Empowerment is the key to success,” says Hartek Singh, founder chairman and managing director, Hartek Group. He started his career in the late 1980s as a marketing representative with GEC Alstom. Thereafter, in 1991, he went on to form his own company, Amtek Sales and Services (now Hartek Power). The engineering, procurement and construction company has expertise in executing high-voltage substation turnkey projects and rooftop solar projects. “It was a challenge for me to compete with companies that were well established. But with time, we got recognition in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and became a strong contender here.”
Commenting on the outlook for the power sector, Singh says he sees huge scope for growth. “The way the country is progressing, from a developing country to a developed country, there is immense potential to be tapped in the power sector. The future belongs to nuclear and solar energy,” he says.
According to Singh, one of the key concerns is that the state utilities are reeling under losses. However, they have started working on fixing the issue and concepts such as numerical metering, system automation and integration have been introduced to reduce losses. Also, with the country becoming a generation hub, it is important that the distribution segment keeps pace.
Singh recalls the setting up of a 220 kV substation for the Rosa thermal power plant (TPP) as his most challenging task so far. It was Reliance Power’s first in-house TPP. “We were not a very big company then, and it was a big achievement for us to commission the substation.”
Singh says that he likes to treat his workforce as his extended family. “You may be talking to one Hartek Singh right now, but there are many Hartek Singhs in the company who are working towards achieving the company’s goals,” he says with pride.
Singh likes to go on vacations with his family, which includes his wife, a son and a daughter. Singh’s wife is a full-time director at Hartek Power. “She has been my strength, in homemaking and now in developing our business,” he says appreciatively. Singh’s son joined the family business after completing his MBA and is involved in brand-building while his daughter recently completed her graduation in commerce. Singh enjoys watching movies, with Rajesh Khanna and Aamir Khan being his favourite actors. Post-retirement, Singh says he wants to build a small cottage by the sea and enjoy the later part of his life there with his family.