Scripting and Chiselling Success
A fifth-generation entrepreneur from one of India’s best known business families, harsh Goenka practices a modern management philosophy, is passionate about people and promotes pioneering people practices across the group
“A strong advocate of innovation and creativity at the workplace, he is also an ardent collector of contemporary art and is known for his encouragement to young artists”
This fifth-generation entrepreneur belongs to the Vanshita Ramani family, which is a Marwadi community of tradesmen, hailing originally from Rajasthan in western India. The beginning is fascinating as quite early in the 19th century, an enterprising member of the family, Ramdutt Goenka, started his business in Kolkata, which used to be the capital of India at that time before independence, and also used to be a major commercial hub of the British Empire. Thus, the Goenka business family has been at the forefront of business in India for over a hundred years.
Having been settled in Kolkata for several generations, Harsh’s great-grandfather, Sir Badridas Goenka, had been the first Indian Chairman of the Imperial Bank of India. Harsh’s father, Rama Prasad Goenka, was a very successful businessman and founder of the RPG Group, with business interests spanning the music industry, automobile tyres, power transmission, and plantation estates.
As the family prospered in its traditional vocations of money-lending and trade for about three generations, it was a revolutionary step when a scion of the family, Rama Prasad Goenka, decided to expand the family’s wealth and business and diversified into a variety of industries and corporate ventures, creating a ready-made business conglomerate in the process.
Understanding the prevailing business situation well and taking due advantage to fuel his passion and vision to create a larger and much diversified group, RPG started taking over those companies that did not do well either under the socialistic policies and the license raj, which was the policy in India at that time, or because of disagreements within the families of their owners as was also the case with several of them. Thus, these takeovers allowed RPG to acquire several companies at a relatively cheaper cost, and this gave him an unparalleled advantage as he utilized his financial resources and business acumen to turn these same companies immensely profitable and in sync with his vision and functioning.
This proved to be a very profitable business strategy as by the end of the 20th century, RPG had transformed itself into a powerful business empire. However, establishing an empire with a high amount of diversity is not easy, but that’s what RPG is renowned for: none of their major ventures were founded by them as all of them were taken over at some time; however, these diversified businesses have always been in perfect sync with each other and have never posed a challenge to each other.
Taking over from his father, Mr. R. P. Goenka, Harsh Goenka has quite dynamically managed RPG, which under his able leadership, has grown into a major player in domains like power generation & distribution, information technology, infrastructure, tyres, plantations, and pharmaceuticals.
Thus, becoming the Managing Director of CEAT in 1983 at the age of 24, Harsh Goenka has proved time and again that age doesn’t have to do anything with success; it all depends on how strong you are in your mind and what kind of decisions you take in your business. Before taking the responsibility as MD of CEAT, he had also worked briefly with a textile company right after completing his education in Bengaluru.
His impressive educational background includes a BA in Economics from the University of Calcutta and an MBA from the International Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland. Incidentally, he also serves on the Board of IMD, Switzerland.
Using his immense experience and proving he is a man of multiple responsibilities at the same time, he is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of KEC International, CEAT, RPG Lifesciences, Raychem RPG, Spencer International Hotels, and a Director of Bajaj Electricals. In addition, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and a past President of the Indian Merchants Chamber.
A strong advocate of innovation and creativity at the workplace, he is also an ardent collector of contemporary art and is known for his encouragement to young artists. He has one of the most prominent collections of contemporary art in the country, embracing several genres and styles, and transcends several generations of artists from all regions. He likes to host art exhibitions and has been doing so in Mumbai for a decade and continues to support and encourage young artists.
RESTRUCTURING FOR SUCCESS
Times change and so do people, and Rama Prasad ‘RP’ Goenka faced a similar situation which had made it easy for him to acquire companies initially several decades earlier, and he was faced with the challenge of formally dividing his business empire between his two sons: Harsh and Sanjiv. Thus, the responsibility of managing several companies fell on Harsh Goenka’s shoulders at an early age.
Though most of these companies were at their prime, this restructuring was taken well by Harsh Goenka, as the values they had learnt and adopted because of the legacy they hold in their heart taught them to face all challenges with positivity. Thus, he inherited the responsibility of helming RPG Enterprises founded by his father in 1979. From pioneering organized retail to running the country’s first private sector power-generating plants, the Group has also forged successful alliances with several of the world’s leading corporations.
Group company KEC International is also one of the largest power transmission EPC companies in the world. CEAT is amongst the leading tyre companies in the country and also a leader in Sri Lanka. CEAT (Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino) Ltd. is the flagship company of RPG Enterprises and was established in 1924 in Turin, Italy. Today, CEAT is one of India’s leading tyre manufacturers and has a presence in global markets. CEAT offers tyres to all segments and manufactures radials for trucks and buses, light commercial vehicles, earthmovers, forklifts, tractors, trailers, cars, motorcycles, scooters, as well as auto-rickshaws.
WEARING MANY HATS
Used to big responsibilities at a young age, Harsh Goenka has also been the youngest President of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber, where he formulated and drove economic agenda for the industry through various institutions. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India’s premier industrial association.
He is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), one of the leading technical educational institutes in India. He also serves as a trustee of the Breach Candy Hospital Trust in Mumbai, as he has a vast experience in the field of management.
He is a member of the National Art Advisory Committee for the National Gallery of Modern Art and a member of the Council of the National Culture Fund, Ministry of Culture. Holding a keen interest in cricket, he promotes the CEAT cricket ratings for international and domestic cricket, which is a rating system that rewards outstanding cricketers around the world. He was also a co-owner of the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) Team in IPL 10.
