Secret behind success of S.M. Jaffer & Co
Demand for diesel generators will never vanish,
says Syed Saadat Hussain

Country Manager, S.M. Jaffer & Co, Syed Saadat Hussain is a NEDian whose university memories are still fresh and believes his alma mater his second home is a success story sailing along his company that has 73 years of history in the power sector. Engr. Hussain inducts two NEDians every year and it has continued for the last 15 years as a part of his company’s industry-academia collaboration. He spoke on a variety of issues around power generation.
ER: SM Jaffer is a success story, how did this story evolve and how is it going despite uncertain economic times in Pakistan?
SSH: When companies become a brand and achieve recognition then things become easy. S.M. Jaffer & Co.after 73 years of its history, is a brand; the people come to us for our names and identity. They know about our services.
For any hi-tech engineering company, backup engineering services are more important than the quality of the product. For the last 24 years, I have tried my best to offer the best backup services to customers. Because even if you give the best brand, the customers may face problems if the backup services are not up to the mark.
Now about how we cope with the ups and downs of the country’s economy. These situations are a reality and they come back and forth but since we are so recognized we survive despite some occasional dives on the graph. Let me share with you that we touched 60-70 percent sales even during Covid – 19 pandemic. While everything was at a standstill no matter what, I was expecting 10 to 20 percent sales only. In the next year (2020), we recorded a 20 percent growth. It all happened because the company proved itself to be a real solution provider. Now, the people are attached to the company and go nowhere but to us.
There has been potential in the power sector all the time despite issues. Maybe we grew for this potential and also our foothold in other forms of generation like solar and UPS systems.
Gas generators may go up and down because of gas supplies but diesel generators will never stop being used no matter if Pakistan attains zero load shedding. Why? Because it is supposed to be installed as a standby.
For instance, FG Wilson manufactures 80 thousand generators a year and 60 percent of them are consumed in Europe only. Is there any power load shedding in Europe? If we go by the book, these generators are a must as a standby facility, especially in public places. Thus the requirement will never vanish.
ER: Does it mean the market for diesel generators will continue to grow in Pakistan?
SSH: Yes, it will continue to grow in Pakistan. Here the industry is moving ahead largely by book. There are many sectors here wherein these generators are being used. For instance, every builder is installing it be it commercial or residential building; standby generators are there. Likewise, government buildings and hospitals need it too.
ER: If Pakistan’s economy comes out of its current impasse and starts functioning normally, is your company capable enough to meet the demand in the market?
SSH:Yes, we are geared up by the grace of God. Let me share the picture of Pakistan’s power generation at present. Pakistan’s installed power generation capacity is over 47 thousand MW and is falling short of our national requirement. Our per capita consumption stands at 64 to 70 watts whereas in India it is 160 watts. Europe is far ahead of us. We need solid planning as we don’t have enough capacity even after 75 years of independence. Although things are moving in the forward direction, we still lag behind. Of the total capacity, over 60 percent comes from fossil fuels. Our trade deficit continues to grow because of oil imports. A year back our oil import bill was over US$3 billion which has inflated to US$8 billion now. Now we are trying to focus on renewable energy.
ER: Before coming to renewables, we would like to know what products and services your company is offering in the market.
SSH: When I joined, this company had only generators as a product in the power sector. Over time, we took a step towards expansion. Then during the last decade, as the trend goes for allied and connected products, we moved on ahead. I took this idea and went forward and expanded our product. We are a commercial company. We see our growth and gain benefit through picking up the job that suits us and is compelled by the demand of the time.
Then we added ABB’s UPS, a famous brand that we added some ten years back. Its application is in line with the generators. Then busways were introduced, used as power cables and also in lighting. It is a Turkish product.
Moreover, we moved on to solar. We started with industrial solar starting from 500 KW and did quite big projects with companies like Qasim Textile, Abbot, etc. We have installed projects ranging up to 1 MW.
ER: We are moving towards green energy, do you think it will make a difference in our import bill because most of the solar components are also imported?
SSH: The difference is that in fossil fuel generation, equipment, as well as fuel, are imported whereas solar fuel is your sunlight which is purely yours and needs no money to import. Solar does not have a recurring cost. People say you should not depend heavily on renewables because it is not necessary that you get sunlight and wind all the time. So we need to work on that.
Countries around the world have less chunk of power over fossil fuels. For instance, like in India, we can use bagasse which is available here to the tune of 64 thousand tonnes in Pakistani cities. It can be used for power generation. We need to work on various ways for power generation.
ER: Since we have switched to renewables, do we have a social, economic, and industrial setting for that?
SSH: Yes, I think, we have the infrastructure, people have awareness and I don’t see any reason for not proceeding towards renewables. Also, the demand shows people are adopting it but still need more awareness through seminars and workshops.
ER: Keeping in view the track record of your company, did you ever think to produce a purely locally made product?
SSH: Yes, we attempted it once. It is not rocket science but the price turns out to be not competitive. The locally made product becomes more expensive than the imported one as per my costing calculations. Thus, government initiatives are required in this respect.n