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Fascinating 50 year journey of an Indian start-up that adopted technology
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Keeping pace with time and technology, Samtel serves customers in India and across the globe in the field of Defence and Railways
By K V Prasad
New Delhi. The journey of the five-decade old Samtel Group is fascinating and absorbing. It is a corporate group which believed in the ethos of Make in India long before Atma Nirbharta became a buzzword in the country. As the saying goes, it all began with the first step in 1973, when Samtel founder and Chairman Satish Kaura returned home from the United States and decided to manufacture television tubes in the country.
The foundation was set by establishing a manufacturing unit at Ghaziabad that began making black and white television tubes to cater to a market depending on imports. Then with colour television coming to India during the 1982 Asian Games, it made a natural transition towards making colour television tubes.
Aware of the changing technology and creeping obsolescence in the field, Samtel shifted focus as flatscreens made entry developing touchscreens. Today, the company is a leading global supplier with a wide range of displays for avionics, television, industrial, medical and even fighter jet applications.
Going Global
Explaining the company’s growth from domestic manufacturing, Group Managing Director and CEO Puneet Kaura characterised Samtel as a company that is “making Global Products for Global Customers at Global Quality Standards.”
“We are in Defence, Avionics and Railways. Notably, our state-of-the-art technology provides real time and critical information to the pilots in the Indian Air Force Su 30 MKI cockpit displays.”
Not only that, Samtel displays are now also onthe Malaysian Air Force Su 30s, and about 2000 commercial civilian aircraft in the US. And that makes Samtel one of India’s largest integrated manufacturers of a wide range of displays and supplier to global majors, said Puneet in an interaction with India Strategic.
Early days of change
Transition to aerospace and defence happened around the time flatscreen panels were replacing the conventional television tubes and India too was opening up the defence sector for private manufacturers. The government of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee ushered in a change of policy and Samtel was quick to step in.
The company tied with the prestigious Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop the country’s first indigenous cockpit display for the Russian-built Sukhois. Today, the company is serving the Malaysian Air Force, which has a similar platform.
On his part, the young CEO maintains that since its inception, one thing which remained close to the heart of Samtel was to develop technology from basic specifications. “We have done that from the beginning, we are not into transfer of technology or build to print . We are developing our own products for global market”, said Puneet Kaura.
Samtel and HAL entered a Joint Venture to address the avionics requirement of HAL for its star platforms, both fixed and rotary wings. The company has supplied over 1,500 units of Multifunction Displays (MFD) for the Su30-MKI. It has also supplied MFD for both LCH and ALH to HAL, and 3ATI units to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). These 3ATI units are used as Multifunctional Indicators (MFI) Displays or EW Displays for RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) and MSWS (Multi-Sensor Warning System).
The company has successfully developed Integrated Standby Instrument System for the HTT-40, Pilot Control Unit for LCH, and has also manufactured/supplied test benches for the LRUs to IAF and HAL.
Working with global majors
In 2008, Samtel signed a Joint Venture with Thales Avionics to locally develop, customize, manufacture, sell and maintain indigenous Helmet-Mounted Sight and Display Systems and modern Avionics Systems for the Indian and defence export markets. Besides, it also has the experience of working with global giants like Honeywell.
In this journey, the company benefitted on account of its association with some of the best in the world. This opportunity was a great learning curve for in its early stages, it adopted some of the best practices of the industry, grew with skill development with Zero Defect norm.
Today, Samtel Avionics is hoping to work in newer areas as the government seeks indigenous avionics in the country, blending high-tech with AI. It is also exploring new domains in certain sensors and technologies for Indian Navy ships and Army helicopters.
“We will be supplying for the ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) and LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) that are being developed, besides diversifying into technology and high tech areas using AI software” Puneet said sharing some future plans to take the company forward.
Currently, SA is at an advanced stage of development of a military vehicle display for a major USA based OEM, which is a high-end system with new features and robust electronics compared to what were being used so far in the rough terrains.
Trust Validated
The journey to win this trust has been long but impressive. “It was rather challenging but our determination resulted in this leap of faith. It required patience and consistently working with global majors to develop products of world standard.”
Foray into Railways
Having created a niche for the company in avionics and defence, three years ago the Group entered Railway Electronics, an area where it sees tremendous scope. Samtel is now servicing orders from major Propulsion System manufacturers and system integrators such as Alstom, Crompton Greaves and Siemens.
Samtel has designed and developed Driver Display Units/Human Machine Interface, Displays for Passenger Information & Infotainment System for Platform & Trains/Metros, Displays for CCMS (Centralized Coach Monitoring System) applications, said Puneet.
For its contribution to the industry and unique contribution, Samtel’s Founder and Chairman, Mr. Satish Kaura, has received several awards and has been bestowed with Padma Shri by the Government of India.
As for Mr. Puneet Kaura, he was selected by Aviation Week, the leading Aerospace magazine as one amongst the top 40 leaders under the age of 40 in the global Aerospace and Defence industry. He remains the only Indian to figure in this list.
Samtel and CSR
The Group’s vision is not limited to developing high-tech touchscreen units and manufacture but as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, in 1986 Samtel set up the Modern Public School at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. The educational institute today is a full-fledged English-medium Senior Secondary School with two branches near Delhi and a student strength of 5,000.
