Indian pump manufacturer
Kirloskar Brothers Limited (BSE: 500241 NSE: KIRLOSBROS) is a pump manufacturing company involved in engineering and manufacture of systems for fluid management.[1] Established in 1888 in Kirloskarvadi and incorporated in 1920, Kirloskar Brothers Limited is the flagship company of the $2.5 billion Kirloskar Group.[2][3] Kirloskar Brothers Limited provides fluid management solutions for large infrastructure projects in the areas of water supply, power plants, irrigation, oil & gas and marine & defence.[4] The company engineers and manufactures industrial & petrochemical, agriculture & domestic pumps,[5] valves and hydro turbines.
History
The foundations of Kirloskar Brothers Limited, the flagship company of the Kirloskar Group, were established in 1888 by Laxmanrao Kirloskar and his partner Ramuanna.[6] At the end of the 19th century, Laxmanrao worked with his brother, Ramuanna Kirloskar, to buy bicycles in Bombay and sell them in Belgaum, supplementing their income with bicycle lessons. Laxmanrao continued to build his business through partnering with a windmill agency, Samson Windmills, to sell windmills, making steel furniture for the local veterinary hospital, and electroplating a temple in Aundh. The Aundh electroplating job led to Laxmanrao being tasked with a major project: constructing an assembly hall adjoining the temple. This project fell through, however, in the context of financial uncertainty when the Aundh political leadership changed.[6] The Kirloskar Brothers went on to create their first successful product, fodder-cutters, whose production grew swiftly, leading to the next product: iron ploughs for the agricultural economy. The 6 iron ploughs they initially manufactured went unsold for nearly two years before a Belgaum farmer (colloquially termed as Mr. Joshi) tested them out and asked the Kirloskar Brothers to fix their plough tips. After improving their ploughs, the Kirloskar Brothers saw great success with their iron plough sales.[6]
A sudden Belgaum Municipality notice forced the Kirloskar Brothers Limited to close down their Belgaum factory. Luckily, Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, the same individual who gave Laxmanrao the Aundhi temple assembly hall contract many years earlier, helped the brothers set up a factory in Aundh. In 1910, Laxman and Ramuanna moved to this barren area of 32 acres. The area had no roads, power-lines, and drainage. This factory-village is known as Kirloskarvadi.[7] Here, the Kirloskar Brothers moved into various other products that helped farmers. After suffering a shortage of materials during World War I, they introduced new products to the market in the 1920s. They introduced the "Kibro", a small drilling machine, "Kisan" sugar-cane crusher, and new ploughs. In addition to new farmer products, they started to develop other more general machinery to help government and corporations.[6]
In November 1926 at the Industrial Exhibition held in Poona, KBL showcased the first diesel engine and centrifugal pump in India. The make of the engines were of such high quality, that a British officer asked whether they had been imported.[6]
After receiving his bachelor's in mechanical engineering and returning from the United States in 1927, Laxmanrao's son, Shantanu Kirloskar, started to take a more active role in Kirloskar Brothers Limited.[6] He redesigned the "Kisan" into the "Kamal" sugar-crusher achieving 77% juice extraction, higher than anyone else at the Industrial Exhibition in Kolhapur. During the Great Depression in India, Shantanu focused on developmental work creating water pumps for the Uttar Pradesh government, and a small sugar centrifuge for farmers. Around the 1940s, they started a new venture in Mysore, and established Kirloskar Mysore. This was the first new incorporation after Kirloskar Brothers Limited, and was the precedent for the expansion that would occur under Shantanu.
Research and development
Kirloskar Brothers Limited carries out research in sump model studies, intake studies analysis using computational fluid dynamic techniques,[8][9] surge analysis, cavitation studies, seismic analysis, vibration analysis, and transient analysis.[10][11] The company has 17 patents since 2006.[12]
$700 Million USD