity and confidence, brought victory to him in the end. And for the same reason, many hassles like hypertension, sleeplessness, hurry etc. that haunt big industrialists, do not trouble him.
And as a management practitioner, he has built the second line of leadership whom he has to only motivate to get things done.
“Making money was never the be all and end all for me even earlier. Rather, it is working as a creative technical person that fascinates me,” he says about himself and his work. It was this fascination that led him to construct the premier amusement part, Veega Land, near Kochi.
Courtesy: GRI (text), Tony Dominic (photo), Sree, Malayala Manorama, January 26, 2002
Contributed by: Administrator
