Month: August 2017

Born to a Bengali family in the city of Kolkata, she had spend most of her childhood in Bhilai as her father, Prodyut Kumar Mukherjee worked at Bhilai Steel Plant. Her mother Kalyani Mukherjee was a homeopathy consultant in Bokaro.

She was introduced to the banking sector at an early age of 22 years when she joined State Bank of India (SBI) as a probationary officer. After 35 years of banking career with SBI, she replaced Pratip Chaudhuri, who retired on September 30, 2013 and the appointment made Bhattacharya the first woman in India to head a Fortune 500 company.

WOMAN OF HIGH SELF-ESTEEM

Contrary to the position she holds in the largest bank of the country, money has never been a great motivator for Mrs. Bhattacharya. She traded the money she could have easily earned in a private bank for the comfort of growing with the State Bank of India.

In her words, when you spend so much time in an organization, you work with the same people in various capacities, and this contributes to a feeling of kinship. Because of the relationship she has shared with the members of the State Bank of India fraternity, she both understands and relates to the feeling of each one of them. Her closeness to the public sector units are a throwback to a childhood in Bhilai.

She doesn’t duck away from her mistakes as she whole-heartedly accepts that the journey with State Bank of India has been enduring with a lot many learning experiences.

SHOULDERING ECONOMIC GROWTH

A constant quench to learn more has driven Mrs. Bhattacharya to achieve some unrealistic growth in her career. As they say, nothing comes for free, she had wanted to pursue a PhD in Finance from the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, but when she was told she had to attend classes, she dropped out. It was not a cake walk to hop from one city to another and from one function to another especially for a career woman with a very young child, but she braved all the challenges that came her way in a near four-decade long career. “I have always believed that you should not make yourself indispensable, at work or at home. When you leave, don’t leave a big vacuum behind,” she says.

Wearing a charming smile always, Mrs. Bhattacharya keeps pessimism at bay as she believes that working in different cities like Kolkata, Lucknow, Bangalore, and New York has enabled her to face some synthetic challenges. The lady utterly enjoys the transfers as it keeps boredom away.

ACHIEVING HIGH

She has seen a slew of promotions in the past few years. She became the Deputy Managing Director in November 2010. Two years later, she was posted as MD & CEO of SBI Capital Markets, a subsidiary of the bank. And finally the year 2013 saw her as the CFO and MD of the bank.

It is said that she made the best use of her SBI Capital market stint from November 2012. It was a dual benefiting thing as first it gave her a lot of exposure to look at a project as a whole and second she started qualified institutional placements (QIPs). Though the initial few were a hard nut to crack but later on she sailed well with many big corporate of the nation.

Mrs. Bhattacharya is a lady of utter grace and a strong persona. She has been ever-ready to take up all the challenges that came her way while climbing the success ladder high.

A life committed to illuminate 100s of others by spreading the light of education, performing selfless acts, providing exemplary leadership and following ethical business practices- these words aptly sum up the persona of Mr. Hari Mohan Gupta, Chairman of the prestigious Jagran Social Welfare Society, Bhopal.

HEARTY HUMANITARIAN

Motivated by the vision of educating & empowering the children of the society & realizing multitudes of other social objectives, Mr. Gupta is assiduously dedicated to provide world-class education to masses at affordable cost. He also endeavors to build an equitable & fair society, with equal opportunities and better prospects for all. He aspires to provide wings to the dreams of young learners so that they can pursue their goals & achieve their dreams. The passion to contribute to the building of a new and modern India, reverberating with pride, enthusiasm, equality & contentment, has catalyzed Mr. Gupta to walk many extra miles and leading a selfless existence.

He believes that the future of the country lies in the tender hands of our children who will be the harbinger of change. Thus, he has established 3 Delhi Public Schools (Neelbad, Bhopal; Indore and Kolar Road, Bhopal); the acclaimed Jagran Institute of Communication & Management, Bhopal; the internationally renowned Leeds Met India – offshore campus of Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK; and above all, the prestigious Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal, where best possible technology-driven teaching facilities can be found.

MAGNIFICENT LUMINARY

As a beacon of light for the deprived and marginalized children, he has endeavoured to include them, enable them and uplift them to compete and share similar platform with the privileged ones. Shiksha Kendras which are at par with other modern schools is a step in this direction. These academic institutes benefit the underprivileged students by providing them world-class education from Class I to XII, in an all encompassing system with freefee-ship, free books, free uniforms & free transportation facilities. This has resulted in 1000s of such students rubbing shoulders with the mainstream students in India & abroad. Moreover, in this process, with his prudent and prodigious vision, he has created a secured future for every youth.

As an entrepreneur, he has led his organizations and ventures with ingenious business sense & innovative spirit. His dynamism, optimism, steadfast belief in his team & prescience makes him a living legend & a true leader to emulate. He was honored as “Education Evangelist of India” in 2013, a testimony to the impact he has created on the society. He attributes his success to working selflessly, striving for excellence, keeping faith in God, & believing in “You are your only limit.”

He has received numerous personal and professional adulations & accolades, and has emerged as a mass leader. Humility and simplicity are the hallmarks of his personality which have accredited him to shine luminously as an epitome of goodness & selflessness.

Mr. Gupta’s Midas touch has nurtured the youth to flourish as literate human resource, capacitating them to be the agents of change.

Acelebrated and prominent spearhead, Mr. Tapan Singhel – as MD & CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company (BAGIC) Limited – has been valiantly making most of the crucial decisions in BAGIC, sailing it towards new shores of success. Mr. Singhel has an exemplary track record in improving organizational efficiency, enhancing customer service and developing innovative products while driving revenue growth & profitability, which has earned him a reputation of one of the most reliable personalities in the banking and insurance landscape of India.

An alumnus of the prestigious Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Mr. Singhel did his schooling from La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and St. Peter’s College, Agra.

UPRIGHT PROFESSIONALISM

He started his career in 1991 as a direct officer in New India Assurance Company Limited. However, his true career contour became conspicuous when he joined Bajaj Allianz General Insurance at the time of its inception in 2001 and became its integral part, leading insurance business in the retail market. Since then, he has been working diligently and has led the overall growth strategy of the company apart from managing various international projects like setting up of retail business for Allianz in China and Bancassurance development in the Asia-Pacific region. The organization flourished under his leadership.

With a vast experience of more than two and a half decades in the insurance industry, he has handled portfolios as varied as accounts, IT, underwriting, claims, marketing, sales, etc. Apart from being a trailblazer for Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, he also holds the responsibility of Convenor of the Working Group on Non-Life Insurance of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mr. Singhel is also the Chairman of IRDAI’s panel to promote e-commerce in insurance, Member of both IRDAI’s Advisory Committee on Reinsurance and IRDAI’s Insurance Advisory Committee. Not only this, he was the President of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce for the year 2014-15, and a member of the Board of Directors for Berkshire India Limited and Berkshire Hathaway Services India Private Limited during 2011-12.

EARNING EXEMPLARY CREDENTIALS

It is the result of his sheer hard work and brilliant mind that today he has carved his name in golden letter among the outstanding leaders of the industry. For his stellar performance, he has been felicitated with various awards and recognitions. For instance, he won the ‘CEO of the Year’ award presented by ABF Insurance Asia Awards in 2016. He has also been featured in the list of LinkedIn Power Profiles for being the most viewed profile in the financial sector on LinkedIn in India for two consecutive years since 2015.

He never hesitates to express his views and is often seen taking bold steps to turn his ideas into strategic actions, leading to profitable outcomes. Mr. Tapan Singhel is an active blogger and blogs regularly on various topics of general interest on his personal blog titled ‘My Take’.

Rising from a humble background to a position where the whole world gets inspiration from your exceptional success story is one of the biggest achievements a person can accomplish in his life. Mr. Lakshmi Mittal created a similar career story, and is now helming the world’s largest steelmaking company – ArcelorMittal.

A STEELY DETERMINATION

Born in a small town called Sadulpur in Rajasthan, he moved with his family to Calcutta where his father began his own business in a challenging environment. When Lakshmi Mittal graduated from Jesuit College, St Xavier’s with excellent grades in accounting and mathematics, he surprised everyone by joining his father’s business, Ispat, instead of going for a career in accountancy.

A farsighted leader, he got inspired “by the massive rollers driven by rubber belts and pulleys that flattened the red-hot steel into bars,” and founded his own establishment, LNM Group in 1976 at the age of 26. He had a vision in his mind to be the leading player of the steel market, and to turn that vision into reality he gradually started expanding his business at the global level. It was in the year 2004 that his dreams came true when he created Mittal Steel by merging Ispat International and LNM Holdings. The same year Mittal Steel became the largest steelmaker in the world, with shipments of 42.1 million tonnes of steel and profits of over $22 billion. The firm proudly employs 300,000 people in 60 countries.

Again taking an astonishing step in the year 2006, he acquired Arcelor Steel, a company created through a merger of firms from Spain, France, Luxembourg, and Belgium. This huge acquisition resulted in the formation of what now is the biggest steel firm on earth – ArcelorMittal.

HOLDING A GOLDEN HEART

An active philanthropist, Mr. Lakshmi Mittal has made huge contributions towards various social issues. In 2008, he made a donation of £15 million to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. He also collaborated with the Government of Rajasthan to lay down the foundation the LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT) in Jaipur. Further, his charitable foundation – Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal Foundation has also established the Usha Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management in New Delhi, and Bal Vidya Bhawan. Passionate about sports and dedicated towards encouraging the deserving sportspersons, he has also set up Mittal Champions Trust with $9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential.

Apart from leading ArcelorMittal, Mr. Lakshmi Mittal is also a member of the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, the International Investment Council in South Africa, and the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council. He is also a member of the International Iron and Steel Institute’s Executive Committee. He received the “Steelmaker of the Year” award in 1996 by New Steel, and the “Willy Korf Steel Vision Award” in 1998, for outstanding vision, entrepreneurship, leadership, and success in global steel development from American Metal Market and PaineWebber’s World Steel Dynamics. He was also honored with Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, in the year 2008.

Though he considers himself a “global Indian”, his heart belongs to India. He is considered a national icon in India and his story has inspired many young entrepreneurs.

Prior to CEAT, Mr. Goenka was with KEC International, where he led functions such as supply chain, manufacturing, planning and quality. Mr. Goenka has also worked in MNCs of the likes of Hindustan Unilever Limited, Accenture and Morgan Stanley.

He has also served as the Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) in the year 2013. Mr. Goenka is a fitness freak and an avid
traveler, and when he is not managing affairs at CEAT, he can be found playing squash or testing the benefits of endurance running. Mr. Goenka has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a B.Sc in Economics from the Wharton School.

Following his father’s footsteps, Anant joined the brand quite early. It was Harsh to start the legacy as Harsh was 24 when he became managing director of the company in 1983. Four years later, Harsh became the chairman of the 1820-founded group.

TAKING A LEAP

As for Anant, who is the elder of 54-year-old Harsh Goenka’s two children, he had been reporting to Ceat’s Chowdhary for the past two years. Mr. Goenka was with the company as specialty tyre business head before joining the board.

It is his young mind which is driving the brand to be the best in the industry. One of the many conscious decisions led by Anant was to differentiate themselves in the passenger vehicle space, especially two-wheelers. They feel this is the segment where they can grow faster. It is an inherent area of strength for them, and the margins too are better here.

His guidance has enabled the brand to strengthen the distribution network by adopting an FMCG model of dealing directly with distributors instead of dealers as the ticket size is small. As far as marketing is concerned, they focus a lot on safety and grip.

He also introduced “puncture safe“technology to be a part of the critical input from the marketing research which will enable a consumer to ride for hundreds of kilometres despite a puncture.

FOCUSED APPROACH

He is driven by targets so the strategy was to remain the same in terms of focusing on the motorcycle and scooter segment as well as the passenger segment. So these are areas where he feels that brand makes a big difference, distribution is the core strength of the brand so that they are playing on the strengths and looking at growing further in these segments.

He sets his target straight to the main things, with full zeal he is striving to improve the product mix. With a view to sell more profitable categories, there are many changes with which they can sell to the more profit markets that is one thing they are working towards.

The second major change that he has incorporated in the system is controlling costs because there has been a large increase in raw material prices and that effect will come in from quarter four and quarter one of the next financial year.

With a routine capex plan of Rs 100 crore every year, which goes into products and enhancement of existing plants, they also have Rs 1,500 crore as fresh capex.

In a society so accomplished at producing leaders across genres, education excels in grooming the charismatic personality of each one of them.

Dr. Aseem Chauhan is the bagpiper who has transformed the educational wavelength of India to have variety of knowledge that one encounters on a daily basis and end up consciously or unconsciously affecting the aesthetics of culturally diverse individuals. He brings in an old-world charm which inspires students to learn the best way.

The founder and CEO of Amity Innovation Incubator and Amity Capital Ventures, Dr. Chauhan actively promotes entrepreneurship in India, particularly amongst youth, and is actively engaged in mentoring and investing in startups. He is on the board of over a dozen companies.

BUILDING A BRAND NAME

He is the driving force behind the brand – AMITY. His dreams & aspirations have enabled Amity Education Group to have over 125,000 students in 250 programs at 150 institutions across 1200 acres of hi-tech campuses with 6 million sq. ft. of built up area. Having 30 Campuses in India as well as campuses in London, Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius, South Africa and China, Amity University & Amity Institutions have consistently been ranked amongst the top in the country. More than 6000 staff & faculty work with the Amity Group and are credited with having completed 300 funded research projects and having filed 701 patents. He is an institution-builder with a vision to make Amity one of the leading education providers in the world.

THE TRAILBLAZER

Spearheading the biggest Educational hub in the country, the hardworking Dr. Chauhan is a man of many trades. He has extensive experience in venture capital and leveraged buyouts and has made investments of over $ 1 billion globally. He was formerly with AEA Investors, a multi-billion dollar private equity firm in New York which invests funds for current and former Fortune 100 CEOs and wealthy families across the world. Prior to this he was at Philadelphia Ventures, providing early stage venture capital to biotech and hi-tech start-ups. He has also been with Mercer Management Consulting providing strategic advisory to leading companies in New York, London and Hong Kong, and with JP Morgan in investment banking.

Dr. Chauhan holds degrees in Systems Engineering, Corporate Finance & Strategic Management from The Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania & has completed Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology.

Dr. Chauhan has contributed to many committees like the Government of India’s National Committee for Biotechnology Policy, the CII National Committee for Higher, Technical & Vocational Education and the US-India Higher Education Cooperation Council. He is a Chartered member of TiE, member of the Indian Angel Network (IAN) and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC).

BEING THE VIVACIOUS ONE

Dr. Chauhan has spent nearly 2 decades in Europe and more than a decade in the US. He is constantly working towards the upliftment of society through his involvement in philanthropic societies & NGOs.

He is also an avid sportsman, & the President of the Indian National Football Club and the Founder and President of Amity United Football Club. He has also been on the FIFA Delhi Vision Board and is actively engaged in Sports Development.

After the highs of 2014, when Xiaomi entered India through massively hyped online flash sales, it was Manu Kumar Jain to have helped the Chinese smartphone maker settle down. The Indian entry of the smartphone giant seemed to be a blockbuster success going by the staggering demand its devices have generated among the Indian customers.

Xiaomi’s smartphones have shaken up the cutthroat Indian market since its debut on Flipkart. It is during the calm leadership of Xiaomi India Managing Director and Vice President Mr. Jain, that Redmi became one of the company’s most popular series of smartphones. The affordability of the handset was the key performance indicator. Playing in the price bracket of Rs 6,000- Rs 15,000, was a smart move at the time when other competitors were offering the same at double prices.

MARKET LEADER

Mr. Jain is eyeing to accomplish the brand’s dream of doubling everything, be it sales, production, service centers, and even marketing, but he wants
to be subtle at the same time.

Under his guidance, the brand is upgrading the Redmi series and Mi series. Redmi Note 3 became Redmi Note 4 which sold about 1 million units in 45 days. According to the reports recorded by the IDC, this became the No 1 phone both online and offline.

The competent CEO strategized the plan of action way before anyone could ever think of it. The brand started working with distributors in 5 cities, added few retail chains in South India and is subject to adding a few more national level retail change. With a view to scale up these five cities they have 50 biggest standalone retailers working with the brand in Hyderabad and Bangalore, a few hundred in Delhi, towards promoting and selling
Xiaomi products.

EMPOWERING THE NATION

India already has 140-150 million households with WiFi, and this will only increase. The problem which Mr. Jain see is that better network is needed, second the device needs to improve. The current set of devices don’t support really high-speed internet, and most routers are in real bad shape. Second, they don’t have great network strength.

Providing a remedy to the same, the Mi Router 3C changes all of that. It comes with 4 antennas, supports high-speed internet. Plus it is easy to set up, one can change settings at one go. There are multiple other use cases as well. One can create a guest login, check internet consumption and set an actual limit, and even block devices.

The brand is ready to launch as many products as possible and this goes in sync with the Mi Home strategy. People can see and experience these products. However, many of the products are not suited for India. Citing an example Mr. Jain explained, smart scooters are available in China, and they are successful. But in India, the road conditions don’t allow it. I tried doing it, using the smart scooter from my office but I could not do it.

Then some of the products will require customization. For instance, our water purifier in China is so beautiful. But in India, people face power shortage and water shortage, so we can’t launch the model because it doesn’t have a tank. If you go to Reliance, Croma Store, first thing people will ask: Tank ka capacity kitna hai. We have to customise our water purifier for Indian conditions.