Gerindtec

Gerindtec GmbH Mr. Peter Althaus is no stranger to India having set up in 1996 the first Indian subsidy of a leading German organization, Heraeus Instruments, in his capacity as Director Asia Pacific. Today that Indian subsidiary now under the name Thermo Fischer boasts of a turnover of USD 100 Mio. The company co-owned by Suresh Oliver, Medifield Equipment, was formed in 1985 and he had met Mr. Peter Althaus in 1996 and was appointed as the distributor for Heraeus Instruments. After 5 years of successfully promotion of Heraeus range of laboratory instruments, in 2002 Peter and Suresh decided to float an organization dedicated to bringing in the latest know-how to India in the field of Biotechnology. The company formed was called Palss GmbH and through their wholly owned subsidiary in India were extremely successful in establishing an all India network that ensured they broke even in 10 months. Much of the success was built on a platform that addressed the need for training many scientists in latest skill sets and global standards. Having created a reputable enviable name and establishing Palss as a reliable and worthy brand in 2006 they were approached by a large 8 billion USD Swiss conglomerate who were keen to acquire Palss along with the founders. As Palss had reached a stage where a major financial lift and ramp up was needed to expand operations this move was appreciated and the Swiss conglomerate went on to acquire Palss. Peter moved to Switzerland to oversee the Swiss´operations in many Asian countries including India and Suresh was responsible to ensure a smooth transition in India In two years the entrepreneurial bug bit again as abundant opportunities were seen all round in India. The excitement of Indian growth story was contagious and both Peter and Suresh did not want to miss out on any of the action. Of the many opportunities and after some time consuming background study it was clear that the areas of serious social concern and immense business opportunity were in Energy and Water. More specifically the utility of renewable energy and providing solutions to meet the dire need for safe drinking water for many rural remote regions. It was evident that any solution that uses renewable energy to produce safe drinking and is sustainable is the business of the future. On that conclusive and emphatic note Gerindtec was formed in 2009. Peter and Suresh with the able assistance of Mr. Muthukrishnan who from 2002 was always an intricate part of the business operation and technically quite savvy to handle the various technologies, went about building Gerindtec from a scratch and an idea. The vision, the mission and the purpose were clear the road map even clearer and today three years later Gerindtec has been well established as a serious player in the clean energy space and water management business. What came across very strongly from the various interaction over the last 3 years with German and Indian governmental departments like GIZ, NIOT, BARC, and MNRE is that for such newer technologies to gain wider acceptance and greater traction it is important to introduce capacity building programs among all stake holders.