2nd February 1690

The release of Chetak was a big deal not only because it was inspired by a fictional element in a novel of Her Majesty the Empress, but also because it came with the first-ever miniature steam engine the Empire had ever seen, which caught everyone by surprise.

The Chetak was naturally sold out within a week, with all 500 units being gobbled up by the southern states alone. Only a businessman from the northern part of the Empire who happened to be in Cuttack was able to get a power cycle for himself. However, for the normal people, it did not matter since Chetak was simply too expensive. 22,800 might not sound like a lot, but converting it to gold, it's over 247 grammes. In Vijay's past life, that is roughly ₹30,00,000 or 34,000 US dollars. It was only the elites, the 1.2% of the Empire, that bought the bike.

The talk about the power cycle was supposed to end until another, larger batch was sold, but it truly never went out of the news because after Parvati Iron and Steel released the Chetak, they also publicised that they were capable of providing steam engines to private enterprises on a large scale. This immediately set off a frenzy among the business circles.

In a rotary pump factory

"Yes, ma'am, I will get to it right away." A young man in an office suit did a namaskar and hurriedly left.

Three executives remained in the office, and in the main seat was a middle-aged woman who, although wrinkled, looked well-maintained.

"Are we not being hasty, boss?" One of the executives turned his head and looked at the woman and asked.

The woman shook her head, "This is the biggest opportunity we've ever had. If we can integrate the Pragati engine into our rotary water pump, then moving water to high places will become as easy as starting a steam engine."

"We cannot miss this chance."

Another executive nodded in understanding, but his look suggested that he was not fully confident, "But Miss, we do not know if it will work. What do we do if it does not? The losses might halt our growth for a long time, not to mention the power cycle itself is 28,000 Varaha. I'm sure the largest cost of the bike is the steam engine. Would our customers still be willing to buy the pump if it costs so much?"

The other executive quickly chimed in, "Yes, Director Partha is right, please consider it one more time, boss."

The woman was getting annoyed, "Idiot, why would we sell the steam-powered pump to normal people? After installing the Pragathi engine, would we not sell it to high-net-value clients?" She had a look of frustration as the managers she hired had no vision at all. "Think about it, high net worth individuals are now 9% of the Empire, an increase of several millions, meaning we have millions of potential customers. And also, did you all forget that the 9% is the nation's total? If you consider Vijayanagar state alone, at least 30% of the Empire's elite live right here. Isn't it a gold mine?"

She tapped the table, creating a consistent rhythm that hit the hearts of the managers, while her piercing gaze lingered on, making the managers dare not speak out.

"Apart from the elite class and high class, a new customer base Is showing itself. Are you all not noticing this?"

'New clientele?' The managers were confused, and they eyed each other to see if anyone knew anything, but in the end, nothing.

The woman got even more frustrated and growled, "It's the factories, the **** factories!"

" There are more than 140,000 companies in the Empire, 38,000 of which are manufacturing firms. Now tell me, how many of these do you think are large enterprises?"

" Twenty percent? Maybe thirty? And what about the rest, aren't they our customers too?"

" Do you really think every factory will buy an atmospheric engine just to supply water? Of course not. Most use water from nearby canals or local reserves. Many don't even have a proper water tank, since filling it manually wastes both time and labour. Or are you perhaps under the impression that these people would not want to build a water tower, something far more convenient for manufacturing?"

"Wrong. They didn't build it because it was a pain in the **** to manually fill it with water. But now, our pump can fix that, and these people won't care about the price. An atmospheric engine, even the smallest and weakest one, costs several hundred thousand varaha. Our pump, even if it were priced the same as the Chetak, which it won't be, is still a huge bargain for these companies. They might even buy several and run them in batches."

"So stop questioning me. Find out the specifications of the steam engine before it arrives, and have the engineers start figuring out how to connect it to our manual rotor-operated pump."

When the managers still sat frozen in their seats, she slammed the table and stood up. "Go! Now!"

A mill manufacturer

An old man, who was also the founder of the mill workshop, threw the brochure of the Pragathi engine in front of a young man, "Deva, do you think we can power the mill with the steam engine?"

Deva stroked his chin and nodded, "It is feasible, Grandpa. I should be able to hook up a belt or a chain drive system to our existing mills to make it work."

"Hmm, should we purchase a few to try it out?"

"It wouldn't hurt, Grandpa."

A ceiling fan manufacturer

An engineer looked at the large industrial fan in the factory that was run by several labourers, turning it continuously and was lost in thought.

"Maybe hooking up a steam engine is much more convenient, labour-saving, and cost-efficient."

He immediately brought his plan to the factory director.

Bakshi Industries

Arjan Bakshi was hurriedly called to the research department as he was informed that the researchers had something they wanted to show him.

"Director, look." He was taken by the chief researcher, Gupta, to a research lab dedicated to developing a smaller sewing machine that could be used by local workshops.

He stood in front of the sewing machine, which was under research, but to his surprise, it was actually hooked up to a power unit.

"This is?"

Gupta excitedly explained, "It's the steam engine, sir. I have hooked the sewing machine to the Pragathi steam engine."

Arjun Bakshi's eyes lit up. "The bottleneck is no more?"

"Hehe." Gupta puffed up his chest, "The bottleneck is no more."

"The sewing machine can now be easily run and operated by a single person, and I have calculated the price as well. It will not be over 30,000."

Arjun Bakshi was overjoyed, "Hahah, good, good, good!"

"Quickly research the way to mass-produce it, also submit it to the BSO to be certified."

Katyayini Industries

After Emperor Vijay Devaraya approved both of their inventions, the telephone, which was on sale, immediately became popular throughout the Empire. For the last year, all they did was manufacture the telephone and sell it across the Empire. But since it had too many uses across thousands of industries, Shilpa Katyayini knew that they could not handle all the orders, so after convincing Veena, her twin sister, she sold the patent rights of the acoustic telephone technology to several other companies in the Empire for a royalty of 5% of the profit for the next 25 years.

This success made them immensely wealthy, wealthy enough to fund several other research projects they were working on. Yet, there was still a knot in both sisters' hearts. They longed to showcase their phonograph, a sound recording device they considered their greatest invention, to the public. After His Majesty promised that he would arrange for the steam engine to be studied, they waited with hope. Finally, a few months ago, they received word that the research had been completed and that several engines would be sent for experimentation.

And today, that day had finally arrived. The engines were here.

Shilpa and Veena did not even ask the helpers to open the wooden crate. They themselves took up crowbars and opened it with excitement.

---

A similar situation was seen in a large number of industries, be it niche industries like those that made wheels for potters, or important and massive industries like those that made smaller woodworking lathes, ventilation fans, butter churns, batter mixers, grinding wheels, sugarcane crushers, laboratory equipment, lapidary machines, and many other things.

Chetak might have been the first development that utilised the smaller Pragati engine platform, which by itself did not cause any major impact on the economy as a whole, but it acted as a frontrunner and gave the innovators, dreamers, and builders of the Empire a path forward, a path where machines were more automated, more helpful, and more cost-efficient, a path that led to a world of steam and iron.

In this world, metal ships with beating metal hearts roamed the earth, locomotives roamed the land, tractors tilled the fields, and steam machines could be seen everywhere, an era where the Bharatiyas left behind their old legacy and completely stepped into the modern world of the steam revolution.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.