At the young age of 23, when most of us are busy planning life’s next milestone, Nidhi Gupta has already seen it all. Without any degree, a renowned surname, or heavy financial backing she, along with her brother, has built a business with Rs 500 crore turnover.
Nidhi has battled hardship, crossed miles, and made a successful path for herself. She works in the solar power industry and has learnt it the hard way after losing friends and understanding the value of money. Along with her brother, she built Rays Power Experts in 2011 with a start-up capital of Rs 1,37,000.
“Our first project was a 250 kilowatt solar project in Bikaner on four bighas of land. Later, we started buying land around the site.” – Nidhi
So how does the business actually model? She says her clients are usually small to medium businessman who want to invest in solar project in order to save income tax or earn tax benefits. If there are 10 investors for a project, Red Power buys land on their behalf and distributes land equally among them. “If a client invests in a project of, let’s say, 1 megawatt worth Rs 6 crore, he will earn his investment back in four years. We also guarantee the client earnings from electricity generation for the next 25 years. So that’s all profit and of course he gets 100 per cent tax benefit.”
The question that arises from here is that if it is this simple why doesn’t everyone set up their power plants and earn its benefit? The answer is, because getting government approval is extremely tough and there is a separate department Nidhi has for it.
However, with the advent of new Prime Minster Nidhi’s hope are flying high. He has set up new solar plants in Gujrat which gives a boost in solar industry.
However, besides working Nidhi needs to socialise as well. She talks about how drastically her social relationships have changed since success touched her feet. Her friends started talking behind her back and whenever they were together and Nidhi attended business calls. They would address Nidhi as ‘arrogant’ or that she was showing off.
Her life changed on the social front. Those people she was close to started feeling jealous of her and this was distinctly visible by their actions. But Nidhi says, it doesn’t matter how they behave because she hasn’t changed on the inside. Although, she also says if you don’t think about the person who hurts you, the pain they give you disappears.
“There was a time I used to love riding horses but I just don’t have the time anymore.” She admits she has no interest in fashion or shopping or travel. “If you ask me, I honestly don’t like any of the stuff normal women do, it just doesn’t interest me.”
Her parents are normal middle class people, mother a housewife and father a government employee. Howsoever middle class they might be, their thoughts pertaining their children was always modern. They always inspired and encouraged their children to pursue their dreams. Being raised in a small town of Dungapur, Nidhi had all the relaxation a girl child craved for. Girls in her town were not allowed to stay out after eight in night however, Nidhi does not recall a day when she returned home before 10 pm. She also talks about how her brother struggled for grooming the business; he worked day and night and spent blood and sweat. She calls his brother ‘Rahul Sir’ in office and ‘Bhai’ at home. Does she ever miss the normal life her friends lead? No, it doesn’t bother her as they all have salaried jobs from nine to five and she finds their life boring and stale.
Nidhi has a job where nothing is guaranteed. “Most businesswomen are working either in their father’s or husband’s business. Everything is given to them ready-made.”
Her day starts early morning and there is a never ending cycle of it throughout the day. There are business commitments she has to attend, go on work site, project management and at the end of the day she works out to keep herself fit, then again she gets back working on email correspondence till 1 am in night and that is how jam packed her daily schedule is.
Everything is possible. If you have passion and motivation you can do anything on this planet.”
Her business growth follows a strict regime and she makes sure it keeps on growing before they reach their next financial year.
“In 2011-12 our turnover was Rs 2 crore, it went up to Rs 70 crore in 2013. This year our turnover is Rs 500 crore. Our goal is to earn Rs 1,000 crore by the next financial year.” Her unfailing belief in herself made her life a stretch of positivity and hard work. Ray Power Experts has offices in four cities and owns a land bank of 400 acres in Rajasthan. As if that isn’t extraordinary enough, she has also built another empire that employs around 300 vendors and labourers.
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