Mr. Abbas Lehry represents the third generation in the family business. In 1950, Lehry Brothers was founded. Mr. Abbas Lehry's ancestors originated from Sidhpur, which is approximately 120 kilometres north of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Mr. Abbas Lehry was born in Chennai and raised there.

Initially, it was a trading company for imported hardware tools, and during his father's tenure, it specialised in distributing valves for the leading Indian valves manufacturers. After completing his Bachelor of Science degree, Mr. Abbas Lehry worked briefly for one of the leading valve manufacturers at the time. His exposure inspired him to become interested in manufacturing.

In 1982, Mr. Abbas joined his father's business, which had an annual revenue of Rs 10 lakhs. In the subsequent five to six years, Mr. Abbas Lehry signed distribution contracts with leading Italian and German manufacturers and began distributing in India. They became the largest distributors for these Italian and German companies within a few years.

Mr. Abbas Lehry's father gave him complete operational control in 2002. Mr. Abbas's age was 37. In 2006, Mr. Abbas Lehry transformed the business into a corporate like-setup, incorporated Lehry Instrumentation & Valves Pvt Ltd, and assumed the position of managing director.

He pursued growth aggressively and expanded the company's footprint by opening offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Noida.

Mr. Abbas Lehry had long considered the idea of engaging in some strategic business with a bigger and permanent scope. He desired to promote his own brand. He was now eager to enter the manufacturing industry. In 2006, he established a facility in Jalandhar to manufacture ferrous valves for castings and utilities, and subsequently in 2015, he established a green sand foundry.

When he made the transition from trading to manufacturing, one of the greatest obstacles he faced was establishing their brand in the minds of their customers, who had already developed a strong attachment to the previous brands. Manufacturing is a time- and resource-intensive process. This affected their sales and it began to decline and he saw a sharpest 50% drop in sales during the fiscal year 2012-2013.

However, Mr. Abbas Lehry possessed persistence. He had the conviction and determination to reestablish their reputation as a manufacturer. His transition to a manufacturing company was gradual and steady. During these difficult times, he never compromised the quality of his products or his business integrity.

Mr. Abbas Lehry gave his two sons Hussain and Adnal a solid foundation  to enter the business.

He engaged in networking and benefited greatly from these connections. He became chairman of the Chennai chapter of the Indian Plumbing Association. He was elected president of the India Fire & Security Association. All of his efforts increased his visibility, which eventually led to business opportunities.

Mr. Abbas also expertly professionalized his enterprise, establishing processes and systems and establishing the next level of leadership. He eliminated his trading verticals and designated Chennai and Mumbai as his principal sales offices. He assembled a well-trained and professional sales team.

As one of the first in the nation, Mr. Abbas Lehry also established a state-of-the-art experience centre in the heart of Chennai. They appointed distributors throughout the nation, and their Lehry brand is currently available in every region. In addition, they made a significant push into the exports market, which currently accounts for 10% of their revenue.

Recently, they established a Rs 30 crore non-ferrous integrated production facility near Chennai in order to manufacture lead-free brass valves for infrastructure and utility markets. The cost of the project is covered in part by internal accruals and borrowings. In India, lead-free brass valves are imported from China, so this will be an import substitution product that will result in a 20% savings for the end user. In fact, Lehry Instrumentation would be the first company to receive an ISI certification for a product manufactured in India.

It took Mr. Abbas Lehry a decade to establish himself as a reputable manufacturer of Valves. Currently, Lehry Instrumentation & Valves provides products for the fire protection, HVAC, and public health engineering services industries. In national quality rankings, Lehry Instrumentation and Valves consistently ranks in the top three.

Mr. Abbas Lehry is extremely enthusiastic about the make in India narrative, and they intend to aggressively expand their presence in the international market and set a goal of 50% export revenue share. Lehry Instrumentation intends to enter the B2C market too.

By 2025-26, Lehry Instrumentation is projected to reach Rs 100 Crores in revenue. The size of the global valves market is approximately $75 billion, and approximately 70% of the market is still unorganised. Mr. Abbas Lehry is an avid marathoner who is very familiar with running long distances. He has set the pace for Lehry Instrumentation to become a Rs 1000 cr company by 2030, with the finish line of being one of the top 10 global players.