The long-standing yet chequered history of the IBL Group is characterised by fantastic engineering skills and subsequent expansion into boilers and upward integration. For a better understanding of our passion, know-how and aspirations today, we take a big step back to around 125 years ago.
The Beginning
Somewhere around 1860, Mr. Bomanshaw Homavazir established an engineering.
workshop at Hubli (Now in Karnataka). With the help of his five sons, the company started off as Engineer and Sons.
Skilled Technicians as they were, their name spread far and wide as expert engineers and soon Bomanshaw and his sons were flooded with work from the Ginning factories and they developed expertise
in repairing Crank shafts of Engines. With their proficiency they were respectfully called 'Engineer Saab' by all who came in contact with them. It was almost natural that they adapted 'Engineer' as their family name.
With the advent of the Steam Engine, Engineer and Sons became an importer of Steam operated Road Roller Boilers.
Midway
After the demise of Bomanshaw, three of the brothers moved to Bombay and started Boiler related businesses. One of them, Naoroji Engineer started 'Empress Welding and Repairing Works' named after Her Highness, the Queen of England. He imported Boilers in knockdown condition from England and installed and commissioned them in Indian industries.
With the advent of Indian Independence, in 1959, Naoroji partnered with the first Indian boiler manufacturing company, 'Nestler', working out of Love Lane, Byculla, Bombay to provide Riveting and Manufacturing services.
Recent
In 1970, Naoroji's son Rusi started manufacturing boilers in the Empress Welding Workshop and by 1974 a big piece of land was purchased at Vapi (Gujarat) for Boiler manufacturing under a new company name 'Industrial Boilers.'
The company took off in 1978 with the manufacture of Vertical Cross Tube Boilers which were fully riveted. A hundred boilers later, Package Boilers of welded design were produced.
In 1986, Industrial Boilers became India's first commercial Fluidised Bed (FBC) Boiler manufacturer and with the advent of this technology, the company reached new heights with advanced models being launched at regular intervals.
By 1990, the 'Agropak', world's first Hybrid FBC Boiler, a combination of a water wall tube furnace with smoke tube shell was developed and the industry after a lot of fears accepted it as possibly the best development in Boiler technology in over a hundred years.
In 1995, the 'Brownian Motion Furnace' boiler shook the industry from its roots with its capacity to burn almost all Bio and Residue fuels in utmost ease. Suddenly Pith, Pattal, Bark, Roots and Cow dung were branded as Fuels.
In this Century..
It was becoming evident that the Power Crisis in India was deepening and a large demand existed for small power plants. Industrial Boilers launched a range of small power generation boilers working on Biomass and Coal.
By 2002, Steam Turbine manufacturing was launched with a new company 'IB Turbo' at Greater Noida (NCR). Within 10 years IB Turbo launched 5 new Turbine frames to cater to the first time Co-Generator.
Industrial Boilers diversified into Hi-Tech products like Rotary Incinerators, Electrostatic Precipitators' and Single Drum Boilers.
Today
Today the IBL group employs over 1000 people and is the second largest boiler manufacturer in India. It is led by the dynamic Homai Engineer who is the Chairperson and Managing Director.
The companies under the IBL group are
Industrial Boilers Ltd.
IB Turbo Pvt Ltd.
Thermal Engineering Kenya Ltd
With a vast pool of highly talented and experienced engineers, IBL has continued to maintain its reputation as a Research Powerhouse of Boilers.
Today IB Turbo has repeated Turbine business from most of the customers. With focus on quality and a formidable reputation, IB Turbo now manufactures' turbines for the world markets.
With Boiler technology flowing thru our veins, IBL is the international market leader in the field of Biomass Boilers and at the cutting edge of technology.
Our research is 5 to 10 years ahead of time so that we can foresee developments and provide absolutely latest technology to our customers. Our rich history coupled with innovation is our strength -a formula that always works.
Today the 5th generation of the Engineer family has joined the business and we look forward to some very exciting times. IBL Group is well set to reach the higher order pinnacles.