Mr. Utkarsha Parikh
Managing Director
,
Skaps Industries India Pvt Ltd
Mr. Utkarsha N. Parikh is a 41 year old businessman who started his own company Nigam Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. in the year 1994. He is also the promoter of the Skaps Industries India Pvt Ltd since 2004 and has been managing all the activities of the company in India. He is also responsible for the overall day to day operations of the company and has 15 years of rich experience in the field of Geo-Textiles. Skaps Industries is the leader in the fabrication of geosynthetic and nonwoven drainage products for environmental and civil use in the U.S. and abroad. Skaps has nonwoven manufacturing equipment has the ability to produce polypropylene needle-punched nonwoven geotextiles from 2 to 32 ounces per square yard. In addition, Skaps geocomposite plant manufactures products from 160 to 330 mil thicknesses designed to satisfy the most demanding drainage applications.
Technicaltextile.net
How do you foresee the outlook of Geo synthetic Industry worldwide in 2012- 2013 with specific emphasis on India?
Mr. Utkarsha Parikh
It is a growing industry worldwide. And, I think according to the American Geosynthetic society data, the industry USA is supposed to grow at about 12-15% per annum. Whereas in India, the growth forecasted is 20-25% per annum.
The industry in India, at this stage, is still at the tip of the iceberg. So there’s a lot of scope in the Indian market because a lot of sectors are not yet explored. Currently, the applications that are going on are more on the coastal side or on the environmental side, so this sector has not picked up the geosynthetic market. I see that should happen in a couple of years and then I think India has got 10-15 years more in the geosynthetic industry.
Technicaltextile.net
What markets are you currently exploring? Can you highlight some of the major applications and projects you are currently engaged with in India?
Mr. Utkarsha Parikh
Currently, we are working majorly on the civil and environmental side. We have products for the civil industry as well as on the environmental side so; major applications are roads, environmental applications like landfills, coastal protection, river taining, etc. So, this is what we do right now.
We are currently engaged with 2 products in India – woven geotextiles and nonwoven geotextiles.
Currently, through a contractor, we have gained a couple of projects in India. So we are working on these projects on the eastern coast of India, wherein we are supplying our textiles which are getting converted into geobags. And, it is basically a river sailing project.
