BHARATI PAWASKAR
Claiming that the prime focus of this summit was inclusive development in key areas such as innovation, sustainability, industries, technology, youth and skill development, knowledge sharing and networking, Arman highlights that this was one-of-a-kind display expo, something that has never been witnessed by the people of Goa and her industry.
“It proved to be a mega success and we are happy with the turnout of the business proposals, propositions and inquiries it brought and with the dealings discussed and signed across the table at the recently concluded Vibrant Goa Global Expo and Summit 2019,” states Arman Bankley, the co-founder and honorary secretary to Vibrant Goa Summit.
The summit saw business to business (B2B) and business to government (B2G) meetings, offered opportunities of investment and joint ventures and displayed a multi-sectoral exhibition that saw over 12,500 visitors. There were 6500 business delegates and 542 international delegates who generated business inquiries of Rs 1150 crore during the three-day summit. A total of Rs 450 crore of investment (US$ 6.4 million) proposals were received and 52 countries participated.
“We worked for a year on preparations and groundwork and many national as well as international delegates, met the Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant with their proposals of investment. How to take these proposals ahead and materialise into business, is not upon the State officials,” says Arman who has been in business for the past 25 years in Goa. His firm A R Mine’s Industries is a partnership firm with him and his wife Avani Arman Bankley as partners. Narrating his own experience of ups and downs in business, Arman, a techno-commercial personality and a chemical engineer says that realising the need of the hour one must make necessary changes in the business and diversify, if required, to stay in the business.
“I did the same, and that’s the reason I have grown, over the last few years, after the closure of mining activities in the State,” claims Arman whose business took a U-turn after he met a dynamic mentor, Dr Jagat Shah soon after the mining ban. The regional director of BNI Goa, Arman who began with the trading business, is now the owner of six manufacturing units across Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, thanks to Dr Jagat.
Dr Jagat has been organising Vibrant summits across India, and Vibrant Goa Summit was his sixth in a row, though it was first in Goa. In Vibrant Goa 2019, Arman too got orders from Bahrain, signed an MoU with a Vietnam business partner that may culminate into a joint business venture in Vietnam. In Oman, Arman has channelized a partnership for sales of innovative fire prevention apparatus which are manufactured with the latest technology. Today, his business has expanded to Africa, Korea and Nepal and he finds opportunities in the Middle East as well.
With his experience of two decades, Arman, a founder member of Dimac Organics Pvt Ltd could climb the ladder of success in a short period it was due to his in-depth knowledge in manganese ore processing. His expertise, hard work and dedication allowed him to expand his business activities. But that was until 2012.
The closure of mining activities slowed his ore processing business and he had to diversify into a different field – that of manufacturing of automatic machine-made concrete blocks, cement products, fire prevention and safety apparatus in 2011 and 2016, respectively. In a short period, this new business venture has also been a great success catering to the requirements of reputed upcoming real estate projects and pharma industries in Goa.
“We have our processing plant, adequate warehousing facilities, modern computerised infrastructure, sound financial base and a well-established office with experienced and professional executives. We also have our analytical laboratory with qualified chemists to analyse raw materials and finished products. Our every supply goes with test certificates. We have a global presence and currently our international quality products are being exported to Asia, Africa, Korea etc,” states Arman. Today, his company deals with minerals and ores, ferroalloys, concrete blocks, fly ash bricks, lightweight blocks, ready mix plaster, jointing mortar, interlocking pavers, fire safety apparatus and biofuels.
“We were the leading processors of manganese ore, manganese dioxide powder, manganese granules, iron ore, natural quartz powder and manufacturing of manganese alloys like ferro manganese and silico manganese for the past 25 years in Goa and Belagavi. But that is history now. With time, we diversified. Today, we manufacture low carbon, medium carbon ferro manganese and silico manganese at Belagavi, Karnataka and are suppliers to steel industries in Asia and Africa,” says Arman.
The fire prevention apparatus he makes come with automatic activation and is compact in size, easy to use, non-toxic and non-hazardous and ozone friendly. They are non-harmful to humans, animals and environment and are designed to work automatically as well as manually. Light in weight, they can be activated by any age group and need negligible installation and come with five years warranty.
“The diversification to the manufacturing of other products has led us to establish five production units. It is a circular economy for me. The material produced in one unit is used as a raw material in another unit. We have divided our parent company into various sections and our units are spread across Goa as well as Belagavi and Kolhapur. Our bio-fuel unit is in Kolhapur,” states Arman.
Arman who has been manufacturing ready mix plaster, which is the first of its kind in Goa. “There is no need of sand in this. Also, we make innovative waterproofing and anti-shrinkage chemical for longer life”, he concludes.
