Short Takes: Breaking Barriers with Heavy Machinery

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Jan 29, 2025

Santhoshi Sushma Buddhiraju, CEO and co-founder of Autocracy Machinery, shares her bold journey in the heavy machinery sector, emphasizing women's empowerment in a male-dominated industry. She explores the critical question of why India, a major consumer, imports so much machinery instead of manufacturing locally. Launching her startup amid the pandemic, she discusses her vision for transforming India's infrastructure and economy through local production, backed by her education from IIT Madras and experience at HSBC.

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ANECDOTE

Unconventional Upbringing

Santhoshi's parents, wanting a son, raised her like one.
This upbringing fostered her resilience and a belief that she could achieve anything.

ANECDOTE

Corporate Stint

Santhoshi briefly worked at HSBC, intending to play it safe after taking risks.
This experience taught her valuable lessons about organizational structure and risk-taking in large corporations.

INSIGHT

Import Dependency

India imports $43 billion in machinery annually despite being the largest consumer and having ample manpower.
This realization sparked Santhoshi's vision to transform India's infrastructure through local manufacturing.

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Meet Santhoshi Sushma Buddhiraju, CEO and cofounder of Autocracy Machinery, a heavy machinery manufacturing company located in southern India. The idea for her company began with a simple question: Why is India, the world’s largest consumer, so reliant on imported machinery? Answering that question entailed bold risks, fearless leadership, and personal sacrifice.

Santhoshi had a strong foundation to start a business, even one that was extremely male-dominated. She got a world class education at IIT Madras, created a food delivery start-up on the side, received a prestigious internship at Georgia Tech in the United States, and ultimately built her corporate career at HSBC. But solving local problems in her home country of India captured her imagination and fueled her resolve.

While most entrepreneurs were shutting down their businesses during COVID, Santhoshi was launching her start-up with a vision to transform India’s infrastructure and economy through local manufacturing expertise. According to Santhoshi, India imported $43 billion in machinery in the last financial year alone. “That’s huge,” she says, “and imagine being the biggest population of the world, the biggest consumer of goods. And then we realized why are we not manufacturing our stuff and very basic stuff? You have more manpower than anybody can imagine and imagine what magic you can do,” she declares.

Santhoshi identified and capitalized on an enormous opportunity. She explains: “Our cities are developing, our ecosystem is developing, and our population is rising. What India is trying to do is build a better utility network – water pipelines, gas, electricity, digital networks, cable, optical fiber networks, all of this to every household. And it all requires machinery. There's a need. There's an opportunity. Why don't we manufacture the machines, machines which we are importing at $150K?” And so she did, manufacturing machinery that was cheaper, faster, and responsive to local needs, first in the utility industry and now in many others.

Hear how Santhoshi is breaking down barriers, listening to her customers, relying on her team, and encouraging entrepreneurs to do the same.

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