Page 88 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition July-August 2021
P. 88
DR. HIRU PATEL
INTERPLEX INDIA PVT LTD,
VADODARA
(AGE 102 YEARS)
HIRU AND
SUNIL PATEL
TIO: Let us start this feature with a brief
history of your company. Please tell us how,
when and where you started this company?
Dr Hiru Patel (HP): Interplex was established
in 1989 with US technical and financial
collaboration to manufacture Co-extruded
Cellulose Acetate sheets for the Optical Industry.
Interplex subsequently developed its own
technology and started additional product
lines viz. CA compounds for injection molding In 2014, after completing 25 years Interplex
applications, and co-extruded Multilayer PET successfully entered into a joint venture with
sheets for thermoforming applications. In 2007, Mazzucchelli 1849 spa, the largest Cellulose
Interplex expanded its product base by setting Acetate sheet manufacturer in the world.
up a manufacturing capacity for PET strapping Interestingly, in 1959, I had taken a delegation of
and PET Thermoformed Containers. Indian professionals from the field of plastics to
The seeds of starting Interplex were sown Mazzucchelli and 55 years later, it was a moment
when my son, Sunil armed with an engineering of great joy for me to chair the 1st Board meeting
degree from Harvard and an MBA from of Interplex Mazzucchelli Pvt Ltd as its Chairman.
University Chicago decided to quit his career TIO: At that time, the industry was still at a
as investment banker in New York and return nascent stage. What kind of challenges did you
to India with an ambition to set up an industry face and how did you overcome them?
in India. With my 4 decades of experience in
plastics industry and with a vision of providing HP: India of the 80s was nicknamed as
the Optical industry with world class Cellulose License Raj by the Industrial community. Besides
Acetate Sheets, which were being imported knocking the doors of several government
into India until that time, we decided to set agencies for obtaining licenses and permissions
up Interplex at Halol, outside Vadodara in for our US technical collaboration, Interplex raw
Gujarat where large number of optical frames material imports faced the challenge of irrational
manufacturers are located. Customs duty structure where the finished CA
sheets had lower import duty than the imported
Our vision was to promote and position the CA raw material required to produce them.
Indian Optical Industry on the world stage by
giving the Optical Industry a locally available This posed a huge challenge for Interplex
international quality raw material. to offer CA sheet to the optical industry at a
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