Sharath Babu, his father Thirupathi Rao and brother Kiran Kumar Chadalavada, who run a 140-year-old timber business in the city, have risen like the Phoenix. After a massive fire raged for three days and engulfed their timber depot in the year 2000, nothing could be salvaged. Starting from ground zero to becoming one of the leading timber suppliers in the world, the trio have come a long way.
Today, the company provides timber to some of the most famous yachts around the world, including Sailing Yacht A, owned by the Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and Eclipse, the world’s second largest private yacht, among others.
“Exactly 10 days after the fire took down everything, we started from square one. We didn’t even have a roof, but we knew we had to get everything together and start working. Our office is just behind the old airport, and the fire was so bad that the flight schedules were disrupted,” says Sharath.
Sailing Yacht A, the latest sailing yacht that Sharath Babu, his father Thirupathi and brother Kiran Kumar supplied timber to.
After a friend helped them out with a batch of timber, they quickly formulated a plan. “Initially, we used to supply timber within India for homes, hotels and the likes. But with no time to spare, we realised that we could tap into the international export market — the European yacht market,” explains Sharath.
The trio started with one cubic metre of export and slowly worked their way up. “When we got in touch with a shipyard in Germany, they said they won’t pay us any money unless they check out the shipment, so we sent them two shipments free of cost and only after they tested it, did they approach us,” he explains. After that, everything changed. “We started off with small yachts, then moved on to bigger ones. Now, in any given year, we provide timber for some of the biggest projects,” says Sharath, whose father shifted to Hyderabad from Tenali in 1980.
The wood is sourced from Myanmar and Africa, but since the forest cover is depleting fast, only a limited amount of wood is allowed to be used. “So we started using machinery that decreases the wastage. All the waste wood is used up too. For instance, we use the sawdust in mosquito coils,” he explains.
Today, more than a decade after the great mishap, the trio have come back, only stronger. “That incident changed our lives. We were worried — the company started by my great grandfather was burnt down to smithereens and we had to get back on our feet... that was a challenge,” says Sharath, adding, “We never gave up.”
