Making A Habit of Winning

This Indian company exports its products to practically the whole world. Energy Digital finds out the secret to BOTIL’s phenomenal success worldwide

When BOTIL Oil tools Private Ltd broke away from its joint venture with Baker Hughes (Baker Oil Tools Division) in 1995, the former widened its scope for manufacture by adding several additional items of Downhole Completion Equipment to its range and these products have been well accepted in the industry as is proved by the exponential increase in sales.

BOTIL started off in the late 1980s as a joint venture company with Baker Hughes holding 40 percent equity and the rest being held by Indian interests, as one of their agreement clauses. Baker Hughes, an American company popularly known as Baker Oil Tools, was one of the world leaders in oil tools manufacturing. Agreement clause number two was that technology to BOTIL was irreversibly transferred by Baker Oil Tools against a payment of a pre-agreed sum. During the JV phase, responsibility of quality assurance lay in the hands of Baker Hughes while BOTIL was allowed to manufacture for Indian oil PSU giants Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd. Export, however was limited only to Baker Hughes and no other company or country.

“Even though BOTIL was manufacturing for world leaders in oil tools, the JV made it difficult for BOTIL to expand its horizons further. In many ways it was restrictive for growth,” says Mr Kailash Nath Sharma, Director, Works, BOTIL India Ltd. In 1995 the dissolving of the JV came like a breath of fresh air. “BOTIL passed on to the Khushalani family in India who were one of

the interests in India that held a part of the remaining 60% stake in BOTIL. From then on, there was no looking back as BOTIL climbed from strength to strength.” confesses Mr Sharma.

BOTIL now furnishes 100 percent of the drilling and production tools required by domestic Indian oil companies like ONGC, Oil India Ltd and other private operators as well as exports equipment to major service companies in the Far-East, Middle-East, North Africa, North Sea and the USA.     

NEW FACILITY

As a proof of BOTIL’s phenomenal rise is their newest facility in Gurgaon, one of Northern India’s industrial hubs, close to the Indian capital city of New Delhi. With a shop floor area of 60,000 square feet and an office space area of 30,000 square feet BOTIL’s new facility is a standing testimony to the good times enjoyed by the company. “One has got to see it to believe it,” adds Mr Sharma, “It rivals some of the best oil tool manufacturing company establishment in Houston, Texas and Venezuela.”

It boasts of a fully automated tool bed and a fully computerized and integrated data feed system, a first in India for an oil tool company. So to whom shall the credit go for this brilliant new venture? Mr Sharma believes in being modest. “Earlier we used to source our machinery from Hindustan Tools and Machines. But the equipments in the new plant have been conceptualized by BOTIL and have been assembled from scratch in-house,” he says.

TALENTED WORK FORCE

BOTIL has some of the best minds in India working together to create world-class products. Even new joinees reflect a kind of a passion found only in those who are extremely devoted to their work.

“We recruit youngsters from engineering colleges and university and groom them according to our policies of work. The zeal that one sees in them is something they develop naturally. At BOTIL, good work is highly commended and the not-so-good are constantly urged and inspired to do better,” says Mr Sharma.

Even though BOTIL is India’s largest oil tools manufacturer and known worldwide for their products, quality is never compromised for quantity. This is something that the Kushalanis, the present owners of BOTIL believe and is echoed by Mr. Vivek Khushalani, Managing Director.

“Even though our product quality was originally governed by the QA guidelines and adopted by Baker Hughes worldwide, the BOTIL plant has now acquired the prestigious ISO-9001 certification in addition to API QI-1994 Accreditation,” says Mr. Khushalani.

It is precisely this value for quality that has made BOTIL rise far above its competitors. “For our product range we hardly find any competition in India. Our competition is with the best in world and I can proudly say that we are equal if not better in whatever we make,” proclaims Mr Sharma proudly. It is also this constant desire to be among the best, this strive for excellence that has kept BOTIL afloat through the financial downshift faced by global economy just two years back. BOTIL rarely ever takes anything for granted. And when asked about the future, Mr Khushalani seems relaxed. “To capture as much global market share as

possible is what we are thinking about as our plan for the next few years. We want to stick to our winning ways.”