Mahajan brothers’ plastic manufacturing unit survives many upheavals

 Dhaar Mehak M

The entrepreneurial spirit needs to be inculcated in a way that it survives under the harshest conditions. The highly motivated trio of cousins, who are manufacturing plastic household items in the Industrial Estate Lassipora, under the name ‘Mahajan Industries’, have proved this well. The conceptualisation dates back to 2012 when ‘cousin imaginative’ Idris, coming from a humble background, was working as a salesman in a wholesale plastic shop in the Jamia Masjid area of Srinagar. Idris, who was working as a salesman right from class 10th, recalls how worried he was always thinking that he could not stay inside the shell of a menial job for a long time or who knows forever!

During one of the family functions, Idris discusses his idea with only a silver lining, with some of his cousins. The thing Idris knew, back then, was that he wanted to do something, and he wanted to do it big. Hard work, he says, has been his blood and soul, but smart is what was missing from the equation. At the same time, coming from a humble background, says Idris Mahajan, comes with its own good, but dying in the same or worse situation is all a situation of blame putting directly on the shoulders of own persona. As such, two cousins seemed to pick up what he was dropping from his mind palace. One of them said that JKEDI was helping out in a big scheme, and the decision was made.

Taking a quick training of 15 days, three Mahajan boys: Idris, Suhail, and Waseem, got a workable sum from the EDI approved. Starting a land hunt from Khonmoh, the trio ended up in Lassipora when the estate was quite raw and undeveloped. One Kanal of land was allotted for construction and production. The idea for ideal production floated back through the old times. Idris, using his experience from his salesman days, proposed setting up a small plastic manufacturing plant. The trio went to Delhi to buy a machine, bargain for it and push the boundaries of life and entrepreneurship.

Seconds, minutes, hours, weeks and months of labour from grassroots to the rooftop was put in by the trio and the production process kick-started in 2015. The major lockdown of 2016 was only a year away and like any other fellow entrepreneur, the production process of the Mahajan brothers suffered immensely. The plant was closed for six months with dot zero production. For a startup to prevent itself from turning NPS a year after the initiation of production is the major roller-coaster anyone can ever be in, and so to speak, the Mahajan brothers have had their super ride. Brainstorming and jotting along with determination was put in play by the trio and the production process was restarted in 2017 amid chaos and commotion. The socio-political and socio-economic shocks of 2018, ’19, ’20 and ’21 came and went, the interest was paid due on time and the factory almost secured to their own name at the time of this conversation.

Currently, the unit makes plastic products like mugs (1.5 litre), dustbins, dustpans, ice-cream bowls and tubs. One of the stark features of local industrialisation rightly manifested by Mahajan Industries is the infinite market demand. Though the products of ‘Samrath’ have a fair market share in this bracket of products, Idris categorically says that they have never left any shortage of demand for their product. Instances like these highlight the consumer-oriented nature of the Kashmir economy over a production induced self-sufficient exporting economy. The only thing holding these guys back from capturing the local market is administrative bottlenecks.

They have applied for the allotment of more land in the same estate two years back. The paperwork is still going on. No positive outcome has surfaced over time. One of the most dynamic entrepreneurial features of these Srinagar boys is their business dedication. They put up in the factory for months at a stretch, living there and working there! In the beginning, Mahajan industries hired the machine operator, and the shock of 2016 sent him home, possibly never to return. That is when Idris took charge of operating the machine, and brothers followed in doing the rest. Since then, the Mahajan brothers operate their own factory, save their profits and live on a workable wage! The saving is made to do what?

‘To expand the business that the market is calling’… Idris talks so passionately about expanding the unit, getting a heavier machine, producing big drums (of 50 liters and above), the apple crates after all, and so much more! They work, they save, they are ready to invest, and they have ‘Himmat’, says Idris. But the authorities and the administration totally fail to see through the same. This is a case that can be generalised pan Kashmir where the administration fails to uphold the entrepreneurial spirits and the dynamic ideas of the people! As dynamic as the dot of plastic that Idris expands to shape into a number of utilises used by each one of us! Nothing can be better than a basket in our kitchens made and shaped by our own boys over some imported decorative show-off piece bought from YOYOSO outlet endorsing the multinational, multi-crore business of a Japanese money giant!

The Mahajan brothers are a positive externality to the whole industrial estate, and so are many of our dynamic entrepreneurs. Government, however, need to wake up and open the closed doors for these manufacturing enthusiasts.