D.S. JHALA

THE BUSINESS TYCOON BRINGING OF HIGH-QUALITY SALT AND BEST GRADE LIQUID BROMINE AT DEV SALT PRIVATE LTD

Established in 1987, Dev Salt Private Ltd enjoys the position of a prominent Manufacturer and Exporter of the Industrial Salt industry with a production capacity of One Million Tons per annum directed by Mr DS Jhala. Acknowledged as one of the most accomplished and respected entrepreneurs in India, Mr Jhala leads the Dev Salt Private Limited and Dev Wetland and Social welfare foundation as the Chairman. He is one of the living legends of the salt and bromine industry with over 55 years of rich experience.

TALES OF DEV SALT’S BEGINNING
“Dhirubhai Ambani’s Biography” has been the main motivating source for Mr Jhala. One day, he suddenly thought that if a delivery Attendant at a fuel pump could put up an oil refinery, why “he” a Salt Industry Manager can’t put up his salt works? At that time, he was working in a 3,000 acre salt works and started dreaming day and night for his own salt works.

So, he repeatedly approached his management for their approval, and finally, the Chairman of the Company agreed. Despite having financial constraints, the visionary sowed the seeds for his saltworks in 346 acres in the eighties. His son, Mr. HD Jhala, who is the MD now, also joined him while pursuing his graduation. The initial 13 years were full of hurdles not only for father and son but for the whole family. Unfortunately, they faced frequent natural calamities during the nineties. But irrespective of all the problems, they expanded their unit to 1,341 acres by 1998.

In the year 1999, he resigned from his service and applied for additional 7,750 acres of land, which was the first ever request from a private sector for such a large land. During the year 2000, he contributed by presenting two papers on the salt industry in ‘8th WORLD SALT SYMPOSIUM’ at The Hague (Holland). Thereafter, he presented many papers in China, Greece, and India. Those papers indirectly helped him for allocation of this land because Mr Jhala was recognised as a technocrat now.

Finally, the Gujarat Government allotted additional 7,750 acres of land for the manufacturing of Salt and Bromine. Now the total area is 9,091 Acres and salt production capacity is One million tons per annum. Recently, they have also put up a Bromine Plant with 2,500 MT per annum production capacity and achieved 2,500 MT in the first 12 months itself.

ROLE OF R & D BEHIND DEV SALT’S SUCCESS
R & D is a key for any process development and the Dev Salt team is regularly involving themselves in R & D with the identification of new opportunities for improvement and development. They have adopted mechanization with the installation of salt processing plants for quality improvement first in that region and because of that, they have been supplying the best grade industrial salt to Chlor-Alkali manufacturers in India and the global level for more than the last 3 decades. Moreover, they are also the first unit in the District of Morbi manufacturing Liquid Bromine and imported the world’s best German technology to cater to the Pharma industry.

Besides, they are continuously looking forward to any opportunities that can be absorbed with required R & D, that can be in-house or outsourced with external experts.

STANDING STRONG AGAINST UNCERTAINTIES
Every business face uncertainty in one way or another as there is no such thing as a static environment!

The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the most dangerous challenges this world has faced in modern times. It is above all a humanitarian crisis with severe health and socio-economic consequences. The pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems, and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating.

MR JHALA’S TAKE ON SUCCESS & FAILURE Failure always brings success; it gives you a good experience. Sometimes it is a test of true friends also. Success gives you laziness and unwanted friends.

KEEPING THE TEAM MOTIVATED
Using a well-established theory of motivation called self-determination theory, Mr Jhala and his team have identified the main psychological needs that leaders can meet to help their employees stay engaged, confident, and motivated.

Involving employees in decisions where their input could be valuable. Asking for suggestions to optimize an ongoing process.

Setting up check-ins to regularly discuss progress on individual goals and creating strategies to meet them.
Being transparent by providing the rationale behind demands.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?
It is our perception of success that causes happiness as well as unhappiness. Nowadays almost everyone measures success only in terms of material aspects. Dev Salt, from day one tried and made the best grade salt and now liquid bromine. By supplying the international-grade products, it definitely adds satisfaction to the clients and at the end the satisfied clients are a part of their success. They always try to supply better quality products as compared to customers’ expectations or contracts.

ACHIEVEMENTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS EARNED BY DEV SALT
Here are the list major achievements of Dev Salt:

Expanded Salt works from 346 Acres to 9,091 Acres
Achieved 1 million TPA Salt & 2,500 TPA of Bromine production.
Achieved best quality of bromine in Industry during first year itself.
A unique Bromine Plant commissioned in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic.
Achieved best recovery (Efficiency) of Bromine in India during first year of operations.
Achieved highest yield of Bromine production per acre in India and may be globally also.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY & FUTURE ROADMAP
For CSR activities, the DEV WETLAND AND SOCIAL WELFARE FOUNDATION was formed during 2013. It was sponsored by Dev Salt and founder Chairman was Late HH Digvirendrasinhji Solanki, Former Ruler of Vansada, in Navsari District of Gujarat and the Wild Life Board Member of Government of Gujarat. Here, they vigorously focus various activities in the rural areas in the vicinity of their Salt Works like. They provide Mobile Clinic & Ambulance Service at free of cost with a qualified doctor. Through this facility, every year about 7,000 to 8,000 people are benefited.

Digvirendrasinhji Solanki, Former Ruler of Vansada, in Navsari District of Gujarat and the Wild Life Board Member of Government of Gujarat. Here, they vigorously focus various activities in the rural areas in the vicinity of their Salt Works like. They provide Mobile Clinic & Ambulance Service at free of cost with a qualified doctor. Through this facility, every year about 7,000 to 8,000 people are benefited.

Dev Salt is a family business and now D. S. Jhala’s grandson, Mr. Karansinh Jhala has also joined to accelerate the growth of the business. They have a plan to grow fivefold in the coming five years.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE LEADER

“Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them.”
“All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”
“There are no secrets to success, It is the result of preparation, hard work, burning desire to achieve and learning from your failure.”

Successful people keep moving, they make mistakes but they don’t quit. Believe in yourself, always stay true
to what makes you unique. Take risks, keep an open mind, accept your limitations, treat others with respect and kindness & never stop dreaming.