Thermax Ltd.
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Thermax Ltd.

Thermax Group has headquartered in Pune, India. Its business portfolio includes products for heating, cooling, water and waste management, and specialty chemicals. The company also designs, builds and commissions large boilers for steam and power generation, turnkey power plants, industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants, waste heat recovery systems and air pollution control projects. The systems, products and services developed by Thermax help industry achieve better resource productivity and improve bottom lines, while maintaining a cleaner environment. Even as the company convert costs to profits, it help to protect the environment in the company’s own limited ways. A win-win for industry and the society at large.

It operates globally through international offices and manufacturing facilities - most of them are in India and few are in overseas. The company supports customers through an extensive sales & service network spread over Asia, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Business area of the company

The company is an engineering company providing sustainable solutions in energy and environment.\

Services

• Water & Waste Solutions
  
• Steam Engineering
  
• Outsourced Utility Delivery Services on Boot
  
• Operations and Maintenance

Awards

• Fireside, the house magazine of Thermax won the Gold Award for the best internal house magazine, 2007, from the Association of Business Communicators of India.
• National Award for the R&D team at ACREX, 2006 for the design of Trigenie, the chiller that works on exhaust gas and other sources of heat.
• Financial Express Young Achiever Award 2006 to Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson, Thermax.
  Zee Astitva Business Woman of the Year Award, 2007 to Anu Aga, Director, Thermax, for her contributions to industry and society.
• Top prize for R&D team for the most innovative product design at the BRY Air Award for excellence in HVAC&R (2007). The Award was for the development of lithium bromide absorption chillers.
• Listed by Business Today among the top 100 of India’s 500 most valuable companies in 2007.
• Featured, three years in a row (2005-07) in the Forbes Asia list of ‘Best under a Billion’ companies.
• Enertia Award 2008, for Business Excellence and Financial Engineering.
• Business Standard ‘Best CEO of the year’, 2009 to Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson, Thermax.
• CII National HR Excellence Award for 2009 in recognition of Thermax’s leadership in HR excellence.
• Top prozes at 35th International Convention on Quality Control Circles, 2010
  Bry Air award for innovative product design, 2010
• Customer Service Excellence award in water treatment chemicals by Frost and Sullivan
• Meher Pudumjee’s column, ‘Expressions’ in Fireside, the company in-house magazine, won first prize at the Association of Business Communicators of India in November 2011.
• Gopal Mahadevan, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President received the best performing CFO award in the Capital Goods sector by CNBC TV-18 in February, 2012.
• Chinchwad factory won the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) appreciation award 2011 from CII, Western region.
• Chinchwad factory bagged the Safety Innovation Award 2011 from the Institution of Engineers, Delhi, for its innovative health, safety and environment (HSE) initiatives.
• M. S. Unnikrishnan accepted the CNBC TV-18 India award for the ‘most promising entrant to the big league’ from the Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee in January, 2012.
• Thermax’s Savli plant bagged gold award for Safety and Health practices at the Greentech Safety Award 2012.
• Thermax MD and CEO, M.S. Unnikrishnan received the Asia Innovator Award at the 2012 CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA) in Bangkok. He is the first Indian to be presented the Innovation Award in the 11 year history of ABLA.
• Thermax wins National Intellectual Property Award for 2013
• Thermax recently won the BML Munjal Awards 2015- Business Excellence through Learning and Development in the Private sector (Manufacturing) category.
• Anu Aga receives Padma Shri award in 2010’ and ‘Anu Aga receives Lifetime Achievement award by MAEER’s MIT group, Pune in 2015.
• Thermax’s IT project, ‘Enterprise Management Solution for Data Center & End User Support’ won at the 12th CIO 100 Annual Awards Competition in Pune. Jagdish Lomte - VP (IT) & CIO accepted the award on behalf of Thermax.
• Sharad Gangal, HR Head, Thermax receives the coveted ‘HR Excellence in Manufacturing’ award at the World HRD Congress on 17th of February, 2018.
• Thermax was honoured with ‘Excellence in Governance’ award at The Economic Times Family Business Awards held on 23rd March in Mumbai. Pheroz Pudumjee and Sharad Gangal received the award on behalf of Thermax.
• Thermax won the “Low Carbon Heroes” Award by SPCA (Sustainable Production and Consumption Association), at Istanbul Turkey.
• Thermax has been awarded as the ‘Outstanding Engineering Solution Provider’ at the first edition of CNBC-Awaaz CEO Awards.
• Thermax received the ‘Excellence in Governance’ Award at ‘The Economic Times Family Business Awards’ for best governance practices.
• Anu Aga received the Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan at its growth, innovation and leadership. The award cited her contribution to the social sector, commitment towards philanthropy and for bringing in strategic transformation at Thermax.
• M.S. Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax received the ‘Power 100 2018’ Award at the Renewable Energy India Expo, where India’s 100 most powerful solar industry business leaders were recognised. C.V. Ramanan, Head of Solar Business at Thermax received the award on behalf of c CEO.
• The Absorption Cooling division of Thermax won the ‘ACREX Award of Excellence 2019’ in the ‘Energy Saving’ category for hybrid heat pump and bagged the runners up in the ‘Innovation’ category for sub-zero absorption chiller at ACREX2019 in Mumbai. The award was received by the team in February 2019.
• Dr R R Sonde, Head of Research & Innovation at Thermax received the ‘Global Excellence Awards-2019 in the Gas Sector’ presented by the Energy & Environment Foundation under the aegis of the Petroleum & Natural Gas, Coal and Power Ministries, Government of India. The award ceremony was held on in February 2019 at New Delhi.
• M.S. Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Limited, was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Army Institute of Technology (AIT), Pune on the occasion of their Foundation Day in February 2019. “AIT takes pride and pleasure in presenting this award to Mr Unnikrishnan, for his immense contribution in Green Technologies, Inventive Thinking in Business and an outstanding stint at reputed industry houses”, said Prof Manoj S Khaladkar from Army Institute of Technology.
• Celebrating women’s excellence in business & innovation at the inaugural edition of the ET Prime Women Leadership Awards held in March 2019, Anu Aga was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Anu received the honour for her leadership role at Thermax and her philanthropic work after she retired from an executive position at the company.
• Thermax won the ‘Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Awards 2019’ in the ‘Heavy Industries’ category. The impressive performance of its growing patent portfolio across all judging criteria, especially its success in acquiring patents and globalisation, resulted in this win for Thermax.
• Thermax was honoured with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award - for Best Supply Chain Management Practices’ by Indian Institute of Materials Management at its 6th Annual Awards for Supply Chain Management, Pune.
• Thermax Solar has been awarded ‘Best EPC Player’ in the industrial segment in the state of Haryana and Punjab by EQ Magazine. The award function took place at EQ - Suryacon Conference on October 16, 2019, in Chandigarh.
• Anu Aga was honoured with the ‘Power Brands: Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar (BMVP) - Edition 2019’ for her business leadership and philanthropy.
• Thermax’s manufacturing facility in Sri City bagged a ‘5S Gold’ award from the Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) - Chennai Chapter.
• ‘Best Internal Publication of the Year 2019’ award at the Corporate Communications Bootcamp and Awards 2020
• ‘Special Trophy for Excellence in Exports of High Technology Products’ at the 50th EEPC India National Award - 2019
• Thermax Onsite Energy Solutions Limited (TOESL) bags a second prize in the ‘Best Boiler User 2020’ category at Boiler India 2020.

Milestones

• 1966: Wanson India starts operations in Pune, manufacturing small coil-type packaged boilers (Vaporax), in collaboration with Wanson, Belgium.
• 1966: It was the first year of operations; the company employed 145 people and posted a turnover of Rs 20 lakh. A S Bhathena was appointed Managing Director.
• 1973: Wanson receives its first export order for 10 paint booths to the former USSR.
• 1973: Multitherm, India’s first packaged water tube boiler for Indian coal, is developed by Wanson R&D.
• 1975: Thermax gets into the water treatment business, to complement its boiler business.
• 1976: Thermax acquires Tulsi Fine Chemicals, which later became the Chemical division of the company.
• 1979: In a synergistic move, Thermax starts the Enviro division for Air Pollution Control equipment.
• 1980: Wanson India becomes Thermax Pvt Ltd. “Conserving energy, preserving the environment” was adopted as the corporate vision.
• 1981: R D Aga appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Thermax Pvt Ltd.
• 1986: The company launches the Thermax Service Franchise Scheme, a first of its kind in India.
• 1987: Thermax introduces vapour absorption machines in collaboration with Sanyo, Japan.
• 1989: The company forms the joint venture - Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Ltd.
• 1992: Combined Heating and Power Group (CHAP) is formed which later became the Cogen division.
• 1996: February 16 - R D Aga passes away after a heart attack in Mumbai.
• 1996: February 19 - Anu Aga is appointed as Executive Chairperson.
• 1996: August - Thermax bags the single largest contract for captive power, water treatment and absorption cooling from Arvind Mills. The order value - Rs 136 crore.
• 1996: December - the Energy & Environment Research Centre is inaugurated.
• 2000: June - Thermax acquires boiler company, M E Engineering Ltd, in UK.
• 2000: July 21 - Prakash Kulkarni takes over as the Managing Director of the company.
• 2000: August 2000, the company forms its Executive Council.
• 2000: September - Thermax gets ISO 14001 certification for its manufacturing facility at Chinchwad.
• 2001: On January 15, 2001, the Thermax board is reconstituted with four independent directors, three non-executive promoter directors and one full-time director.
• 2001: In March 2001, Thermax starts subsidiary company, Thermax Inc, in the US.
• 2001: In June 2001, Thermax posts a net loss of Rs 13.22 crore.
• 2001: In August 2001, Thermax announces a VRS scheme as part of its restructuring exercise. In all, 420 employees opted for the scheme.
• 2002: April - Thermax gets ISO 14001 certification for its chemical plant at Paudh. In the same month,
• 2002: Thermax announces turnaround results with a net profit of Rs 24 crore.
• 2002: August 19 - Thermax declares 50% dividend, the highest since going public.
• 2003: February 13 - Dr. N D Joshi’s Best innovator award Instituted.
• 2003: Shree Cement Project completed in a record time of 17 months. Thermax wins Performance bonus from the customer.
• 2003: March - Anu Aga honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by Financial Express/Electrolux.
• 2004: Thermax registers highest ever profit after tax of Rs 54 crore.
• 2004: Launches Project Evergreen to consolidate its leadership position in India and prepare for global leadership in chosen fields. McKenzie appointed as consultants in this transformation exercise.
• 2004: Thermax buys out Babcock & Wilcox stake in Joint venture; opens office in China. Thermax ranked No.3 among the top ten places to work (Business Today/Mercer Survey).
• 2004: Anu Aga retires as Chairperson and Meher Pudumjee takes over.
• 2005: Thermax top line grows by 62% and achieves a Group turnover of Rs 1281 crore.
• 2005: International business of Thermax grew by 70% to Rs 352 crore.
• 2005: Thermax launches 14 new products and applications during the year.
• 2005: To achieve synergies in related business, the company’s six core businesses are restructured into three groups - Cooling & Heating, Chemicals & Water and Projects.
• 2005: Thermax among the 20 Indian companies featured in the Forbes Asia List of ‘Asia’s Best under a Billion’ companies.
• 2005: Thermax wins a performance bonus cheque of Rs 1 crore from Madras Cement Ltd for fast track completion of its captive power plant.
• 2006: Thermax posts a record profit of Rs 123 crore, up by 77% over the previous year. Thermax group turnover touches Rs 1606 crore.
• 2006: The Thermax R&D team wins the national award for the most innovative product at ACREX 2006, the HVAC event. The Award was for designing Trigenie, the dual-heat input absorption chiller that works on exhaust gas and other heat sources like steam or hot water.
• 2006: Meher Pudumjee honoured with the Young Achiever award by Financial Express.
• 2006: Work begins on an additional manufacturing facility at Vadodara, Gujarat to cater to the growing business of the Boiler and Heating business.
• 2006: Incorporates wholly owned subsidiary in China (Thermax Zhajiang) to expand its China operations and begins work on a manufacturing plant for vapour absorption machines in Jaixing, near Shangai.
• 2007: Thermax signs agreement with Georgia Pacific, US chemical industry leader for India and SE Asia while targeting growth in paper industry.
• 2007: Thermax signs technology agreement with Balcke-Dürr German Air Pollution Control leader to access to untapped domestic and overseas markets.
• 2007: New centre for research, technology and innovation.
• 2008: Thermax signs license agreement with Babcock & Wilcox for utility boilers while targeting further growth in power sector.
• 2008: Thermax begins manufacturing chillers in China.
• 2009: Thermax signs technology agreements with global leaders GE Water, USA and Wehrle Umwelt GmbH, Germany for advanced wastewater treatment.
• 2009: Thermax-SPX joint venture agreement signed to focus on equipment and services for India’s growing power sector.
• 2009: Thermax bags first IPP order worth Rs. 1000 crore to build a 300 MW turnkey power plant in Andhra Pradesh.
• 2009: Minister Prithviraj Chavan lays the foundation stone for India’s first public private partnership project for rural electrification where Thermax will build solar thermal power plant with Department of Science & Technology support.
• 2010: Thermax welcomes the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Koehler on his state visit to Pune.
• 2010: Thermax - Babcock & Wilcox Joint Venture for Supercritical Boilers which offers higher efficiency of power generation in India’s mega projects.
• 2010: Thermax signs technology transfer agreement with Lambion to generate energy from waste.
• 2010: Thermax acquires European boiler maker, Danstoker to reinforces its initiatives in renewable energy.
• 2011: Thermax Unveils Unique Solar Cooling System at MNRE’s Solar Energy Centre.
• 2011: Thermax partners with Amonix Inc and offers concentrated photovoltaic systems for solar power generation in India.
• 2011: Padma Shri for Anu Aga, Director-Thermax.
• 2012: M S Unnikrishnan was conferred the CNBC TV 18 India Business Leader Award 2012 for Thermax under the category ‘Most promising Entrant into the Big League.
• 2012: Thermax acquires Rifox, German steam products company, a strategic fit for the company’s steam engineering business.
• 2013: Thermax MD and CEO, M.S. Unnikrishnan received the Asia Innovator Award at the 2012 CNBC Asia Business Leaders Awards (ABLA) in Bangkok.
• 2016: Thermax celebrates Vibrant 50 years of Success.
• 2017: Thermax inaugurated its new manufacturing facility in Indonesia in 2017, expanding its footprint in international markets, especially the ASEAN countries.
• 2017: Thermax commissioned the largest plant in India that generates power from cement waste heat at Rajasthan.
• 2017: Thermax won the highest ever export contract of $157 million from a leading African conglomerate for its refinery project in Nigeria.
• 2017: Thermax begins commercial production of ion exchange resins at the chemical factory in Dahej to serve the global markets.
• 2017: Through its step-down subsidiary in Denmark, Thermax acquired certain assets and production activities of Barite Investments Sp. Z.o.o in Poland, for advancing its business in eastern Europe.
• 2018: Thermax completed the acquisition of shareholding of Babcock & Wilcox India Holdings Inc. in the joint venture, Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (TBWES).
• 2018: Thermax celebrated its 10th Technology Day on May 11, 2018.
• 2019: Thermax inaugurated its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, on January 31, 2019.
• 2019: Thermax acquired the entire stake in Thermax SPX Energy Technologies Ltd. (TSPX) held by the joint venture partners namely, Mutares Holding-24 AG, Germany and Balcke Duerr GmbH, Germany. Subsequent to the acquisition, TSPX has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermax.
• 2019: The shareholders approved the transfer of the Boiler & Heater (B&H) business to TBWES through a ‘slump sale’.