14 JANUARY 2023 BW BUSINESSWORLD

www.businessworld.in SUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 14 JANUARY2023

THE
FUTURE
READY
STATE
MADHYA
PRADESH

“WE HAVE
SET A TARGET
TO BE A

USD 550
BILLION

ECONOMY BY
2026”

SHIVRAJ SINGH
CHOUHAN

Chief Minister,
Madhya Pradesh

Narendra Modi Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Prime Minister Chief Minister

Rs 150

SPOTLIGHT

INDIA’S MOST SOUGHT-
AFTER INVESTMENT
DESTINATION

MadhyaPradesh, India’ssecond-largeststate,offersworld-class
connectivity, athrivingindustrialecosystem,abundantnaturalresources,a
globally competitive ‘Ease of Doing Business’ environment and much more

T he second-largest state
in terms of land and fre-
quently referred to as the
“Heart of India”, Madhya
Narendra Modi Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Pradesh, is one of the na-Prime Minister
Chief Minister

tion’s fastest-growing states. It is a state

with surplus and quality power with

abundant natural and mineral resourc-

es, with over 95+ industrial areas, seven

smart cities, and a robust multimodal

transportation network.

Narendra
Modi,

Prime Minister of India

“Madhya Pradesh
has ample land, good

infrastructure and
effective governance;

and therefore is an
excellent investment

destination”

2 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

The agriculture and food processing • Madhya Pradesh is the Food Basket • 2770+ Engineering manufacturers
sectors have seen rapid growth and, are of India • Indore & Bhopal - India’s leading
having numerous investment prospects • 45 Lakh+ Ha. irrigated area with 10 Auto Clusters
for industries. Other important invest- major rivers • 4,500 Ha., Pithampur Industrial
ment sectors include pharmaceuticals, • 11 agro-climatic zones producing Cluster employing 25000+ people
automotive & engineering, textiles and wide variety of Agri produce • NATRAX, Asia’s longest high-speed
garments, logistics, IT/ ITeS, renewable • Largest producer of Oranges, Spices, testing track.
energy, tourism, and urban develop- Ginger, Garlic, Pulses & Gram
ment. • Leading producer of Soyabean, • Pharma clusters at Indore, Dewas,
Wheat, Maize, Citrus Fruits, Onion, Bhopal, Mandideep, Malanpur and
The availability of skilled resources, Flowers and Milk Pithampur SEZ
vast land bank at competitive rates along • 8 Govt. Food Parks & 2 Pvt. Mega • ~300 pharma & medical devices units
with conducive government policy and Food Parks employing over 1 lakh people
supportive administration will help the • Special Incentive Package for Food • State-of-the-art Medical Devices Park
businesses to thrive in the state. Madhya Processing Industries set up in Vikram Udyogpuri, Ujjain
Pradesh has all the infrastructure and • Government Agriculture Colleges at • Rs 10,000 Cr plus worth Pharma
favourable conditions in place making it Indore, Jabalpur & Gwalior along with exports from the state during 2021
an ideal destination for investors to come other Agri focused institutes • Pharmaceuticals exported to 160+
and set-up base. • 7 times Winner of “Krishi Karman countries. Major destinations: US, UK,
Award” Russia, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil
STRATEGIC LOCATION - • 73 AICTE approved Pharmacy insti-
WELL CONNECTED • 10+ Original Equipment manufac- tutes providing 9000+ skilled profes-
turers sionals every year
Located right at the centre of India, Mad- • 200+ Auto component manufactur- • Dedicated Pharma Industrial Parks
hya Pradesh borders five other states in ers proposed for leveraging existing poten-
the country and provides unique access tial in the Pharma sector
to nearly 50% of India’s population. The
entire state is covered either through the Shivraj
passing zone or influence zone of the Singh
projects mentioned below: Chouhan,
• Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor
(DMIC): MP hosts a key industrial node Chief Minister,
in DMIC i.e. Vikram Udyogpuri, (VUL), Madhya Pradesh
Ujjain
• Delhi-Nagpur Industrial Corridor “The State’s
(DNIC): Developed along the North- contribution to India’s
South Corridor to boost the economic economy will reach USD
activities along the corridor 550 billion by 2026 as
• East-West Corridor (NH27): National the country is expected
Highway passing through the Gwalior to become a USD
region, considered as MP’s gateway to 5-trillion economy”
North India
• Delhi Mumbai Greenfield Expressway
(DMGE): A total of 5 exits in the state
enhancing connectivity and boosting
overall industrial ecosystem. Ratlam is
the centre point of DMGE

Madhya Pradesh government has iden-
tified focus sectors based on the state’s
strengths, existing ecosystem and poten-
tial as these sectors would play an instru-
mental role in making the state a $550
bn economy.

3 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

SPOTLIGHT

TEXTILE &
GARMENTS

• Madhya Pradesh accounts for 43% of energy capacity has increased 11x since • Strategic location for defence equip-
India’s and 24% of the World’s organic 2012 ment manufacturing
cotton production. • Highest level of solar radiation, • Upcoming Rare Earth & Titanium
• 60+ large Textile units, 4,000 + looms making the state ideal for setting up Theme Park at Bhopal for rare earth met-
and 2.5 million spindles in operation. solar power plants als processing, R&D and training.
• Entire value chain of textiles sector, • 1st state having Technology Agnostic • 6 Defence PSUs - 4 in Jabalpur and 1
right from Ginning, Spinning, Weav- RE Policy promoting RE Equipment each in Katni & Itarsi
ing & Knitting, Wet-Processing to Gar- manufacturing and innovation • Home to India’s first private sector
menting present in the state • RE contributes 20% of total installed small arms manufacturing unit
• Recipient of highest amount of capacity in MP • 5 commercial airports, Bhopal & Indore
investment (Rs 3,513 crore) under • Sanchi being developed as 1st Solar Airports suitable for MRO activity
GoI’s PLI scheme for the Textile sector. city in the state • 26 airstrips for industry/civil- air
• Policy Incentive up to 200% of • One of the World’s Largest Floating services
Investment in Plant and Machinery for Solar Park (600 MW) coming up in • Upcoming Greenfield Interna-
Garment units. Omkareshwar tional Airport near Indore with Mega
• 200 + units at Readymade Gar- • Rewa Solar Power project – bestowed Investment Region
ment Cluster, Indore with an Apparel with World Bank Group President’s
Designing Center Award MP START- UP
• Availability of Skilled Resources - ECOSYSTEM
Presence of NIFT & NID at Bhopal IT, ITeS & ESDM
and IIITDM at Jabalpur • MP Start-up Policy 2022 to support
• Home to 150+ ESDM units and 220+ start-ups and incubators, with addi-
LOGISTICS & IT/ITes units tional assistance for product based
WAREHOUSING start-ups
• Presence of 4 IT SEZs, 10 IT parks, 2 • Online Portal for End-to-End Finan-
• Excellent road and rail connectivity, Electronic Manufacturing Clusters cial Assistance
ideal for logistics and warehousing hub •Home to 2500+ DPIIT recognized
• Strategic location ideal to rationalise • Plug & Play infrastructure at Indore, start-ups and 45+ state-wide incuba-
the backhaul logistics cost Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur tors
• India’s 50% plus population under •1100+ start-ups led by women entre-
the state’s influence zone providing • Highly skilled talent available with preneurs
access to a huge consumer market` presence of IIT, IIM, IISER, IITMs and •State has 26+ Lakh MSMEs that
• Warehousing Capacity: 40 MMT and other 330+ technical institutes & ITIs Contribute 25.68% to the State GDP
Cold Storage Capacity 13.2 MMT
• Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) • Excellent quality of life with Indore With MP government’s
at Indore and Bhopal coming up with and Bhopal among top 10 most liveable investor-friendly policies and an
GoI support & cleanest cities of India impressive track record in key
• Pioneer state in the creation of Steel sectors, the state can claim to be on a
Silos. Attractive incentive policies for • 24*7 uninterrupted quality power at robust growth trajectory.
Logistics & Warehousing units/Park competitive rates

• Madhya Pradesh is gifted with • State falls in Low-Risk Seismic Zone -
natural resources enabling production ideal for setting up data centres
of renewable energy. The renewable

4 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

LAST WORD: LEADING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

www.businessworld.in RNI NO. 39847/81 I 14 JANUARY 2023

UKRAINE INDIA INC.
WAR

GLOBAL
SLOWDOWN

SFLTIEGAHDTY
India Inc may face CHINA CRISIS
turbulence in the + COVID
short run due to global
headwinds. However, RISING BORDER
industry leaders of the INFLATION TENSIONS
fastest-growing large
economy would like to
focus on long-term goals

Rs 150 INSIDE INNENWINGS

Cover design by SHIV KUMAR SHIKHAR DHAWAN





EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

NEW YEAR MARKS DAWN OF NEW HOPE

ANNURAG BATRA The future depends on what we do in the present. — Mahatma Gandhi

 [email protected] Dear Reader,

THE NEW YEAR marks the dawn of Hope even if it comes with
formidable challenges. There is no end in sight to the Ukraine war.
Globally, inflation is a challenge. There is a slowdown in many parts of
the world. The slowdown in the second-largest economy, China, affects
the entire world. China faces challenges on multiple fronts. Thousands
may have died in a new wave of Covid there, according to unofficial
estimates. Global corporations sense that they must look for alternative
manufacturing bases. India surely can emerge as a viable option, even
if there are challenges in this path.

Global headwinds have been a matter of concern for India Inc. too.
Yet, as our cover story reveals, industry leaders are not unduly worried,
as they think long-term, even as they prepare for short-term exigencies.
We believe that this will be a year of social entrepreneurship, of well-
being, of design thinking and the acceleration of entrepreneurship in
India to solve India’s unique problems and capture India’s opportunities.
ChatGPT and advances in artificial intelligence will make a bigger
impact in 2023. The year will be historic and eventful, marking as it
does India’s presidentship of G20 and BW Businessworld promises to
bring to you special content around it.

The Covid pandemic has sensitised Corporate India to unpredictable
and difficult situations. Surely, this experience will be put to good use
to tide over other crises of the future. The Last Word in this issue is on
leadership in uncertain times. I am sure you will enjoy reading our
special report on the swashbuckling Indian opener, Shikhar Dhawan,
who is padding up for his second innings. Our reporters talk to experts
and industry leaders to map the year ahead. Of course, we also bring to
you all our regular columns and features.

In the year ahead we promise you insightful and relevant reports
to help you plan your future – financial and otherwise – and make it
more secure. We aim to introduce new features to make your reading
experience richer and livelier. May 2023 be a year of healing, success
and joy. I wish that you achieve everything you put your mind to and
grow into the best version of yourself. Get ready for an abundant and
amazing year of blessings. May 2023 be a year of transformation for you.
As HeatherAsh Amara says, “Change is inevitable, but transformation
is by conscious choice.”

Do send in your valuable feedback, comments, suggestions and
transformative collaboration ideas. Let me wish you, dear reader, a
very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

8 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023



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INSIDE: IBLF Delhi Chapter MAILBOX

www.businessworld.in RNI NO. 39847/81 I 31 DECEMBER 2022 YOUR COMMENTS

THE YEAR OF

RECOVERY
As the Indian economy approaches
the $5 trillion milestone, a look at what
2023 holds for the various sectors

Rs 150

Economy WHAT’S IN STORE FOR AVIATION?
Education
Manufacturing This refers to the editorial (“In Expansion Mode”,
Agriculture BW, December 31). It is heartening to know
Finance that the aviation sector is expected to boom and
break all records this year. The author points out
Aviation that regional connectivity is getting stronger with
every passing quarter, which will further fuel the
TALKBACK BLIPP number of passengers flying within the country,
THIS PAGE especially from smaller centres. More passengers
Submissions to BW |Businessworld TO GIVE US will mean more airports, more aircrafts and better
should include the writer’s name and YOUR FEEDBACK aviation infrastructure. In fact, more aircrafts have
address and be sent by email to the INSTANTLY been ordered by the carriers, some of which will be
editor at [email protected] delivered during the course of 2023. Another plus is
or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House, the Digi Yatra policy, which will enable passengers
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 to experience a seamless and hassle-free movement
at airports without the need for verification of ticket
and ID at multiple touch points. December 2022
saw the launch of Digi Yatra at Delhi, Bengaluru
and Varanasi Airports, while implementation
at Kolkata, Pune, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad
Airports is planned by March 2023. Going by these
developments, exciting times are in store for the
aviation sector in 2023.

SHALINI APTE, EMAIL

BUILDING FUTURE CAPABILITIES

This refers to the editorial (“Youth & Professionals
Will Need Constant Upskilling ”, BW, December
31). The author rightly points out that today we have
technologies that allow identifying adjacent skill
sets and people analytics to build future capabilities
through learning journeys that are in the flow of
work. Priority must be given to talent development
by encouraging employees to choose their mentors
and develop skills/potential through structured
connections that can be facilitated by AI-powered
technologies.

KAMAL SINGH, EMAIL

12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023



CONTENTS

VOLUME 42, ISSUE 06 14 JANUARY 2023

INDIA INC.

HEADWINDS
GALORE

14 Jottings REMEMBERING 66
SUMAN SINHA
Toward that export shipment target of
$500 billion; Bank NPAs plummet; 42 Suman’s Mgmt. Style Concerned But
Agrarian India promises a year of bounty; Not Alarmed
India combat ready for fresh surge in Covid, Prakash Iyer, author, speaker and leadership
and more coach and former MD of Kimberly Clark on Corporate India faces
former PepsiCo India chief Suman Sinha’s testing times in the New
16 Columns style of management and leadership Year. But given the strong
fundamentals of the
Vikas Singh (p. 18); Prabal Basu Roy 46 A True Nationalist economy, industry captains
(p. 20); Amit Tiwari (p. 22); Hardayal hope to tide over short-term
Singh (p. 26); Srinath Sridharan & Steve Former Hindustan Unilever vice chairman crises by focusing on long-
Correa (p. 28); Krishan Kalra (p. 30); Amit Mahendra Kumar Sharma on Suman’s tenure term goals
Kapoor, Amitabh Kant & Christian Kettels with PepsiCo and how he with immense
(p. 32) Srinath Sridharan(p. 36); Steve dedication and distinction laid the basic
Correa (p. 38); Kiran Karnik (p. 40); foundation of what Pepsi is today
Rachan Chhachhi (p. 96)
48 Rich Legacy

Subroto Chattopadhyay, part of the leadership

team of PepsiCo India during Suman Sinha’s

tenure at the helm, on how he made PepsiCo a Cover design by DINESH S BANDUNI
household name in India

14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

56 Batting for

Businesses

Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan

launches a venture capital

fund focused on investing in

early-stage startups in the

sportstech domain

Photograph by Suresh Gola EXPECTATIONS FROM THE YEAR AHEAD
THE BUDGET
52 Poor Show 86 Housing Sector
74 Startups & the investor community
Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance 76 Healthcare Anshuman Magazine of CBRE writes
Now, takes stock of the media and 78 Education that with one of the strongest growth
entertaiment industry’s performance 80 Medium and Small Enterprises rates in the world, India will continue
during the year gone by 82 Energy to fuel demand for real estate
84 Logistics
54 Small is Powerful 88 Personal Finance

Markand Adhikari, CMD, SABGROUP Aniruddha Bose says that 2023 will
wonders for how long Bollywood can be a year in which intelligent
keep getting away with poor content investors will prevail while specula-
and falling back on OTT for profits every tors will despair
time
92 Sustainable Energy
60 Funding Winter
N. Venu, Managing Director & CEO,
Dhianu Das, Co-founder, Agility India & South Asia, Hitachi Energy
Ventures dispels the notion that Indian writes that he sees India advancing
startups have been badly hit on towards a sustainable energy future
account of the funding winter and
shows how some sections have actually 94 Gaming
flourished
The gaming market is expected to
62 In Conversation get a big boost in 2023 from the
adoption of new-age technology
Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister
of Heavy Industries on his political 102
journey, and work done by the
government in the electric vehicle Last Word
segment
Sumant Sinha,
98 In Conversation Chairman & CEO,
ReNew Power on how to
Shri Jayendra Puri Swamy of Raja- navigate the
rajeshwari, Bengaluru on Shri Kailash challenges posed to
Ashrama Mahasamsthana, his journey businesses by an
towards spiritualism, and more uncertain political and
economic environment

TOTAL NO.
OF PAGES
INCLUDING
COVER 104

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15 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

JOTTINGS Photograph by PIB

Toward that Attempts to secure a trade deal with the United Kingdom by
Export Shipment Diwali 2022 have come a cropper, but Goyal has divulged that
negotiations are scheduled with Britain, the European Union
Target of and Canada. The Modi government has been negotiating
$500 Billion FTAs with many of its partners – both regional and bilateral
– to boost export-oriented domestic manufacturing with
If you like cricket analogies, India is negotiating trade an ambitious export shipment target of $ 450-500 billion by
pacts with the speed of two legends –the Australian FY2023. The 13 FTAs signed so far include those with Japan,
bowler Bret Lee and Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The swift diplomacy, is of course, part of all the other policy (ASEAN) grouping. The point to ponder here is the extent
measures to transform India into a developed country by 2047. to which the trade pacts have actually benefitted Indian
The very latest of the slew of trade agreements was signed manufacturers, but we guess, we will get to know by and by.
on 29 December, when the India-Australia Economic and
Cooperation Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into effect. The — Abhishek Sharma
pact opens up the Australian market to thousands of home
products. Talking about IndAus ECTA, a hopeful Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said that it will unlock the enormous potential of
trade, and economic ties and boost businesses on both sides.
India expects bilateral trade with Australia to increase to $31
billion in five years.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that at least
two more free trade agreements (F TAs) will be signed in 2023.

Photograph by Danilantiq Bank NPAs
Plummet
The year 2022 closes on a happy note in a surprising
sector – banking – which should logically have been to the 26th Financial Stability Report of the Reserve Bank of
stressed at the end of two long years of slow growth India. The report says that the banking system remains sound
and increased borrowings by both individuals and and well-capitalised. The RBI seems confident that despite
corporate entities. The gross non-performing asset (GNPA) the strong global headwinds that the Indian economy faces,
ratio of scheduled commercial banks has actually fallen to a its sound macroeconomic fundamentals and healthy financial
seven-year low of five per cent in September 2022, according and non-financial sector balance sheets provide strength and
resilience.

The year 2022, it says, finally proved to be a year in which
banks could finally move away from years of distress in their
balance sheets towards healthy loan growth and profitability.
The banking sector’s profit registered a whopping 60.5 per
cent year-on-year rise in the second quarter of this fiscal at
Rs 58,717 crore.The healthy loan growth, reflecting India Inc.’s
thrust on capital expenditure and declining stress in banks’
balance sheets, indeed signals a happy new year for the sector.

— Arjun Yadav

16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

A Year of Bounty
For years at end, the inadequacy of the infrastructure
available at the farmlands to store crop and supply the highest ever foodgrain production in the country. The
chain inadequacies have dampened the euphoria fourth advance estimates show foodgrain production
over India’s steadily rising food production. According at 315.72 million tonnes in December, from 308.65 million
tonnes in January 2022. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna

to Union agriculture too has seen a record

ministry data, projects outgo. The latest data

under the Agri shows that over 12.24

Infrastructure Fund (AIF) crore (provisional)

have seen significant farmer applicants have

expansion in 2022. The received claims of

data shows that as of over Rs 1,28,522 crore

December 2022, the till December, 2022.

projects under the AIF Eleven months ago, in

have led to the creation January 2022, around

of 8,076 warehouses, 9.01 crore (provisional)

2,788 primary farmer applicants

processing units, 1,860 had received claims

custom hiring centres, of over Rs 1,04,196

937 sorting and grading crore, according to an

units, 696 cold store Photograph by Thalabhula agriculture ministry
projects, and around statement. So let’s hope

3,613 other kinds of post-harvest management projects and 2023seesareininginoftherunawaypriceincreasesincereals

community farming assets, utilising a whopping Rs 13,681 andvegetables,nowthatthecountryhasmoreinfrastructure

crore of sanctioned funds. to store and preserve them.

The statistics come at the end of a year that has witnessed — Ashish Sinha

Combat Ready Photograph by Yuri Arcurs

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh could not only meet our down demand during the pandemic
Mandaviya has reviewed the status and adequacy of but also be in a position to supply medicines to 150 countries.”
Covid management drugs and production capacities
with representatives of pharmaceutical companies He stressed that this was achieved without any fall in quality
recently to ensure that India is equipped to effectively handle or hike in the price of the medicines. The pharmaceutical
any situation arising from the surge in Covid cases in many companies assured their continued support and expressed
countries around the globe. confidence in being able to manage the supply chain for Covid
drugs. Some assurance with another surge in Covid rearing its
The pharmaceutical companies were asked to closely watch head. — ShivamTyagi
the global supply chain scenario. The pharma industry was also
asked to closely monitor the production and availability of APIs
(Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) as well as formulations of
essentialmedicinesforCovid management.TheUnionhealth
minister directed companies to ensure adequate stocks and
availability of all drugs, including Covid drugs in the supply
chain up to the retail level.

Mandaviya appreciated and congratulated pharmaceutical
companiesfor theirinvaluablecontributiontowardcombatting
the Covid pandemic. He said, “India’s pharmaceutical industry
is robust, resilient and responsive. Due to their strength, we

17 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

COLUMN By Vikas Singh

Fin Literacy Pays.
Consumers
Need Protection,
Redressal Too

FINANCIAL DECISION-MAKING is getting increasingly complex for linked to global events. Currency and
most Indians. Despite the fact that we make decisions about money every commodities impact domestic prices,
day, less than a tenth in India are equipped with financial knowledge. and the indices. Only a fraction has the
Complexity of financial products, changing consumer habits and evolv- ability to evaluate the associated ‘risks
ing behaviour is making it more difficult for Indians to manage their finances, and and returns’ of the equity markets.
plan for the long term. As many as 2,500 mutual fund (MF)
schemes are on offer!
Retiral benefits and pension are becoming ‘fluid’, equally complicated, accom-
panied by an increasing shift of responsibility from employers to employees. There The vulnerable seeking the prover-
are several products to select from: one more sophisticated, more complicated than bial ‘multi-bagger’ rely on ‘stray’ advi-
theother. Fixeddepositsandtheirinterestrates,bonds,andyields,etc.aredynamic sors’ (operators) ‘preying’ on telegram
and difficult to understand. Similarly, ‘insuring’ life, vehicle or home is highly intri- and YouTube’. Some bet their homes,
cate. Most go blind. One needs to be a genius to understand mutual funds (MF). many others lose their retirement sav-
ings. Many mistake cryptos for assets
Financial Literacy Not a Sideshow. Key to Wealth, Wellness & Security and currency. It has ended badly.
Most, including the educated, fail to make judicious financial decisions. As a
result, financial decision-making is getting more onerous. It’s anxiety-inducing, Pull Is Alluring
even stressful. The lack of financial understanding may explain why many Indians The Consumer Act is ineffective, the
struggle with saving and investing, and underscores why the more vulnerable are administration lacks capacity and
in a perpetual debt trap. intent, and as a result, the number of
families susceptible to mis-selling is
A Crux study across 22,000 participants highlights ubiquitous financial ‘il- growing. ‘Buy now pay later’ is enticing.
literacy’. The study measured the awareness and knowledge of different financial Online shopping, and other financial
instruments, and the features. Only a tenth managed to score a ‘pass’; some demo- institutions both overwhelm and ‘over-
graphic groups (women, less educated), score even lower. Only a miniscule per- load and induce’ the consumers. Lack
centage understand and possess the ability to develop a long-term financial plan. of financial education compounds the
There is widespread financial illiteracy even in more well-to-do neighbourhoods, problem and shows up ‘expensive’ and
clearly dispelling the belief that education is corelated to financial knowledge. irreversible blunders. Even devastat-
ing, for many.
The financialisation of the economy is accelerating. The regulatory framework
hasn’t kept pace and is weak. About 100 million own Demat accounts. There are India needs to democratise financial
about75millioncreditcardsincirculation,withanaveragespendof Rs15,000per education with a goal to make peo-
user. As many as 20 million have accessed home loans. Another 460 million have ple understand the economic world
active personal loans. Over half a million ATM withdrawals, and nearly 120 million around them. The focus must be to
point-of sale transactions are made every month. India’s household debt accounted modify behaviour.
for a seventh of the nominal GDP. The stock markets are volatile, and increasingly

18 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Financial literacy initia-
tives need to be large, scal-
able, and consistent. The
programme managers must
present influencers who peo-
ple connect with, through
channels they relate to, and
a language they understand.
Financial education should
be a combination of informa-
tion, skill, and ‘motivation’
and go beyond ‘knowing’,
with a focus on application
and behaviour.

Complementary

Those who regulate and su-

pervise financial markets

would do well to devote close attention to the financial ecosystem holistically. show up as extortionate costs. It also

Financial education is only one part of the strategy and must serve to comple- translates into rancorous behaviour,

ment financial access, substantive protection, and robust redressal mechanisms. driving away and discouraging high

There is a pressing need to ‘simplify’ financial products and ease and speed up yielding initiatives. The consequences

redressal. Similarly, there is a need to regulate organisations and institutions of poor decisions can spread to the

to eliminate mis-selling and punish habitual offenders. Corporates have a role rest of the economy.

to play.

Whilethemoderneconomyrequiresconsumerstomakemanycomplexchoices, Democratise Financial Literacy

the marketers and the financiers are not helping. Respondents bemoan that It must concern the policymakers,

financial ‘advisors’ often influence consumers and investors to ‘shift’ funds (even and societies at large that the financial

retiral)intohigh-riskinvestmentvehicles,endangeringtheirlifesaving,potentially knowledge gap is not narrowing but

widening in some societies. The

The Crux study highlights that the financially literate are prudent Crux study estimates that a third
of wealth inequality, particularly
and judicious. They are more likely to plan, save, invest, and
at the mid wealth pyramid could be

accumulate more wealth. Most manage loans better, refinance accountedforbypoorfinancialde-
cisions. Over half the respondents
their mortgages and never borrow against their retirement have indicated that they were will-
savings. They are less likely to have credit card debt ing to ‘invest’ in financial literacy as

they do believe the investment will

impacting their life, hurting children’s education, and often depriving them of a enhance their wellbeing and financial

dignified retired life. health. Over 80 per cent understand

Mis-selling is rampant and often encouraged, raising ethical issues. The playing that making poor financial decisions,

field is far from level. It’s all the more imperative for the middle class to understand can get them into deep financial trou-

basicfinances. Menarebetterthanwomen,andparticularlyinfamilieswheremen ble, which can spill over to their fami-

aremorelikelytomakefinancialdecisions.However,menaremoreconfidentthan lies; and hurt opportunities.

they should be; and more likely to repeat mistakes. This is potentially dangerous Financial knowledge is an invest-

and worrisome. The study suggests that women are more likely to embrace finan- ment in human capital. The knowl-

cial education, even adopt it. edgeable make better financial de-

The Crux study highlights that the financially literate are prudent and judi- cisions, and have a material impact

cious. They are more likely to plan, save, invest, and accumulate more wealth. on individuals, families, and the

Most manage loans better, refinance their mortgages and never borrow against economy.

their retirement savings. They are less likely to have credit card debt. The cost of

financial illiteracy is often compounded by arrogance of ‘little’ knowledge and The author is an economist and columnist

Photograph by Indomercy2012 19 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

GUEST COLUMN Prabal Basu Roy

MR NARAYANA MURTHY:

You Were
Actually Right
All These
Years

O F ALL THE THINGS Infosys did right – and, in fact, they When organisations are being built
were the undisputed trailblazers for the Indian corporate it is critical to enunciate its core val-
sector in many respects – succession planning was not one ues, and the culture the promoters
of them. wish to inculcate, as the company en-
gages with professionals while scal-
This is somewhat puzzling for organisations which as- ing up. It is a ‘social contract’ which
it commits to when, inter alia, at-
pire to create institutions built to last a 100 years, as suc- tracting talent, providing potential
career options, and laying the tenets
cession planning is by far one of the most critical leadership of general decision making it wishes
to foster within the company. This is
aspects necessary for the execution of this vision. a non trivial matter and, in many re-
spects, lays the foundational ethos of
Had it not been for the brilliance of Nandan Nilekani, as well as his avail- the company itself – its very soul.

ability, willingness and humility, the permanent destruction of value in The difference in this critical as-
pect with what are termed as “lala”
Infosys’ third, arguably fourth, tryst with passing on the baton would have companies should be obvious. This
is not to say that the latter companies
been devastating. It is in that context that Nandan’s recent statement that are not well run or do not create value
– but the social contract is as differ-
there is no plan B assumes significance – the proverbial thorn in the crown ent as chalk and cheese as is the belief
system of the organisation.
which adorns the head!
Hence, it is a trifle surprising that
Stigma of Nepotism Mr Murthy, at this late stage in Info-
sys’ life, has decided to go public on
However, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy’s explicit statement that he was wrong this about turn of such a fundamental
in keeping out the family from the management of Infosys seems deeply precept on which Infosys has been
flawed, or at least more an expression of anguish rather than the clarity of
thought he has been known for in the years he led Infosys. In the eastern
hemisphere existence of a feudal culture is a given, and our struggles across
nations and societies continue to be the challenge of changing the status quo
from nepotism to genuine meritocracy. Infosys has been a torchbearer in this
regard, and has spawned an entire new generation of professionals with the
desire to create organisations without the stigma of nepotism attached to it.
The damage nepotism can do to organisations is evident all around, includ-
ing celebrated examples from public life.

20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

built. Nepotism is as much a matter
of perception as it is of substance.

Assessed Competence

Whilst individual progeny could
surely have strengths to manage
large corporations, in most cases
the fine line between perceived
competence and assessed compe-
tency is often very difficult to
establish. More tricky are situa-
tions where repeated failures of the
scion are treated very differently
from the exacting standards
applied to professional managers.

These give avenues for discon-
tent, creation of cheerleaders or
encourage pure submission to the
powers that be; hence creating a

Infosys @ 40 – struggling with succession (LtoR) Co-founders
Kris Gopalakrishnan,
At the 40th anniversary celebrations of the founding of S. D. Shibulal,
Infosys on 15 December, N. R. Narayana Murthy said he was Nandan Nilekani,
“completely wrong” in not allowing family members of the N. R. Narayana Murthy
founders to take up active roles in the company

virtual downward spiral leading to given our governance environment. This would not have been so in case of
a relatively lower performance poorly performing professional managements where change would have been
organisation – when viewed against easily possible.
a meritocratic organisation with no
next generation family at the helm. Infosys has never had a dearth of talent to take on the leadership mantle. That
One does not have to try very hard many left post Nandan’s stint in the mid 2000s bears testimony to the rather
to contextualise this in corporates short sighted policy of the “founders’ round table” at running the organisa-
around us, including those in the tion. That Nandan had many years in front of him when he quit (to make way
IT sector. for other founders in running the company) and gave up the chance of build-
ing a more robust organisation is a case of lost opportunity for its long term
Perhaps the only facet which fa- shareholders. That he went on to build something much more substantive was
vours the family from taking over the ultimately the nation’s gain, and testimony to the leadership loss at Infosys.
reigns of management is the thesis
that their high stake in the company None of us can fathom the reasons why Mr Murthy made the statement as he
drives more measured decision mak- did in a recent conversation on national TV. Was it a trial balloon ? Or was it a
ing in the interest of sustainability genuine feeling of regret ? Should we juxtapose that with Nandan’s comment on
in shareholder value. This though is not having a plan B ? We will be only wiser in hindsight if plans are afoot for the
open to debate. From JP industries families’ role in the succession planning exercise though it seems improbable.
to Reliance ADAG to the GVK group, But, at least in my view, Mr Murthy was right over all these years in keeping the
the corporate sector is littered with founders’ families out of management ... and he should not regret this decision
examples where this has not been in view of the outstanding company they have built and will bequeath to future
the case and, in fact, the flexibility of generations of stakeholders.
boards to drive change in the man-
agement simply did not materialise The author is a Sloan Fellow of the London Business School, non

executive director, and an advisor to chairmen of corporate boards

Photograph by Sanjay Sakaria, Jagadeesh NV 21 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

AmitScope Amit Tiwari , Global Head ,
Marketing Demand Center, TCS

ChatGPT - the
newest Bot on
the Block and
what it means for

marketers

We are still in the early stages of this
technology.It’s doubtless going to have a
significant impact on all kinds of creative

endeavours,including marketing and
communications.The conundrum is the

uncertainty of those implications

TECH, MARKETING, and communication professionals have been That is possible, mainly, because it
skittishly watching as ChatGPT took on more than a million users is a variant of Generative Pretrained
in just five days. There have even been suggestions that eventually Transformer 3 (GPT-3), a powerful
ChatGPT (or other such AI) may replace marketers, writers, and AI model trained by OpenAI. Given
other creative mavens altogether. I disagree. Yes, it can assist with an initial text as a prompt, it will pro-
straightforward automated chores and provide extremely high-level sugges- duce text that continues the prompt.
tions that may serve as the framework for a plan, but ultimately it is devoid of, You can ask ChatGPT a question in
in its own words, “personal experiences or feelings. I exist solely to process and any format. The bot is adept at un-
generate text based on the information that I have been trained on.” And that derstanding language, adjusting
is the crux of the matter here. Artificial Intelligence, in this case ChatGPT, responses based on your keywords,
will be able to generate content for your next great idea, but it won’t be able to and providing a conversational and
help your readers or viewers feel anything. Yet. There will be a logical structure thorough answer.
and flow to the content, albeit devoid of storytelling. So far. And that is where
the uncertainty lies. Will it take over marketing? Will it replace marketers? If you don’t like the answer, you
could ask it to try again. Or provide
Remember digital photography? Or digital film editing? Or digital music more details about what it is you’re
editing software? Each successful invention in technology contributed a new looking for. The bot continues a con-
capability, increased the effectiveness of an already-existing creative process versation, not just giving out single
activity, or did both. Using artificial intelligence for creative endeavours is not prompt answers. And the answers
something unfamiliar or new. It’s inevitable. We’ve been there, we’ve got this. can be different every time. For now,
the answers it gives are driven by
WHAT IS CHATGPT? the data that has been fed into it. It
ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses deep learning to generate conversational, doesn’t currently have access to the
human-like text responses that are based on the input provided. Unlike other internet to look up answers and it
chatbots using pre-programmed responses, ChatGPT provides more dy- won’t know anything about current
namic and varied content to help its users get rich answers to their questions. events.

22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

ing inappropriate requests,
and issues related to inacces-
sibility or unreliable commu-
nication channels. Due to its
quick and effective handling
of numerous customer inter-
actions, ChatGPT has the po-
tential to significantly impact
the digital marketing sector.
Nurture Leads: Chatbots have
assisted in nurturing leads
and directing them into the
sales pipeline for some time
now. ChatGPT can remember
what users said earlier, pro-
vide follow-up corrections,
and even suggest different
options. These tools can sup-
port leads in a more effective,
tailored process to boost en-
gagement and aid in decision-
making. ChatGPT could ena-
ble marketers to take business
to the next level.

HOW CAN IT HELP MARKETERS? THE ROAD AHEAD

Like the many other AI tools that have recently been released, ChatGPT We already routinely use AI to re-
represents a significant advancement. For some, it even represents a terrify- search things on Google, check our
ing development, but like any new tool, ChatGPT has the potential to be an grammar, or search for the right im-
invaluable asset for you and your team if used properly. Some of its uses for age for our social media posts. Now
marketing purposes include: a more advanced and nuanced ver-
Keyword Recommendations: ChatGTP can be used to quickly identify syno- sion of this AI will help us construct
nyms for root keywords. For an SEO specialist, identifying keywords is just the written word. The only question
one small part of an on-page optimisation strategy or to do PPC campaigns. that remains is how to harness it as
Summary Information: If you are looking to write an article, especially a professionals.
listicle-style post, ChatGPT would be a great place to start as it helps with
outline and structure. However, it may not be able to understand intent as Perhaps it’s crucial to keep in mind
well as a human. So for instance, while it may provide great information on that, despite the development and
‘what to do in Goa’ it may not necessarily give you the answer you are looking advancement of digital editing, we
for when you ask for ‘best kept secrets of Goa’ for which SERPs provide far still need artistic talent to make
richer and more intent driven information as these were written by humans a film resonate with the audience.
with actual experience of Goa. Nonetheless, for a quick summary, ChatGPT Digital editing merely provided new
is very effective. features that helped content crea-
Simplify and Scale: One of ChatGPT’s key features is its capacity to offer tors accomplish tasks they couldn’t
prompt and thorough responses in conversations to improve your customers’ before. Similarly, ChatGPT will am-
experiences. ChatGPT can generate real, organically unfolding conversations plify creativity. It will reshape and
to respond to customer questions, requests, and concerns across all marketing reconfigure our ways of working. To
channels. This is a remarkable improvement over the old, pre-programmed what extent and how effectively it
chatbots. It can also effectively address common customer service issues such will do that, though, is yet to be seen.
as long response times, personalised conversations, deciphering and declin- What is certain is that it is still our
story, and it’s up to us to tell it well –
with our new tools.

23 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023





Guest Column / Hardayal Singh

announced on the counting date itself; likewise, no team
in the World Cup has seriously complained against the
standard of refereeing at the World Cup.

Compare the elections in India with those in the
United States. The election procedures there differ from
state to state, sometimes county to county, and the count-
ing itself is spread over days, if not weeks. Great credit is
therefore, due to the Election Commission of India for
the seamless and efficient manner in which it carries out
its duties.

PLAYING AS A TEAM
The World Cup has shown us that star studded teams do
not always succeed. Teams from Croatia and Morocco,
small countries with very few stars, reached the semi-
finals, while many powerhouses – Germany Spain,
Portugal etc., fell by the wayside.

Both Croatia and Morocco did well because they exe-
cuted their strategies well. The players focused on their

Leadership is
a Function, Not an

Entitlement

E allotted roles and played unselfishly as a team. The
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did this in Gujarat but was
XCEPT THAT THEY TOOK place simultaneously, the unable to replicate its success in Himachal Pradesh
recent Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal where it lost to the Congress for the opposite reason –
Pradesh, as well as those to the municipal corporation of indiscipline.
Delhi, seem to be unrelated to the soccer World Cup in
Qatar. Even so, they provide pretty similar insights into ELECTIONS & THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP
the essence of organisational effectiveness. Arvind Kejriwal bested the BJP in Delhi. So in the end,
the score was one-one-one and the party that performed
First, the role of the regulator or a referee to ensure a better on the voting day won. This proves that democracy
fair contest can never be overemphasised. The Election in India is alive and kicking and the criticism that it is
Commission conducted the elections with credibility slowly degenerating into one party rule is far from justi-
according to a well set protocol. The results were fied. The world’s largest democracy by a long shot can
undoubtedly improve. But so also can many other
democracies in advanced countries whose deficiencies
are seldom discussed.

These elections also tell us something about the

26 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

The World Cup has shown us that star studded teams do not always
succeed. Teams from Croatia and Morocco, small countries with very
few stars, reached the semi-finals, while many powerhouses – Germany
Spain, Portugal etc., fell by the wayside. Both Croatia and Morocco did well
because they executed their strategies well. The players focused on their
allotted roles and played unselfishly as a team. The BJP did this in Gujarat
but was unable to replicate its success in Himachal Pradesh where it lost to
the Congress for the opposite reason – indiscipline

essence of leadership in all areas – sports, politics, public In Gujarat, the Congress party lost because it failed to
administration, business, academia, social service etc. communicate; and when it did, its messaging lacked res-
onance with the voters. Contrast this with the BJP which
HAVELI KI ZINDAGI CHALLIS SAAL implemented its strategy brilliantly. Its messaging too
The Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in Gujarat resonated with its workers and the masses.
because it appeared to have lost all connect with the aver-
age Gujarat voter, losing 60 seats and 14.1 per cent vote LEADERSHIP IS A FUNCTION
share. But this is not a one-time affair; the party has been And this really is the essence of effective leadership in
in secular decline since 1965. It was always stretching its any field: The leader devises a strategy and monitors its
luck when it confined its leadership to just one family. implementation, and ensures effective communication
with all stakeholders. If he is a politician, he also enthuses
Gujarat is the latest consequence of this fatal flaw. For both grassroots party workers and voters.
truth be told, the configuration of genes that produces an
outstanding leader is difficult to replicate and does not Ordinarily, these skills are not hereditary. Reminded a
always pass on from one generation to the next. CEO of a large pharma multinational to his audience
comprising middle level officers of the Income-tax
The Marwaris have an interesting saying, “Haveli ki department, forty years ago, “Remember, leadership is a
zindagi challis saal,” they say. This implies that just as function to be performed and not an entitlement to be
the economic life of a family mansion is limited to forty enjoyed.”
years; so too is the duration of the contribution that one
family can make to a successful business. The founder of The writer was Chief Commissioner of Income-tax and is the
a successful organisation therefore, must pass on the author of the Moral Compass – Finding Balance and Purpose
baton not to his progeny but a younger professional who
possesses leadership skills. in an Imperfect World (Harper Collins India, 2022)

Photo courtesy: BJP.ORG 27 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

PEOPLE TALK By Srinath Sridharan & Steve Correa

A tually ever use some of those domestic branded products.
Yet we enjoy those ads, and even believe in those products
RE YOU A COLLEGE TOPPER? being featured. Have you ever wondered – Why?
Did you go to an Ivy League school?
Are you a CEO? Are you in the Top Why not have ads that feature “ordinary” people? Will
three of your industry charts? Are we find those ads memorable and credible?
you in the 30 under 30 list? Have
you won this and that award? Do you Materialism & ‘Maange More’
have a million followers on social me- With our world emphasising materialism, there seems to
dia? Do your kids go to tennis, chess, be a notion that we are inadequate because we lack posses-
Math Olympiad, school drama, or sions within or outside. This inadequacy is experienced,
violin classes after school? Did you despite the presence of stimulating challenges, enjoying
go to the US open finals? all creature comforts of life, and strong relationships. It
is as if life urges us to keep striving, rather than to enjoy
From all around us, there is so thriving. (Like Dil Maange More). It is ironical that while
much pressure to be a winner. To be we enjoy better quality of lives than our previous genera-
extra ordinary. To be special. To be a tion, we are relatively less happy, with risk of depression
notch above everyone else. This pres- and social pathology.
sure is simply not funny. And in most
cases, such societal pressure is cruel IT IS GOOD
expectation. TO BE

Intellectually, we understand that ORDINARY
there is a ‘normal curve’, a universal
axiom that has been known for cen- Undoubtedly as social animals we bask in the status
turies. The Central Limit Theorem wealth provides. It allows us the façade to trick the other
(CLT) avers that (in most common that we have it all together, while deep down the human
scenarios) anytime “a bunch of things hunger is the wish to be loved. Wealth creates a feeling of
are added up,” a normal distribution entitlement, self-interest and lowers compassion and em-
is going to result. The CLT shows up pathy. The same sense of ambitions and aspiration seem
in all sorts of real-world situations: to be set in stone in the world of corporates. What then
height, roll of dice, toss of coin, IQ, results is the KRA setting and KPI development towards
Income distribution, shoe size, stu- sheer milestones (financial outcomes)? Yea, they are im-
dent’s report card, or birth weight. portant for businesses. But what about values, ethos, cul-
Even as an average individual, most tural bindings, and inclusive moorings?
of us also intuitively get this. Yet,
there is pressure on every one to be While the corporates wish to develop more extra ordi-
above average! nary individuals, the actual trick in developing individuals
and leaders is in shaping ordinary individuals to deliver
One sees advertisements featuring extra ordinary outcomes. But then, do we invest such time,
celebrities for brand endorsements energy, and other resources? Knowing fully well, that it
with their halo of “extraordinariness”
to peddle “ordinary” products used
by “ordinary” consumers. Heart of
hearts, we know that those celebrities
won’t be travelling to the local subur-
ban market in that swanky car, to ever
shop for those FMCG products. And
for all we care, they may not even ac-

28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Photograph by Andrew Lozovyi A hero does not
have to wear a cape
cannot be a downloaded-solution to and work to ‘save
an HR objective? the world’: to be a
pop star, a soccer or
The world needs a different kind tennis great. Rather
of richness. In our view, a rich person the hero is the more
is a healer, a restorer, a storyteller, a ordinary person,
lover. This kind of richness makes the like our parents who
world more humane. A hero does not toiled hard so that
have to wear a cape and work to ‘save we could have many
the world’: to be a pop star, a soccer of our needs fulfilled,
or tennis great. Rather the hero is the that provided a
more ordinary person, like our par- nurturing and caring
ents who toiled hard so that we could environment, from
have many of our needs fulfilled, that which we derived our
provided a nurturing and caring en- values
vironment, from which we derived
our values. Our societies will be able tions would ever seek. The ordinary may surprisingly
to offer many inspirational stories of be the emotional superstars, the privileged who can be
ordinary lives, who achieved extra or- ordinary while the damned ‘other’ are compelled to be
dinary results. The recent pandemic remarkable.
has made abundant many stories of
extraordinary efforts by the Covid A very live question that we need to respond to is, “If I
warriors, who are ordinary people. accept that I am ordinary, then I will never be respected
or achieve anything.”.
Societal Mishap
However, the ‘ordinary’ kind of life is It might be useful to ask yourself: Where in your life
considered akin to being a loser. We do you feel like you are struggling to be extraordinary?
imagine that a quiet life is something Where in your life do you want to apply the healing
that only a failed person without op- balm of normalcy? Why are you putting pressure on
yourself to be extraordinary? Who are you comparing
yourself to?

We have only a finite amount of time to live our life.
Between our ideals, and what is ideal living, the choices
are lesser if we choose qualitatively positive aspects. It
is NOW – the time to accept excellence as a choice, and
not chase only perfection. Every day we are faced with
many things that can cause us to feel stuck in an average
life, eventually falling victim to what is called the force of
average. We even feel guilty of being who we are or what
we are. Instead of just being, as we are. It is quite alright
to be ordinary. Just plain and simple – ordinary.

Srinath Sridharan is an author, policy researcher, corporate advisor and
an independent markets commentator

Steve Correa is an Executive Coach and OD Consultant, with a diverse
industry exposure in segments like pharmaceuticals, office automation,

FMCG and telecommunications

29 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Column

THE NEW NORMAL By Krishan Kalra

T HE DREADED COVID The Way
pandemic – that turned Our Lives
the world upside down for Should (and Will)
over two years – is knock- Change
ing on our doors again!
Just as we were looking
forward to some normalcy in life and
in fact, had set out in that direction, the
new danger is unsettling us again.
Much has been written and dis-
cussed about how the pandemic has
affected our lives, how it has ruined the
economy of most countries and this de-
bate is likely to go on for a long time.
Most of us were hoping that the so-
called ‘New Normal’ will free us from
all restrictions – on travel, socialising,
work, shopping, entertainment, cul-
tural events, sports et al – and we will
get back to ‘business as usual’. Sadly, it
is not going to be so!

Our Lives Will Change Drastically

I am not an alarmist, but I seriously feel

that our lives will change drastically!

For example, the need to continue

wearing face masks while travelling is

already back and is likely to continue.

We are unlikely to see big fat weddings

and parties. All celebrations will see

smaller crowds. Holiday cruises are

bound to see reduced bookings. We

have already seen that just as restric-

tions were lifted around the start of

2022 and most people stopped wear-

ing masks and began travelling with a the space meant for Animals and other species and how these
species are getting dangerously close to the human habitats
vengeance, incidents of higher positiv- to reclaim the space that was theirs! Man’s ever-expanding
ambition and insatiable appetite for more, our wanton con-
ity became evident almost everywhere.
sumerism and unchecked desire to possess
The aggressive ‘Universal Vaccination’ everything – ‘greed’ to put it crudely – is at
the root of all this.
drive has been a great Photograph by Kyslynskyy
success, but it seems “Right Our Wrongs”
The celebrated naturalist David Attenbor-
that Covid has no plans ough’s documentary A Life on Our Planet
has jolted the world and made people slow
of disappearing even down and stop this madness. He strikes a
balance between the urgency and offers
after the third booster a sense of hope too. He has a vision for
the future when he says we can “right our
dose.

We seem to overlook

a fundamental reason

for the emergence of

the pandemic. We forget

that it is a case of Hu-

mans encroaching upon

30 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

wrongs”. My own take to keep the world going as we know it,
we will have to do it differently. Scaling
from the film, very brief- down the industry is inevitable and de-
sirable”.
ly, is ‘we must learn to live
Let me now move to the corporate
with less’. world.

Before writing about With Covid came the concept of ‘Work
from Home’ (WFH) and many companies have discovered
the corporate world, let Photograph by Dinesh the merits of this! People work flexi hours, save time on com-
me start with our own muting and the resultant fatigue, they don’t have to dress
up for office, can help with housework, spend time with the
wardrobes and homes. All of us must family … there is seemingly no downside. Barring factories
and jobs involving ‘essential presence and personal contact’
have a critical look at the clothes, shoes 25-40 per cent of all workforces will perhaps continue with
WFH. Really win-win for the employers and employees.
and personal accessories we own and Many corporates have surrendered large areas of office space
and cut down costs.
how many of these we haven’t used for,
Green Buildings, Electric Cars
say, one year? We have become impul- The real estate industry was understandably worried, but
they have now seen a huge demand by the new businesses –
sive buyers – we see a friend wearing the burgeoning delivery services, video chat platforms like
Zoom, Edu-tech firms, technology startups, research labs for
a nice shirt and rush to pick up some- healthcare and other sectors. There is also a huge opportunity
for real estate companies in the national infrastructure build-
thing similar without thinking about ing area as well as affordable housing.

whether we need it or not. Green buildings, more efficient HVAC systems, reimag-
ined packaging to reduce waste and pollution, electric cars
If Only We Buy Less and two-wheelers would all help to reduce pressure on the
The new acquisitions are worn a cou- planet. To quote Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG enterprises,
ple of times and consigned to the back “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted an urgent need
of the cupboard. The same is true for to create sustainable economies – India can take a lead in
earth-friendly businesses and consumer strategies. We can’t
Photograph by Reality Images Green just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because
buildings, there is a tomorrow”. Well said, sir, if only we do not kill that
household goods because we want to more efficient tomorrow with our consumerist culture of always wanting
possess the latest. We forget that eve- HVAC systems, more of everything!
rything – even a shirt – uses precious reimagined
resources like water and energy and packaging to And, to top it all, India’s drive to change from fossil-based
leaves a carbon footprint. If only we reduce waste energy to renewable sources – already amongst the fastest in
buy less, we will cause less damage to and pollution, the world – must continue and pick up even greater speed.
the planet – our only home in the vast electric cars At the same time, our agriculture has to transform. We just
universe. and two- can’t carry on with inefficient irrigation systems and water
wheelers guzzling crops.
As a start, I investigated my own would all help
hoard and decided ‘to not buy anything to reduce Environmental degradation and lack of inclusivity are
for at least two years’. I have also dis- pressure on perhaps, the two biggest challenges before the world to-
carded several suits, shirts and shoes. the planet day and it is more than likely that both will be addressed by
I am sure I am not alone; others are the corporate world as they move on with life in the post-
probably giving up bigger comforts. pandemic era. Our New Normal should and will lead us to a
Even Zandra Rhodes – the high priest- better world.
ess of Britain’s fashion world – has gone
on record to say that “going forward it TheauthorisaTrusteeof TheClimateProjectFoundationIndia,former
won’t be spend-spend-spend. If we are President of AIMA and former Member BOG of IIMC, Kolkata

31 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

ARTHSASTRA by Amit Kapoor, Amitabh Kant & Christian Ketels

UNBLOCKING
INDIA’S POLICY

IMPACT
CHALLENGE

I NDIA’S ECONOMIC HISTORY is rich with instances of policy interven- Left to right : Amit Kapoor, Amitabh
tions which transformed the country’s economic and political terrain. Kant & Christian Ketels
The last few years, especially, have seen a wide range of ambitious policy
initiatives. Since 2014, India has launched significant initiatives like the level, but given that it was about the
implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), JAM Trinity (Jan removal of barriers, relatively little
Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile), and the Make in India initiative. Prime Minister else. India began to draw on its exist-
Modi and his Cabinet have set out to energise entrepreneurship, modernise ing competitive advantages. How-
the regulatory processes, and prepare the education system to meet the demands ever, only concentrating on expand-
of the future. Moreover, self-sufficiency, inclusivity in growth, and maximising ing markets encourages growth and
good governance are just a few of the objectives that have been put high on the increases productivity for those who
policy agenda. can compete. It offered much less to
India has seen significant improvements in several economic indicators over those firms, regions, and workers who
this period. But while for example inclusion has been a crucial ambition, there were unable to compete, owing to a
is agreement that the gains of economic growth need to drive prosperity gains lack of investment in improving their
more widely across the population. The State of Inequality Report 2022 states capabilities.
that the top 10 per cent of earners make roughly the same amount as the lowest
64 per cent of earners. Competitive Advantages
India must take a hard look at why this gap between outcomes and ambitions Following 2014, there has been a
remains, even where the political objectives are so clear. This analysis leads to the significant push to not only leverage
critical role of an effective architecture for implementing policy. Implementation India’s competitive advantages but
of policies must remain a focal feature of the conversation surrounding this is- to build new assets and capabilities.
sue. Reforms take time to take effect entirely, but how well they are implemented The focus on talent development, in-
now will determine how they affect society in the future. A policy revision is only frastructure upgrading, investment
complete when it results in improved implementation as well. attraction and reducing the costs of
doing business were all about creating
Policy Issues at the Implementation Level new competitive advantages. At the
How has India’s policy implementation challenge changed over time, and why is same time, policy also aimed to open
it so central now? It is instructive to look back at our past policy decisions, which up more markets, especially domesti-
were crucial in explaining how today’s India emerged, in order to accurately cally, to allow capital and talent to flow
appraise the policy issues the nation faces, particularly at the implementation to their most productive uses.
level.

The reforms of 1991 made the Indian economy more accessible to the world
market as the barriers to the marketplaces for goods and services were removed.
This was politically challenging. But from an implementation perspective it was
relatively straight forward: it required some key policy changes at the national

32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

ment and the states.
The decision making structures be-

tween the states and the federal gov-
ernment, as well as within and among
states, merit attention since there has
to be a stronger emphasis on how poli-
cies are implemented on the ground.
Furthermore, although the opera-
tional motivations behind a given pol-
icy may fall under the purview of one
branch of the government, its impact
on the latter’s more overarching objec-
tives, such as job creation, ultimately
depends on complementary policy ac-
tions taken by other branches of the
government.

From an implementation perspec- new stage that India has reached in its Collaborative Federalism
tive, this new policy agenda raised sig- development. Further gains in com-
nificantly more complex challenges. petitiveness are structurally more de- In the Competitiveness Roadmap for
Policy decisions at the national level manding than those in the past. And India @ 100, a joint project between
can set the direction and provide re- they will only be achieved if the policy the EAC-PM and The Institute for
sources, but the implementation hap- design and execution mechanisms Competitiveness, a team of Harvard
pens in specific locations and sectors. are developed in line with these new Business School scholars has laid out a
The effectiveness of implementation demands. number of concrete ideas for strength-
thus rests on the engagement and ening India’s implementation archi-
decisions of many different levels of A Reform Programme tecture. One focus is the strengthening
government, as well as partners in the Second, all parties involved in imple- of collaborative federalism in India,
business community and other enti- menting the measures must be fully with better alignment in the roles and
ties. This is both technically complex engaged for policies to be executed ef- responsibilities of the Union govern-
– how to ensure decisions are made fectively. Improved coordination and ment and the state governments.
in a consistent way – and politically coherence across the various levels of There is also a focus on creating a more
demanding – how to ensure that indi- the political system are needed, and robust governance structure at the
vidual interests are aligned to achieve will not simply be achieved by ap- level of metropolitan areas and sub-
coherent collective action. pealing on changes in individual be- state regions, an area where India lags
haviour. India must create a reform behind the vision of the Indian consti-
What are the lessons from this programme with a clear focus on im- tution. A third priority is the better co-
analysis? First, the implementation plementation architecture, notably ordination across the many ministries
challenge is not a sign of policy fail- the interaction of the Union govern- and functional agencies that exist at
ure. It is a natural consequence of the the national level. While the current
structure allows for specialised knowl-
edge to be applied to specific problems,
it creates the danger of fragmented
and siloed policy actions.

In the Competitiveness Roadmap for India @ 100, a joint project
between the EAC-PM and The Institute for Competitiveness, a team of
Harvard Business School scholars has laid out a number of concrete

ideas for strengthening India’s implementation architecture

Photograph by Shutterstock 33 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

ARTHSASTRA by Amit Kapoor, Amitabh Kant & Christian Ketels

Photograph by PIB Another focus is the strengthening
of public-private collaboration to en-
Well-intentioned policies will yield more hance India’s competitiveness. Loca-
significant tangible advantages if they are tion- and sector-specific action needs
to be informed by the intimate knowl-
implemented across the board with edge of market conditions and oppor-
knowledge and support. The recently tunities that only companies possess.
unveiled National Logistics Policy is one At the same time these collaboration
example of how India is prioritising the structures must be robustly focused on
execution of policies. To ensure that the generating value for India, rather than
action agenda for the policy’s on-the-ground simply private benefits.
implementation reaches people, significant
Synergies
initiatives were also launched Well-intentioned policies will yield
more significant tangible advantages
if they are implemented across the
board with knowledge and support.
The recently unveiled National Logis-
tics Policy is one example of how India
is prioritising the execution of poli-
cies. To ensure that the action agenda
for the policy’s on-the-ground imple-
mentation reaches people, significant
initiatives such as the Unified Logistics
Interface Platform (ULIP), the Ease
of Logistics Services platform, the e-
handbook on Warehousing, and train-
ing courses on PM GatiShakti were
also launched. This demonstrates how
on-the-ground policy execution has
become increasingly important.

To this end, synergies between the
public and private sector as well as
within the different departments of
the government can be emphasised.
The policy mechanisms of initiatives
like the National Logistics Policy can
be better harnessed by drawing on the
insights that the private sector might
have to offer in various areas includ-
ing utilising technology effectively
and smoothly for efficient policy im-
plementation. At the same time, this
public-private partnership also leads
to equipping the private sector to un-
derstand the needs and the issues fac-
ing the larger public.

Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for
Competitiveness and Lecturer, Stanford
University; Amitabh Kant is G20 Sherpa,
Government of India; and Christian Ketels is

faculty at Harvard Business School

34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023



COLUMN By Srinath Sridharan

L EARNINGS FROM the (A)muse & Musings
Delhi airport T3 congestion
incident highlights how we Jumping into Action:
miss the public -governance
Flawed Public
mechanism in the narrative Governance

of the pressure-pot called op- gle airport’s congestion problem. Is it even the minister’s job
in the first place? Of course (s)he has to jump in for better
tics, and forget the need for ensuring public grievance handling, political optics, more so, consid-
ering the mess was right at the doorstep in Delhi and during
accountability. That aside, we need to the Parliamentary session and G20 meetings.

understand that infrastructure devel- Even a smaller-scaled mall-operator seems to understand
visitor flow and plan better for it. Can’t our airport opera-
opment should not just have physical- tors and the concerned officialdom learn passenger delight
– especially those who don’t have any fast-track access or
form being built, but also include pro- VIP facilities? One would assume that they would have con-
tractual obligations of passenger facilities and time limits in
cesses, systems and the mechanism to their Service Level Agreements (SLAs), as part of the airport
management agreement with the government.
ease public usage of such public-goods.
Arguably, the private airport operator did not do their job.
It is time to design Infrastructure as a The question that arises is: was someone in the officialdom
even monitoring the delays and issues? In the first place, is
public-service. there even someone measuring issues regularly and check-
ing redressal delays? Then the next escalation points from
What started as a flurry of Twitter airport operator to AAI to bureaucrats in the civil aviation
ministry – all seem to have failed. What were the entire chain
complaints about the terrible conges-

tion at Delhi airport’s T3 a few weeks

ago, soon dominoed into a Union Min-

ister’s need to intervene. Of course, he

did visit the airport a week before the

final solution shaped up and not much

happened, until much noise from pas-

sengers ensured that it did. But all

in all, the crowd handling improved

quickly and finally.

For even a rookie process-flow ana-

lyst, it would be evident where the

problems were. The problems did not

arise overnight. One simply needed to

staff-the-closed entry points and se-

curity gates to speed up the security

processing time by adding more equip-

ment, and by adding faster IT systems

at the check-in counters and by link-

ing them to the baggage systems, with

speedier processing. For an airport that

costs many thousand crores to build, all

of the above is a rounding-off error in

value. Yet we found this nuisance of an

issue snowballing to cause inconven-

ience to passengers for days on end.

Public Governance Failure

While the twitterati and the main-
stream media might praise the con-
cerned minister for the “action taken”,
here is why this incident is an example
of misplaced or flawed public govern-
ance.

What a waste of a Union Minister’s
time it is to work on a solution for a sin-

36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

of command doing until it became a Just like our crowded airports, we have congestion on our city
public spectacle, especially when India roads – though not more severe. We don’t see any bureaucrat
is hosting G20? or minister at state or city levels concerned about these.
Somewhere in our national mental makeup do we love to have
If all these failures actually forced queues for everything?
the minister to jump into action, who
will now fix accountability lapses, and
by when? Or will we simply move from
this mess to the next crisis?

Infrastructure as a Service tion – like reduce the number of flights operated in a certain
time window, etc. This is a joke on the public, for it defeats
Forget Delhi T3. We take pride in com- the purpose of having built such a capacity in the first place.
paring the wrong things – for our trolls Is our mindset based on the assumption that people would
will post photos of crowds in other for- be thankful for the physical infrastructure provided, and
eign airports and claim that we are far- would be ready to face any difficulties and inconvenience in
ing better. Let’s learn that we can set accessing them?
fantastic positive examples in bettering
our civic infra, just as we have done in Can’t we plan our development projects better and execute
many, including our digital infrastruc- them to a time plan? Can we start including services as an
ture space. essential aspect in every infrastructure project and budget
for them well? We have to change our mindset that Infra-
As the nation steers ahead with de- structure projects are only about physical brick and mortar,
veloping newer public civic infra ca- and start including the associated services that makes it
pacities, we will face many such issues. conducive to public access and usage. Similarly, here, can
We already face, but do not hear much we have better public governance and accountability of the
at the national level, of the issues that entire value chain – starting with the vendor or contractor
plague our cities’ infrastructure devel- to all those in the chain of command supervising the efforts
opment with similar public inconven- from the government side?
iences. We can’t expect accountability
from the entire chain of command, We need to be mindful of public governance, of who is
from anyone who builds any projects responsible for what, and how it is measured and used for
– be it roads dug up for piping infra- decisioning. For a better society, what and how we measure
structure (public or private sector), public-governance will determine the quality of citizen en-
or metro construction or flyovers. A gagement with the polity and policy space. The government
factor that we don’t seem to respect is has championed the usage of data and digital for better pub-
the damage it does to the local citizens lic good, and it might be useful to have higher quality public
– time delays, air pollution as well as governance of infra projects and infra services. We need our
noise pollution. public governance to percolate into our social consciousness
and public (service) behaviour.
Just like our crowded airports, we
have congestion on our city roads – The writer is author of Time for Bharat and a corporate advisor
though not more severe. We don’t see
any bureaucrat or minister at state
or city levels concerned about these.
Somewhere in our national mental
makeup do we love to have queues for
everything? Can’t we outgrow that
weakness in eliminating the need for
long queues to show that something is
actually working? Will we at least have
a change of heart, if we add the cost of
such wasted man hours spent in our
clogged public infra to our GDP?

Sadly, the easiest way out for policy
makers is to reduce the capacity utilisa-

Photograph by Arkadij 37 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Column By Steve Correa

A SINDIANS,wearedis- Indians are
tinctive (not unique) Distinctive, Not
from the West. Our
Indian orientation is Unique
psychosocially quite in
contrast to a ‘western’ pattern characterised by Industrialised cultures’ of the
orientation. An Indian orientation is West. In other words, all societies at different levels of
not defined or limited to geography, development are evolving to become alike. This approach
but is most certainly informed by it contrasts with our notion of ‘Ashramas’ – the four stages a
(desh, kaal, and patra). Our Indian man progresses through in life. No stage is better or worse,
orientation has evolved over several lessons are learnt, unlearned, and not learnt, and influence
thousands of years, since it is the old- the subsequent stage. If there are ‘gaps’ at one stage, it will
est living civilisation. Over the years, impact the subsequent stage. It is evolutionary but not
it has offered its wisdom to the world teleological. While materialism is amplified in the West, in
and absorbed and assimilated wis- India, human behaviour is viewed in this complete plural-
dom from all over the globe and in- ity, most holistically, with all that resonates, evokes, and is
cluded it in its grand philosophy. held in dissonance.

India has many sources: the Vedas, Definition of Leadership
the Upanishads, Puranas and Itihas, Surprisingly, the definition of Leadership continues to
the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabhara- remain elusive (google what is leadership, and see the
ta, Ramayana, Arthsastra, Jainism number of results), with newer ones being added each day.
and Buddhism are some. Our tradi-
tional Indian knowledge and wisdom
can help us address the problems of
modern management.

Borrowing concepts indiscrimi-
nately from the West is mislead-
ing, even precarious. The concepts
in Western Psychology ‘have their
genesis in the social upheavals in
Europe in the 19th Century with the
metamorphosis from an agrarian to
an industrial society’, with resultant
changes in social structure – such as
‘nuclear families, time standardisa-
tion’, and political ideologies, referred
to by (Max) Weber as the ‘iron cage’
where individuals are trapped in sys-
tems designed to enhance well-being
of humanity.

This is unlike India’s evolution.
One of the implications of the reduc-
tionist-positivistic approach (that
argues for objective, impersonal,
quantifiable, and controllable laws) is
its wishes to cleanse culture from be-
haviour, and with the hope to demon-
strate pan-cultural generalizability.

It argues a grand teleological nar-
rative that the direction of develop-
ment ‘lies in converging to a single

38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

The historical and prevalent leader- AsIndianswe both a part of life, and death is a place for restoration be-
ship literature of the day is ‘western’ havelooked fore birth again in a regular cycle of creation-consolidation
centric, written by ‘males’, and from withgrudging and destruction. While the West chases for Happiness, we
a select part of the world, and fails to admiration recognise that humans have to deal with suffering. We tend
represent most of the regions of the totheWest to be more collectivist and uphold the institution of family
world. It is WEIRD as well, as it rep- onleadership and its values.
resents western, educated, and from principles:first
industrialised, rich, and democratic theBritish,then West Believes in Rules, We in Principles
countries. This explains the difficulty theAmericans, Unlike the West, that believes in Equality, we uphold the
organisations face (with its leaning muchlater principle of Equity. The West believes in Rules, while we
on patriarchy) in moving forward Japanese. believe in Principles. The West believes in Absolutes, while
on inclusion and diversity. For any Yetquietly our principles are context sensitive. The West has guide-
model needs to understand the work theIndian books and commandments, while our philosophy would
behaviour sought to be impacted – be leadership hold the protagonist to make his own decision based on
it motivation, performance, or align- styleinIndia the context and circumstances. The West would have us
ment. We need to access beyond the hascreated adhere to compliance, while we would look at resolving
‘cookie cutter’, past fads, mantras, and significant our dilemmas, polarities, and contradictions. Our Indic
new-age flavours. transformation. context focus on the purity of how we do things and calls
Itissad,that out certain non-negotiable values such as non-violence,
Indian Way of Management wehavenot truth, honour, loyalty, love, compassion, forgiveness, etc.
As Indians we have looked with incorporated
grudging admiration to the West on formallyan I argue that the crux of the Indian leaders’ effective-
leadership principles: first the Brit- ‘Indianwayof ness lies with his ability to co-hold these tensions. There is
ish, then the Americans, much later management’ personal and organisational waste when he fails to do so.
Japanese. Yet quietly the Indian lead- There are ‘culture codes’ and multiple ‘tensions’ between
ership style in India has created sig- the inner being and the social being, the primal self and the
nificant transformation. It is sad, that socialised self, the traditional ideas versus the modern, and
we have not incorporated formally an success lies in integrating this successfully, and in being
‘Indian way of management’. Our In- able to manage the tensions ever unfolding, between Self
dic philosophy holds the notion that and System.
the world is one family, and argues for
prosperity of all stakeholders, includ- The author is an Executive Coach and OD Consultant, with a diverse industry
ing other sentient beings as well. exposure in segments like pharmaceuticals, office automation, FMCG and
telecommunications
It welcomes diverse perspectives
from all quarters: the truth is One,
although spoken differently. It is an
inclusive philosophy that supports
generative processes. It confirms
that we are trustees, that we received
inheritance and are responsible for
passing on a legacy. It confirms the
freedom of the individual above all
else.

The imperatives that humans face
are universal, but how societies re-
spond to them are cultural. We differ
from the West in several respects: the
West sees life and death as lying in a
continuum, a single life and then an
eternal life in Heaven. The Indic con-
text is different: birth and death are

Photograph by Movinglines Studio 39 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Kiran’s Kontrarian KORNER

STUBBLE:
STYLE AND
SURVIVAL

By Kiran Karnik

Stubble” has become a with the two-days-unshaven it that) is an unkempt, just-woke-up
word that is increas- look. Adding to this in recent mop. He must spend much waking-
ingly used. In fact, times is the daily appearance time getting it just right.
it has become al- on TV of stubble-adorned
most as common as President Zelensky. This, along with These changing mores of dress and
the present buzzword, “disruptive”, his attire – often an olive-green t-shirt appearance pose challenges in the
which has entered the popular lexi- – gives one the sense that he has just corporate world. Some use the stub-
con in a big way. Growing up, one in- returned from the battle zone after ble as an indicator that they worked
terpreted the word as being negative; pushing back the Russian troops. all night on that important assign-
now, as an adjective prefixed to tech- Maybe he is actually returning from ment and did not have time to even
nology or innovation, it has a hugely the frontline after a few sleepless shave in the last few days. However,
positive connotation, and is the holy nights there. Obversely, maybe he has they should worry that the boss might
grail for all wannabe-unicorn entre- spent much time carefully cultivating interpret it as resulting from continu-
preneurs. an unkempt look! After all, perfecting ous all-night partying. So, instead of
Those into word-counts as an indi- that careless look does take a lot of being impressed, the boss perceives
cator of what is important (a standard care and effort. you as a drowsy person with a hango-
mode of analysing President Xi’s re- ver, casual about office etiquette and
ports and speeches) might study con- On the other hand, there are in- work: not a very good portent for your
temporary Indian newspapers to de- the-news leaders who are always career. Of course, if you have a young-
termine the frequency of occurrence dressed to near-perfection, almost er or in-fashion boss, he too may have
of “stubble”. Doubtless, they will find like Agatha Christie’s HerculePoirot. a stubble; how you interpret that is
it is very high. The reference is mainly These include President Putin, gen- up to you!
to the stubble left behind after har- erally perfectly “suited” (except when
vesting the paddy crop, especially in he is amidst his sporting adventures) Stubbles, like much else in our life,
certain states. Its subsequent burning and Rishi Sunak. The latter, in proper have been facilitated by technology.
brings tears – literally –to many eyes, tie and suit, indicates informality by The fashionable look requires an
besides possible lung-aches. This is only and at most, loosening his tie- oxymoron: a well-kept stubble. The
the result of pollution caused by the knot. Then, there is our own Prime genuine stubble –resulting from not
smoke from stubble burning, com- Minister, with his always-immacu- shaving for a couple of days –is likely
pounded by other factors. late couture, which includes colour- to be uneven and not terribly good-
There is another form of stubble, ful and perfectly-fitted Nehru jack- looking. The fashionable one, in con-
not as frequently written about, but ets (now often called Modi jackets, trast, is a well-trimmed and neatly
nowadays almost as ubiquitous: the thanks to his popularising them). Bo- shaped stubble.
sprouting of facial hair. Photographs ris Johnson, like his present succes-
of celebrities and ads with male mod- sor, kept up the image of the English This fashion of the day is, sadly,
els are inevitably dominated by those gentleman by being generally suited,
though his hairstyle (if one can call

40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Photograph by Bigy pollution; as predictable as political The long-term
leaders bemoaning it and blaming solution to the
a reminder of another stubble: the someone else. Knee-jerk, band-aid stubble problem is to
farm residue which causes a seasonal “solutions” (sometimes with fancy change the cropping
catastrophe that results in unbreath- names like Graded Action Response pattern, a step that
able and health-destroying pollu- Plan) are rolled out, including fines, will also help to
tion due to its burning. Though its subsidies, fog-mist cannons, mech- conserve scarce
impact on the air in Delhi is much in anised dust cleaners and other ap- sub-soil water. The
the news, its insidious effect extends parently-new technologies or equip- perverse incentive
across the whole Indo-Gangetic ment. Ideas like “odd, even” (allowing – through free
plain. Made worse by atmospheric only half the cars to run on any given electricity and so
conditions (low winds, temperature day) have been tried and abandoned. free sub-soil water
inversions, fog which turns to smog), Despite the many solutions, one is yet pumping – to grow
the air quality is so alarming that one to see any perceptible and substantial paddy in the wrong
breathes a sigh of relief on days when, difference to the quality of air. agro-climatic region
in the safety classification, it is “very is worsened by the
poor”! The long-term solution to the stub- minimum support
ble problem is to change the cropping price for rice relative
Many studies have shown how the pattern, a step that will also help to to other necessary
badly polluted air causes long-term conserve scarce sub-soil water. The grains (millet for
health problems, sometimes even perverse incentive – through free example). Correcting
life-threatening ones. Though only electricity and so free sub-soil wa- the latter and giving
partly due to the smoke and particles ter pumping – to grow paddy in the a per-hectare grant
from stubble burning, it is the last wrong agro-climatic region is wors- to farmers in lieu of
straw on the camel’s back. Along with ened by the minimum support price free electricity, could
construction dust, vehicular emis- for rice relative to other necessary solve the stubble
sions, and industrial pollution, it is a grains (millet for example). Correct- problem at minimal
toxic mix, made worse for a few days ing the latter and giving a per-hec- political cost
by Diwali fireworks. This is now a tare grant to farmers in lieu of free
yearly problem, extending over three electricity, could solve the stubble problem at minimal political cost. It
months or more each year, as predict- will also help to conserve power. Will
able as the monsoon floods in Bihar. some leader take this bold step?

Every year there are headlines in While one stubble causes no
newspapers and breaking news on problem to others (except in cheek-
TV about the dangerous levels of to-cheek interactions), the other is
disastrous. In the New Year, may one
prosper and the other disappear.

The author loves to think in tongue-in-cheek ways, with no maliciousness or offence intended. At other times, he
is a public policy analyst and author. His latest book is Decisive Decade: India 2030 Gazelle or Hippo (Rupa, 2021)

41 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

IN REMEMBRANCE/PRIYA MOHAN SINHA / by Prakash Iyer

S U MTHE A N
SCHOOLOF

MANAGEMENT

THE 21ST DECEMBER 2022 marked the end of an era. Suman
Sinha, the former Chairman of PepsiCo India, former Director of
Hindustan Lever, and the man credited with building Pepsi in India
and grooming an army of business leaders, passed away on that day.
I had the privilege of working closely with Suman at both Hindustan
Lever and PepsiCo. More than that though, I had the privilege of
learning and training at a very special school. The Suman School
of Management. And this is my humble tribute. To the man. The
legend. The institution.
I still recall my first meeting with Suman. His reputation preceded him. We had heard
stories of how tough a boss he was, demanding, a hard task master, prone to bouts of
anger, not afraid to show his displeasure. But it’s amazing. All it took was one meeting
with Suman. And at the end of it I was convinced that all those stories I had heard about
Suman were, well, true.

Suman was a Salesman at Heart
Suman was a salesman at heart. He enjoyed his market visits – meeting salespeople,
retailers and customers. And he would be upset if he saw any sloppiness in execution,
or anything less than perfection. And after every Suman market visit, regional manag-
ers would privately exchange messages to check on the number of casualties. In fact,
there was a strong correlation in those days between airline punctuality and manager
attrition in PepsiCo. Every time a flight was delayed, Suman would want to do a surprise

42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

Photos Courtesy: Mr Prakash Iyer He demonstrated

how a person’s

achievements are

only limited by his or

her ability to dream

big. He was a living

example of that old

adage“the speed

of the leader deter-

mines the speed of

the pack”. He taught

us to constantly

raise the bar, and

ask for more. I often

think that the iconic Pepsi campaign “Ye dil maange more” wasn’t

just an encapsulation of the aspirations and ambitions of the youth

of the country. It was a mirror to the mindset of the leader of Pepsi.

A man who’s dil always wanted more.A man who could be happy.

But not satisfied

market visit. And bang! bar, and ask for more. I often think that the iconic Pepsi cam-
Just as war veterans show off the bullet marks on their paign “Ye dil maange more” wasn’t just an encapsulation of
the aspirations and ambitions of the youth of the country.
body, most sales people who worked with Suman will have It was a mirror to the mindset of the leader of Pepsi. A man
a few bruises to show. Mine from Mehsana still hurts. But whose dil always wanted more. A man who could be happy.
here’s the deal. Suman genuinely believed that our execu- But not satisfied.
tion in the market place was key to our winning the war. He
believed the team had what it takes to win. And he believed And he re-constructed for us all the anatomy of a leader,
that his job was to stretch the team, push them harder, em- so we’d all know what it took to be a good leader. You needed
power them, help them discover their own capabilities. to have an eye for detail, passion in the veins, fire in the belly,
Traits that many of us went on to use to great effect. At Pep- guts of steel, hands forever willing to get dirty, feet that never
siCo. And beyond. tire, and a huge heart full of concern for people. And a head
held high. Always high.
He Taught Us to Lead From the Front
He taught us to lead from the front. To respect the frontline Suman taught us all the virtue of integrity. Never do any-
and to care for the foot soldiers. He showed us the magic that thing you need to be ashamed of was his refrain. And that
can be worked by a group of passionate people. Kotler may has got to be the mantra for building a truly great organi-
have taught us all the power of the 4 P’s of marketing. Suman sation. I remember how we had a situation where a team
gave us a fifth P – one that trumped the other four. Passion. member had been found to have made a false expense claim
– for Rs 85. Which even in those days was a small sum of
He Taught Us to Ask for More money. The colleague was a star performer, so when the
He demonstrated how a person’s achievements are only incident came to light, I thought we should issue a stern
limited by his or her ability to dream big. He was a living ex- warning. When Suman heard about it, he was furious, and
ample of that old adage “the speed of the leader determines disappointed. He would have none of it. ‘He must go, we
the speed of the pack”. He taught us to constantly raise the have to show zero tolerance when integrity is compromised’

43 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

IN REMEMBRANCE/PRIYA MOHAN SINHA / by Prakash Iyer

... an organisation where the salesmen
would call the shots

He wanted to create an empowered,
outward-looking organisation

It was indeed the organisation he salesmen on top, the managers below them, the VPs below
was trying to build. An organiza- them and the CEO at the bottom.
tion where the salesmen – the people
closest to the customer would call the And just when I thought some young Management
shots and decide what the business Trainee will lose his job for getting the slide wrong, Suman
would do. And everyone else in the explained it wasn’t a mistake. It was indeed the organisation
business would be focused on help- he was trying to build. An organisation where the salesmen
ing the frontline do whatever it takes – the people closest to the customer would call the shots and
to delight the customer. Instead of decide what the business would do. And everyone else in
people looking up to see what the boss the business would be focused on helping the frontline do
wants, people would be focused on whatever it takes to delight the customer.
doing what the customer wants
Instead of people looking up to see what the boss wants,
was his message. And then, with a little rap on my knuckles, people would be focused on doing what the customer wants.
he said ‘How can you – the leader – be seen to be condoning It was Suman’s way of showing he wanted to create an em-
such acts?’ It’s a rap I haven’t forgotten. powered, outward-looking organisation. Suddenly, it wasn’t
just a slide. It was a leadership philosophy. And it became
And then there was this lesson I learnt from a slide in a a leadership mantra for me and a host of other people who
presentation Suman was making. It was a slide of the org had the privilege of working with him.
structure – the familiar pyramid with the boss on top, the
VPs below him, the GMs below that, and the rest of us at the I remember the several phone calls from Suman. Every
bottom. But damn – the slide was upside down in Suman’s time we’d get a call from him, the pulse would race a bit
presentation. So what we saw was a slide with the frontline more. Now what, you’d instantly begin to think. Was there
a quality issue? Competition up to new tricks? Did some-
one complain about Pepsi not being available in his neig-
bourhood? And I remember one particular call. I was out
on a market visit in Kolkata. And Suman called. He had

44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

An institution has vanished from the face of the earth A school that taught you to respect your frontline. To see
leadership as a responsibility, not a position. To aim for ex-
Photos Courtesy: Mr Prakash Iyer cellence. Be ruthlessly focused on execution. Ask for more.
Care for your people. And a school that taught you that in-
tegrity was non-negotiable. That integrity was about doing
the right thing even when nobody was looking.

With the passing away of Suman, a leader and mentor
who meant so much to so many, is gone. An institution has
vanished from the face of the earth. It feels like the end of an
era. A legend is no more. But his legacy will live on.

Somewhere in a dusty marketplace tomorrow, a leader
will be demanding more from his or her sales team,
pushing them to strive for perfection, exhorting them to
stretch and discover strengths they didn’t know they
possessed. Because that’s what they learnt from Suman.

Somewhere in the corridors of power, a leader will resist
the temptation to grease a palm or do something margin-
ally wrong to gain a huge business advantage. Because of a
lesson in integrity learnt from Suman.

And somewhere in a corner of the country, a leader will be
spending a night out with a sales guy, recounting stories of

a request to make that day that I We are all proud of our schools, our alma maters and
found rather strange. He wanted
me to go buy a saree for someone. what we have learned there. And while each school

A Heart of Gold has its share of distinguished alumni around the
Taken aback, I said something world, there is a select band of professionals who have

about not being very good at had the honour and privilege of having got trained
these things. I said I’d get my in the Suman School of Management. A school that
wife to pick something up. And

then in that tone which clearly taught you lessons in life and leadership. Where you
suggested just-do-what-I-tell- learnt how passion can help forge a winning team. A
you, he said “I want you to pick

up a saree. For eight - ten thou- school that taught you to respect your frontline

sand rupees. Right now. And I

want you to go home, give it to

your wife and tell her that her

husband has just got promoted.” a legend, and sharing the lessons he learnt at the feet of his

A-ha! Behind that tough exterior of a demanding task master. A man they called Suman.

master was a man with a heart of gold. A man willing you to Leaders will pass on to their teams the lessons learnt from

succeed. Pushing you because he believed in you. Sometimes Suman, lessons in striving harder, aiming higher, never

in our lives, all we need is one person who believes in us. And settling for the ordinary. And always doing the right thing.

then the magic begins. Future generations of leaders will demonstrate behaviours

We are all proud of our schools, our alma maters and that can be traced back to the magic of Suman. Indeed, to

what we have learned there. And while each school has the Suman School of Management.

its share of distinguished alumni around the world, there Thank you Suman. For the memories. And the lessons.

is a select band of professionals who have had the honour You will be missed.

and privilege of having got trained in the Suman School of Proud to be an alumnus of the Suman School of manage-

Management. A school that taught you lessons in life and ment.

leadership. Where you learnt how passion can help forge a The writer is an author, speaker and leadership coach and former MD of
winning team. Kimberly Clark

45 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

IN REMEMBRANCE/PRIYA MOHAN SINHA/by Mahendra Kumar Sharma

ATRUE
NATIONALIST

SumanservedhistenurewithPepsiCo The policy on automatic growth enabled companies to
remain viable and added to the goods produced in the coun-
withequaldedicationanddistinctionand try. It proved beneficial to both industry and the national
economy. Suman was outstanding in both strategising and
builtateamthatPepsiwasjustlyproud in executing. He would always lead from the front. He would
not leave it to the frontline people to execute, but take the
of. Heinfact,laidthebasicfoundationof lead himself.

the successthatPepsiistoday He had a never-say-die spirit and perseverance was his
hallmark. He could deal with people at all levels – be it TSIs,
BALA AND I ARE EXTREMELY saddened to stockists, C&FA, a section officer in government or senior
hear about the demise of Suman, a friend, phi- civil servants or cabinet ministers. I had the privilege and
losopher and guide for me over four decades. opportunity of assisting him on many issues that he dealt
He mentored me, coached me – indeed nur- with on behalf of the company – be it soaps and personal
tured me into a professional and provided me product capacities, MRTP and FERA approvals on multi-
insights into dealing with people at large and the government ple occasions or the problems of insurgency in Punjab and
in particular. He also had mastered the art of influencing militancy in Assam, including the well-known instance of
public policy – but it was for him – like many Hindustan airlifting of the company’s managers from the Doomdooma
Unilever (HUL) present and past stalwarts – India first, Tea Plantations.
Company next. He was a true nationalist.
He served his tenure with Pepsi with equal dedication
In any issue that we faced he would first articulate why and distinction and built a team that Pepsi was justly proud
the decision was good for India. In the 1980s and 1990s of. He in fact, laid the basic foundation of the success that
foreign companies were always expected to work in core Pepsi is today. He served on many committees of the Govern-
areas. He said small and medium businesses cannot invest ment of India and industry chambers with distinction and
in non-Appendix I industries and the government cannot outstanding commitment and contribution.
be expected to do everything. That stance enabled Hindu-
stan Unilever to invest in backward areas and to setting up At a personal level, he was truly a family person, a loving
facilities at Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh and Orai and and caring husband to his better half Umaji and his two
Sumerpur in Uttar Pradesh. daughters Pooja and Anjali. Post Umaji’s demise, he had lost
the zest for life to a large measure. What kept him going was
It also led to the government identifying zero industry his sense of care and responsibility for his daughters.
districts and low industry districts. So Suman influenced
government policy toward balanced development. The His demise is a personal loss to Bala and me.
company in turn got an opportunity to invest in a non-core
sector. The Orai facilities were for manufacturing soap and The author is a former Vice Chairman of
the Sumerpur facility manufactures detergents.
Hindustan Unilever
There is another instance of how Suman influenced the
thinking in government. Historically, most plants were given
nameplate capacity – a simple proposition that when you set
up a plant, the supplier builds a cushion through licensing.
He argued that industry could enhance capacity through
labour productivity improvement and by upgrading technol-
ogy, without making any further investment. That argument
was also accepted by the government.

46 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023



IN REMEMBRANCE/ PRIYA MOHAN SINHA /by Subroto Chattopadhyay

THE
MANWHO
LED
PEPSICO’S
HOME
RUNINTO Suman transited recently, I have a deep
sense of gratitude, a feeling of quiet joy
INDIA for what he did for all of us. I would never
exchange the productive years, the
wonderful colleagues who are now friends,
the finest brands in the world and those
intense crisp meetings, the long gruelling
AOPs and Strat Plan sessions with Suman

48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

THISISMYMODESTcontributionto siCo had in 7 Up, the range of brands from Dukes Mangola,
the memory of Priya Mohan “Suman” Ginger Ale, Ice Cream Sodas, Slice, Aquafina and in time
Sinha to whom I owe much. Gatorade, Lipton and Tropicana. A line up that is a consumer
Before I write about Suman and product professional’s dream. I was also coming out of two
Pepsi I have to mention that Pepsi- great startups and was enthused.
Co opened its innings in India with
Ramesh Vangal and his band of out- Suman, in my first meeting with him, deployed his famous
strategy, inspired by Clausewitz, shock and awe. I was cross-

standing managers who launched ing over from ITC, which was, to put it mildly, a bit different.

brand Pepsi in India in the late 1980s. Suman sold the job and listed out the challenges, the heavy

For the record, Pepsi was the first FDI ever on a road that lifting, the long hours and the perseverance required.

was rough and twisted. Suman took over the leadership of He said, Pepsi was high on energy, everyone sized you up

PepsiCo in the mid-1990s. to see whether you were talented, committed and shared

Launching a mix of a brown and greenfield venture is in their passion and also whether you had uncompromising

itself very challenging, and to set up complex bottling sys- integrity, both intellectual and fiduciary. These were neces-

tems, navigating regulatory norms, setting up distribution, sary conditions and those who came within this envelope

building brands and thrived, the rest were

supply chains, makes ejected.

it an exhilarating ride. PRIYA MOHAN (SUMAN) SINHA If I may add, like
All this has to be done General James Mat-

by rapidly recruiting tis, Suman had an in-

a pool of talented and 15 AUGUST 1940 – 21 DECEMBER 2022 exhaustible reservoir
committed people – of energy, ability to

this is not easy. Former Chairman PepsiCo India multitask and move
And in PepsiCo’s swiftly, he could have

case, the company Former Director, Hindustan Unilever easily owned Mattis’s
was up against an aptly called call sign –

800-pound gorilla “Chaos.”

called Coca-Cola. I responded, in

Those who have been in the game, would realise how dif- what I thought was firmly, to his assault at my first meeting.

ficult it is to battle for a sustainable business in these cir- During the conversation that followed and the journey there-

cumstances. PepsiCo did this and more with great style and after we linked up and he became a mentor and if I may add,

flourish. That’s a lot of heavy lifting. a true well-wisher. That triggered an exhilarating experience

Many would remember that the Pepsi launch in India largely because of Suman, the task on hand and the band of

was, in a word, grand. The advertising sizzled as it created talented folks he brought together.

a new paradigm, using celebrities like never before, who in A former colleague who is much younger, has posted a

turn believed that being a part of Pepsi added to their brand picture of the first batch of management trainees in 1996

value. Film stars and cricketers lined up and were woven with Suman. On reflection, pulling in talent in large numbers

into the story by Ravi Dhariwal, Sanjeev Chaddha and Vibha who went to lead successful businesses over time, is one of

Rishi. The likes of Shishir Lal and Gautham laid the business his legacies.

pipelines and Brand Pepsi soared. It was a large cast. Suman was not an easy boss to work with. He could be

By the time I joined PepsiCo it was regarded as a high impatient, had high expectations, was brutal on any slippage

energy organisation with a very large number of talented in execution, unforgiving if you were not on top of your game,

people with a “can do” attitude. In my first meeting with Su- had horror of humbug, and had a rather aggressive style. On

man, he laid out the way he saw the company and wondered the other hand, if he was convinced that you were honest to

if I would be interested in leading the non-Pepsi-Cola busi- the cause and thought it through, even if you disagreed with

ness which needed to be nurtured and built. him, you couldn’t find a better leader. I felt his style masked

At the time it was truly a very small and insignificant piece. a caring, affectionate and considerate man.

But what excited me was the truly sexy line-up of brands Pep- Pepsi was genuinely a matrix in design. It required getting

used to and quickly. You walked across from production, to

packaging development, to regulatory, legal, finance over

49 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023

IN REMEMBRANCE/ PRIYA MOHAN SINHA /by Subroto Chattopadhyay

an afternoon, called New York in the Suman was not an easy eliction meant being cashiered.
evening and got the most complex boss to work with. He could We were in front of the firing squad
problems sorted. The culture encour-
aged this, bureaucracy was frowned be impatient, had high and everyone looked at me. I went to
my office and took printouts of all the

upon. Our business actually did rather expectations, was brutal on mails between New York and me, cop-
well over the years and Suman was any slippage in execution, ied to all. All the mails ended with ‘OK’,
proud that having placed a few bets, unforgiving if you were not written big and bold, which meant the
the results were due to the outstanding proposal had been approved.

team that supported the effort. on top of your game, had Suman at his belligerent best,

I recall that we were trying to horror of humbug, and had defended the three of us and asked
get Aquafina going in Bombay, and a rather aggressive style. this very senior Italian American to
weren’t getting it right, but finally we apologise, waving hard copies of the

did. We were opposite Sterling movie On the other hand, if he was mail with ‘OK’ highlighted big and
hall in a store with a full on pack dis- convinced that you were bold. Three somewhat middle-aged
play, some great merchandising and honest to the cause and managers were reluctantly left off the
stock flying off the shelves. Chand- hook and we hammered back a few

sekhar Mundlay, his colleague Homi thought it through, even if that evening.
Battiwala and our striker Harshad you disagreed with him, you However now that Suman is not
Jain had cracked it. It was late Janu-
ary and we had a feeling in the bones couldn’t find a around may I say that, in a hurry to
launch the variants we had missed

that the business would fly in summer better leader. I felt his style what the emails were actually suggest-

– way ahead of the Reds. masked a caring, ing. The head of product development
Suman grilled everyone one at a affectionate and was an outstanding manager and a
dear colleague from West Africa. She,
time following which we had a paan

and lit up our cigarettes at the cor- considerate man like me, had a long multibarrel name,
ner of the street. Suman was chat- her initials were ‘OK’ with which she

ting with the sales folks. He asked me signed off her emails, it wasn’t an ap-

when I was back in Delhi. I saw him proval.

the next morning in his office and he shook my hand with- This goof up rang hard from Valhalla to Shanghai. A very

out saying a word. He asked me to sit, and wanted to know nifty software for product development was installed by

what I felt. I remember saying “Good to roll Sir”. That led New York to bring some sanity to product launches. We

to signing off capex for water plants across the country took her out to a very expensive dinner during the next trip

and he asked me to activate the national roll out. The rest to Manhattan and laughed our heads off, since we still had

as they say, was history created by Harshad Jain and his one. She since then has signed off with her full name and

teams across. remains a friend.

Another story is about juices. Parul Sikka, amongst our Suman transited recently, I have a deep sense of gratitude,

first lady management trainees and now a business leader a feeling of quiet joy for what he did for all of us. I would never

in West Asia, was a very young manager working on juices exchange the productive years, the wonderful colleagues

– a tiny business at the time. While running some numbers who are now friends, the finest brands in the world and those

with the finance folks she realised that juices were very prof- intense crisp meetings, the long gruelling AOPs and Strat

itable because they did not attract duties. Also they had a Plan sessions and finally the evenings we celebrated victories

significant growth opportunity. We did due diligence on the with Suman.

numbers and I took it up with Suman. He went through it The good that men do should live after them. Thank you

patiently, called in a few senior colleagues, corroborated the Sir.

hypothesis and pulled out the resources to make juices big. (For the record, I was his only team member who called

The advertising was nicely controversial, the business teams him ‘Sir’, despite his aggressive insistence that I call him

smelt blood and the business boomed. Suman. I have acceded to his request only on this occasion,

The sideshow to this juice story almost got the three of us while writing this piece. I have mentioned a few names but

fired. Pradeep Sardana, Ashish Sen and I went on to launch then there is a very large cast who I could not include as much

guava, lichi and other fruit juices. The following year New as I would wish to.)

York was apoplectic that we were rolling out products with-
out following protocols and without approvals and this der- The author was part of the leadership team of PepsiCo

50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 14 January 2023