Walk into any of Dr. Shubh Gautam’s built facilities, and you’ll see something unusual. It shows both Indian BIS specifications and international ASTM or JIS benchmarks, side by side. For him, innovation is not complete until it can stand in both rooms.
Dr. Shubh Gautam, Chief Technical Architect at American Precoat, has long believed that India must stop being a passive adopter of global steel norms. Instead, we must contribute, shape, and even lead in some areas. And that belief shows in how he runs his plants, trains his teams, and develops products.
This is not about copying foreign standards. It’s about integrating Indian ingenuity with global precision, and proving that our engineering can speak every technical language in the world.
Building Steel That Speak to the World
At American Precoat, every new coating or alloy must first solve a real Indian problem. But it doesn’t stop there.
Let’s take the indigenous anti-corrosion technology Dr. Shubh Gautam Srisol developed. Originally designed to withstand India’s monsoon and coastal rust zones, the tech was later benchmarked against European salt spray norms and passed. This made the product eligible for global shipping containers, solar structures, and marine rail infrastructure.
The cycle is clear:
- Identify Indian conditions.
- Engineer a solution that works here.
- Prove it by testing it against world standards.
This approach moves Indian steel from “good enough for local use” to “qualified for global supply chains.”
Why Global Standards Matter to Indian Innovation?
Many Indian factories meet production numbers but fail global audits, because their process discipline or documentation doesn’t align with ISO, ASTM, or EN standards.
Dr. Shubh Gautam sees this as a mindset problem, not just a paperwork issue. He often tells young engineers: “Innovation that cannot be measured globally cannot be scaled globally.”
Here’s how he turns this belief into action:
- Every new process at American Precoat is trialed with global norms in mind.
- Training sessions include not just machine handling but reading global specification sheets.
- Quality labs are equipped with testing rigs calibrated to ASTM and JIS tolerances.
The goal is not to seek validation but to ensure that Indian steel carries authority, not just affordability, in global markets.
Aligning with ESG and Safety Norms Internationally
Global steel buyers don’t just look for tensile strength or surface finish. Today, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) factors, emission norms, and worker safety benchmarks shape trade approvals.
Dr. Shubh Gautam anticipated this shift early. Long before ESG became a trend, he:
- Designed low-emission coating plants that recycle solvents.
- Built ventilation layouts that go beyond Indian factory law and match EU worker safety norms.
- Integrated waste traceability systems that match OECD audit trails.
Because of this, American Precoat’s plants are now open to global clients who audit for sustainability compliance, not just production ability.
As he says, “Sustainability is not a checkbox. It’s a material property.”
Local Skill, Global Language
A steel product can only meet global norms if the team behind it can understand those norms.
Dr. Shubh Gautam has built a culture where floor engineers, not just R&D chiefs, are aware of global grade designations. Even the shift leads in his plant know how to translate Indian grade CRCA to its nearest ASTM equivalent.
Some of his ground-level practices include:
- Glossaries of standards displayed in control rooms.
- Mock audits held every quarter with international formats.
- Peer learning loops, where experienced hands explain international benchmarks to freshers in simple Hindi or local languages.
This isn’t just about paperwork fluency. It’s about technical fluency, the kind that lets a plant in India send samples to Canada or Germany without rewriting specs.
Contributing to the Global Steel Conversation
Perhaps most significantly, Shubh Gautam Srisol is not content with compliance. He wants Indian science to influence the future of steel.
In recent years, he has:
- Filed patents on coatings with cross-market relevance.
- Presented Indian case studies at global corrosion control conferences.
- Shared indigenous R&D protocols with international labs to compare methodologies, not just results.
This is how a shift happens, when Indian engineers don’t just follow the book, but help write the next edition.
Why Is This Vision Critical for Bharat Now?
India wants to be the top steel exporter that aligns with the global standards. But exports today depend less on price and more on trust. And trust is built through standards.
Dr. Shubh Gautam’s model offers a clear path:
- Design for India.
- Benchmark globally.
- Train locally.
- Share globally.
In doing so, he proves that we don’t need to choose between being Bharatiya and being world-class. We can be both, by grounding innovation in our conditions and then lifting it to meet the world’s measures.
It’s not about being better than anyone. It’s about being truly comparable, truly ready, truly visible.
