Sometimes life changes because of a big plan. Sometimes it changes because of one risky decision taken with nothing but courage. For Mr. P. Mayil Vaganam, CEO, ELLAR Metal Parts, it was not about becoming rich or building a big company. It began with a simple thought — he wanted to make some difference in life. But he did not even know what that difference would be.
Mr. Vaganam was not an engineer. He did not have a management degree. Whatever he knew came from two decades of service in the Air Force and from practical experience. He learned by observing, by trying, by failing and by getting up again.
Before starting his own journey, he worked with a titanium-based company. The journey was difficult, but the results were rewarding. Then came a moment that changed everything. In 2012, someone approached him with an offer to sell a crown cap manufacturing unit — the metal caps used on bottles. He saw an opportunity, but there was a problem. He did not have the required funds. He had only one flat that he had bought during his Air Force days. He pledged it. He pledged jewellery too. He put together ₹15 lakh and took the biggest risk of his life.
But reality hit him almost immediately. In the very first month, he realised that he had bought a company that was losing money badly. For many people, that would have been the end of the story. But Mr. Vaganam had learned something in the defence forces, which came in handy. “You burn the bridges behind you. There was no option of going back. There were sleepless nights and difficult days. There were mistakes and painful lessons,” but he kept moving. Quality became his obsession. He had worked earlier in aviation components manufacturing unit, where precision mattered greatly. He carried that same thinking into his own business.
Slowly things began to improve. He started ELLAR (Elevating Lives, Achieving Results) Metal Parts making crown caps based on international standards, for the local market. The company began exporting crown caps within a year and a half. Then came another bold move — entering fasteners and engineering components. It was not easy. New customers had to be found. Trust had to be earned. There were failures and disappointments, he mentioned.
He remembered creating simple, almost amateur marketing pamphlets in the early days. Looking back now, he laughs at them. But every entrepreneur has such moments. The difference is not avoiding failure; instead, it lies in resilience. He says his greatest strength during this period was his family, especially his wife. She never questioned him; she simply believed. Slowly, the dream started taking shape.
In 2018, the company bought its first CNC machine. There was excitement, but also fear. It was a completely new world. They had to learn everything from scratch. So, they learned; they hired engineers and paid them using earnings from their existing business. Days were spent brainstorming ideas and understanding machines. Progress was slow but steady. Then came COVID. The world stopped.
He himself was severely affected and spent nearly 12 days in hospital. It was one of the toughest periods of his life. He said that by sheer luck he survived. Many businesses struggled during that period. But his company survived. And after that, something changed. Customers began to recognise ELLAR’s capabilities. Due to consistent quality and delivery, even large companies started trusting them with difficult projects. According to him, “Quality is produced and not inspected.” Companies even began paying advances so that new machines could be purchased. For a first-generation entrepreneur, that trust meant more than money.
The company has added more than ten machines over the last few years. Two more are on the way. Today, ELLAR supplies a wide range of products including fasteners, wire products, machined components and other engineering parts to several automotive Tier-1 suppliers serving exhaust systems and filtration applications, as well as select OEMs in the two-wheeler and commercial vehicle segments.
Besides, it is also supplying some critical parts to a few players in the aviation industry including Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and the Indian Air Force. At present it exports fasteners and machined parts to a Portugal based company’s branches in USA, Germany in addition to India. Automotive continues to be the company’s strongest growth engine, contributing nearly 80% of its business, while oil and gas and aviation-industrial applications account for 11% and 9%, respectively.
Currently, around 80 people work across the company’s two locations (Keelkattalai, in Chennai and Melkalvoy in Chengalpattu district), including more than 40% women, as well as team members who are visually impaired and differently abled, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to building an inclusive and supportive workplace. The company values experience and continues to provide opportunities to individuals even beyond the conventional retirement age. But for him, success has never been driven purely by numbers; people matter more. He believes that if each of those 80 employees supports a family of four, nearly 320 people directly depend on the company for their livelihoods. Add its suppliers and their families, and the number of lives connected to the organisation rises to nearly 600, he indicated.
“For us, business growth and social responsibility are not separate pursuits. Instead, they are two outcomes of the same philosophy, building an organisation that delivers engineering excellence while creating opportunities for people. With the right training, workplace support, and trust, these individuals have become productive, committed, and reliable members of the manufacturing workforce,” he mentioned.
For Mr. Vaganam, that is the real achievement. He dreams of growing the workforce to 500 people over the next two years. Many years ago, as a young man in the Air Force, he had set himself a target. By the age of 50, he wanted to build something worth ₹100 crore. At 54, he says he is nowhere near that dream. Then he smiles. “I aimed for the stars. Maybe I didn’t reach them. But somewhere, I landed on the moon. And sometimes, that is more than enough. Our next big dream is ambitious — to create a presence across every continent by 2040, with Singapore at the centre of its global operations,” he added.
