Hyderabad: Glass has been one of the favourite items that mankind has been using for decorative and safety purposes. This fascination with the transparent objects has become the business concept of Sadiq Kapadia, the founder of Modern Safety Glass. “The market for safety and decorative glass has taken off in Hyderabad, following the liberalisation of Indian economy. After nearly 20 years, we are the foremost safety and decorative glass makers in Hyderabad, focusing on high-end projects,” Mr Kapadia said.
An electronics graduate, Mr Kapadia forayed into providing glass solutions for commercial projects in 1996 in the city after pursuing a interior designing course. “Hyderabad is a very price conscious market. So we need to offer products at affordable prices without compromising on quality. We conform to the highest quality standards, which is our USP.” Mr Kapadia's entrepreneurship could be traced back to 1986, when he had set up gifts and novelties store Modern Bazaar at Sikh Village in the city after his graduation, with just '20,000. He later ente-red into glass and plywood business to cash in on the changing trends in the commercial space.
“We have handled glass work in commercial projects from 1996 to 2001.We have introduced glass studio concept — for the first time in Hyderabad — in 1999. From 2001 onwards, we have started working with interior designers for high-end residential projects such as villas,” he recalled.
During this period, the 48-year-old Kapadia has introduced several high-end products such as burglary-resistant laminated glass, switchable glass, lacquered glass, stained glass among others.
As the natural transition, he decided to expand into toughened glass segment in 2007. However, the financial meltdown in 2008 put all the plans in quandary. “The period between 2008 and 2011 is the most difficult time for us. We have invested a lot of money and even bank loans were ready. Howe-ver, after the economic crisis, we put all our plans on hold and waited till 2011.” This type of glass is generally used for the faca-des of buildings, which is increasingly becoming a norm. It is processed by controlled thermal to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Such glass, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury and hence called as “Safety Glass”
In the interim, Mr Kapadia and his friend Vasudev Prabhu, an engineering graduate from Manipal Institute of Technology got a custom-made machine for toughened glass manufactured abroad — slashing the project cost by a half and launched its toughened glass brand ‘Hercules’ in January 2015. “Cutting down the cost is very important to succeed in the Hyderabad market. This machine will enable us to slash costs without compromising on quality. We procure raw materials from only the reputed multinational brands, unlike the current trend in the market.”
Going ahead, Mr Kapadia wants to complete the toughened glass project, which is currently in the first phase. The next stages involve setting up of IGU plant and PVB lamination. In terms of geography, Mr Kapadia says Modern Glass would like to serve markets like Vijayawada, Bengaluru, Chennai, Nagpur, Pune and Bhubaneswar.
