A Correspondent

Wagle Estate :

VIJAY Natvarlal Shah, mechanical engineer by profession and the proprietor of M/s Vijay Engineers at Wagle Estate. Thane is the recipient of this year's 'Bharatiya Udyog Ratan Award' that is awarded by the Indian Economic Development and Research Association (IEDRA), New Delhi.

The award was presented on the occasion of the 30th national seminar on 'Individual Achievements and National Development' on March 30 at New Delhi Shah received the award at the hands of Bacha Singh Raut, former minister for Science and Technology, and Romesh Bhandari, former Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

"I was totally shell shocked when I received the letter from IEDRA informing me about being selected for this prestigious award. It was the happiest day of my life and it took some time before it could sink in, "says Shah. The 42-year-old young entrepreneur started Vijay Engineers, a registered Small Scale Industries (SSI) unit, in 1986. It is also registered with the National Small Industries (SSI) unit, in 1986. It is also registered with the National Small Industry Corporation (NSIC) - a government of India undertaking and the Director General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) - a must if the work is involved with defense activity.

For the last one year, Shah has been working on some special purpose machines such as hot probe and volumetric filling machines and boiling Jacketed vessels. He has also designed and developed a crucial component related to defense for Ammunition Factory at Khadki (AFK). Pune An import substitute, this component was earlier imported for the last several years. Shah's component has helped the country in saving on foreign exchange.

The AFK has sent Shah an appreciation letter on the superior quality of his product that has helped them in attaining higher productivity and thereby huge savings. Shah was also elected unopposed to the executive committee of the Thane Small Scale. Industries Association for the period 2002-2005.

Shah graciously attributes his success to his wife and says, "Without her constant support and co-operation this would not have been possible."