A Healthy Success

Sanjay Bhalla, the director of Silver Spark, believes in grabbing an opportunity when it presents itself. He has tried everything from manufacturing gas lighters to selling imported Jacuzzis. Bhalla has walked down many roads since 1981 when he collected a chemical engineering degree from Banaras Hindu University. His family had a material handling business but Bhalla, like many young entrepreneurs, wanted to break away and do business on his own. He left the family business after a few months.

In 1982, he read in a magazine that 16 lakh gas connections would be released soon and so he figured that there would be an ever-growing market for accessories like gas lighters. He borrowed Rs 1 lakh from a friend and set up an assembly unit in Delhi.

Then, in 1986-87, as the competition heated up in this segment, he also started manufacturing mosquito repellents and machines. However, in 1991, he had to close down the mosquito repellent business after the sector was brought under the Insecticide Act.

Bhalla then started manufacturing ceramic disc valves for the faucet market. Not being satisfied with that, in 1993, he started importing and selling Jacuzzis, whirlpools, spas etc.

Today, he has two companies