BW BUSINESSWORLD 09 APRIL 2022

www.businessworld.in RNI NO. 39847/81 I 09 APRIL 2022
Avani Singh Rashi Gupta

Meghana Narayan
Kirandeep Dham

Loveena Namita Banka

WOMENSirohi
ENTREPRENEURS
Suchitra Ella CELEBRATING
THE NEXT GROWTH

DRIVERS

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Narayanan

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Singh

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

THE FIRST SPRIGS OF SPRING?

ANNURAG BATRA A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way

 [email protected] — John Maxwell

FINALLY, THERE IS A SPOT of good news! Reports coming in suggest
that the government is considering easing all Covid-19 related
restrictions other than social distancing and wearing of face masks
beginning 31 March. The end to Covid-19 strictures is welcome news for
all industries, especially the tourism and hospitality sector. According
to experts, the sector lost nearly 75 per cent of its revenue in FY 2021.

We seem to have managed to overcome this dreadful pandemic, or
have we? As I write this, fresh coronavirus cases are being reported
across the country. Even though the count is low, we must still be careful
and not be too quick to throw caution to the winds. This shouldn’t be
too difficult, given that most organisations are resorting to remote
working anyway. At our organisation too, the hybrid work model is in
play. Even our events are hybrid, and they have seen higher engagement
and participation this way. The hybrid working model is truly among the
good things the pandemic has brought about. As they say, every cloud
has a silver lining!

Talking of events, we will be celebrating women achievers through
our annual Women Entrepreneurship Summit & Awards (WESA).
This issue gives you an insight into this year’s achievers. This annual
BW Businessworld property celebrates and recognises outstanding
women entrepreneurs – leaders who have not only shattered the glass
ceiling – but also effected innovation through their path-breaking ideas,
to create a positive change in India’s business ecosystem. Read about
these leaders “who go the way and show the way,” in the pages ahead.

Yes, the striving for excellence persists amidst the malaise of a
pandemic, a war in a distant land and the creeping inflation that it will
lead to. Indian exporters have achieved their $400 billion target for the
2021-22 fiscal ahead of schedule and such green sprigs of growth are
evident in other segments of industry too. India’s Defence Research and
Development Organisation has been persisting with some successful
defence innovations, for instance, including the gradual advancement
of indigenous missile programmes. Read an in depth report about these
initiatives in this issue.

Of course, we also have all our regular columns and features you look
forward to. I hope you enjoy reading the magazine as much as we did
compiling it.

Happy Reading!

4 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022



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CORRIGENDUM

In the Budget issue (BW Businessworld, February
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CONTENTS

VOLUME 41, ISSUE 12 09 APRIL 2022

Photograph by DJB

14 Jottings Women Creating 50
Wonders
Record exports bring $400 billion of
joy; Will RBI raise rates?; Oil & Moving a step further from empowerment, BW
geopolitics; The great Indian middle Disrupt acknowledges outstanding women
class and more entrepreneurs across ten award categories.
Suchitra Ella, Co-founder & Joint MD, Bharat
16 Columns Biotech International wins the Women
Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 award
Vikas Singh (p. 16); Minhaz Merchant
(p. 18); Ashutosh Garg (p. 20); Amit Cover design by DINESH S. BANDUNI
Kapoor (p. 22); Srinath Sridharan (p.
24); Noor Fathima Warsia(p. 26); 10 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022
Kiran Karnik (p. 37); Padmaja
Ruparel (p. 48); Neeru Sharma (p.
49); Dhruv Nath (p. 72); Meena
Ganesh (p. 74); Srivatsa Subbanna
(p. 78); Dhaval Ajmera (p. 82);
Rachna Chhachhi(p. 90)

34 In Conversation

C.K. Mishra, Chairperson, Expert
Committee on Sustainable Finance on
India’s strategy to mitigate the impact
of climate change and much more



CONTENTS

VOLUME 41, ISSUE 12 09 APRIL 2022

88 DESIGNOMICS

Darshan Gandhi, a design
thinker, educator, and
creative impact strategist, on
the importance of empathy in
the design thinking process

WESA WINNERS 38 Aiming Higher 76 In Conversation

52 Suchitra Ella, Bharat Biotech How the DRDO is spearheading some Pankaj Sahni, CEO, Medanta
International of the most successful defence Hospital, on the hospital’s expansion
innovations, including India’s plans, the benefits and challenges of
54 Arika Bansal, Eugenix Hair indigenous missile programmes the National Digital Health Mission,
Sciences and more
42 Interview
55 Meghana Narayan, Slurrp 80 Battle of Sugars
Farm Rishi Vasudev, Co-founder and CEO,
GOAT Brand Labs on his journey and Prathamesh Krisang, Co-founder of
56 Avani Singh, SpiceHealth vision as a startup owner, and the need Magicleaf, on developing clean-
for D2C market space tasting Stevia, the sweetener
58 Loveena Sirohi, India Hemp industry, and more
Organics 98 Last Word
AFTER HOURS
58 Jia Pamnani, iTokri Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power on how
India can be the torchbearer for green jobs and 92 Everyday Ayurveda
60 Kirandeep Dham, Globus an efficient transition to net-zero emissions
Infocom How EGA Wellness is fostering the
idea of food as medicine with its
62 Namita Banka, Banka BioLoo Ayurvedic products for everyday use

63 Neha Indoria, Boingg! 94 Bookmark

64 Pallavi Shrivastava, Progcap A review of the book, The Indian Boss
at Work: Thinking Global, Acting
65 Rashi Gupta, Rezo.ai Indian by Steve Correa

68 Saumya Singh Rathore, TOTAL NO. OF PAGES
WinZO INCLUDING COVER 100

69 Vidya Narayanan, Rizzle

70 Veena Ashiya, Monrow Shoes
& Accessories

ThepagesinBW BusinessworldthatarelabelledBWiorPromotionscontainsponsoredcontent.Theyareentirelygeneratedbyanadvertiserorthe
marketingdepartmentofBW Businessworld.Also,theinsertsbeingdistributedalongwithsomecopiesofthemagazineareadvertorials/advertisements.

Thesepagesshouldnotbeconfusedwith BW Businessworld’seditorialcontent.

12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022



JOTTINGS

RECORD
EXPORTS
BRING $400
BILLION OF
JOY

W HEN PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi export target of $400 billion was achieved nine
takes to Twitter, understandably headlines days ahead of the schedule with an average of $1
are made. On 23 March, the Prime Minister billion goods exported every day.
Tweeted a congratulatory message to farmers,
weavers, small business, manufacturers and This is indeed, a significant achievement
exporters for achieving an ambitious target much ahead considering that the overall exports from India
of time. India achieved the ambitious goods export target during 2020-21 had been worth $292 billion,
of $400 billion ahead of schedule for the financial year nearly seven per cent less than the $313 billion of
2021-22 (till March 22, 2022). In fact, the merchandise export earnings of the 2019-20 financial year.
Engineering goods, petroleum products, gems
and jewellery, drugs and pharmaceutical products, textile
products, cotton yarn and handloom products, are among
the categories that have been clocking positive export
growth almost every month of the current fiscal. Indeed, it is
a key milestone in India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar’ journey. That was
the key takeaway from the Prime Minister’s Tweet that we all
acknowledge with pride. Good tidings indeed for the fiscal
ahead!

—Ashish Sinha

Will He, quarter of a percentage point and
signalled six more hikes in 2022.
Won’t He? Given the volatility in crude prices,
it is difficult for the RBI to forecast
INDIA’S RETAIL INFLATION inflation as the value of crude and
measured by the CPI Index for the consequently, commodity prices
month of February was at 6.07 that have been factored in, are
per cent, up from 6.01 per cent likely to remain range-bound for
in January. The retail inflation a year.
has breached the Reserve
Bank of India’s (RBI’s) upper Reserve Bank Governor
tolerance limit of six per cent for Shaktikanta Das, however,
two consecutive months now, expects inflation to be moderate
triggering anticipations on whether or not the RBI would and sees the current spike as
continue with its accommodative stance of the past two “transitory”, subtly signalling that
years and support growth or choose to raise interest rates. the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may continue with its
accommodative stance when it meets in April. Economists,
Globally, central banks are moving away from the Covid though, expect the committee to move away from its soft
era’s loose monetary policies to tame rising inflation. On stance as it may risk undermining growth – supporting which
16 March the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a after all, is the end game of the Central Bank.

— Arjun Yadav

14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022 Photographs by Druid007, PIB

OIL &
GEOPOLITICS

UNION MINISTER FOR PETROLEUM and Natural Gas energy transactions should not be politicised, and countries
Hardeep Singh Puri recently informed Parliament that Indian
companies have contracted the equivalent of about three self-sufficient in oil or those themselves importing from
days’ worth of the nation’s crude oil requirements from Russia,
or roughly 15 million barrels. India’s daily requirement of crude Russia cannot credibly advocate restrictive trading …” Indeed,
is estimated to be five million barrels. Crude purchases from
Russia at around 33 million barrels, accounted for barely two the country’s foreign policy and energy strategy should
per cent of India’s overall crude oil imports in 2021. West Asian
crude makes up more than 60 per cent of India’s crude oil be insulated from political party rivalries or even the subtle
imports.
pressures of geopolitics. India after all, has all along been
Puri told his fellow parliamentarians, “India’s legitimate
committed to the Non-aligned path. As it is, the burden of the

oil import bill is likely to weigh on India’s budgetary expenditure

in these times of high energy prices. So could the country’s

public sector refineries be faulted for stocking up on crude

supplies? — Manish Kumar Jha

THE GREAT INDIAN MIDDLE CLASS

THE OBSESSION with India’s “middle class” probably containers, the early birds among the multinational brands
began when multinational brands began to assess the size and even the first malls may have been a tad disappointed.
of our post-liberalisation market in the early 1990s. Since After all, consumer behaviour is driven by habit and a
purchasing power was still in the hands of a generation generation accustomed to want and scarcity, was not likely
that had become used to squeezing the last drop from a to go on a spending spree.
tube of toothpaste and recycling baby food tins as storage
Then the subsequent generations slowly came into
the workforce, acquire credit cards and adopt lifestyles
advocated on their television sets. This burgeoning middle
class soon became a consumer base to reckon with. By 2012,
studies had estimated India’s middle class to have grown
from 300 million in 2004 to 600 million and this band has
only expanded. The Pew Research Center, which assesses
India’s middle class as those earning between $10 and
$20 a day, says its size contracted by 32 million during the
pandemic, as medical bills pushed millions into poverty.

Economists seem to be divided today on whether to
define India’s middle income bracket in terms of income or
expenditure. Either way, this doughty band of tax-paying
Indians hold the key to how big or small the country’s
consumer base would be. If the Holi celebrations in the
capital are any indication, they will not let the market down.

— Madhumita Chakraborty

Photographs by SGVX, Mindstorm 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 15

COLUMN By Vikas Singh

Demographic
Dividend
Hinges on
Opportunities

INDIA HAS A JOB CRISIS. It will worsen. in plenty. The study covered 12 skill cat-
Economic growth is not creating proportionate jobs. Over the last three decades egories, four sectors’ in 15 economically
India has experienced a structured and secular labour market transformation. advanced states. The decade under study
It’s reflecting in the decoupling of jobs and growth. Growth-job elasticity is drift- has been marked by slowing employment
ing down; now 0.25 from 0.4 three decades ago. Most policymakers did not see it growth.
coming, and those who did, failed to recognise the impact of the diminishing elasticity.
The study articulates that impact of
These numbers don’t auger well for India’s demography. technology on unemployment varies
India is a poor country. Let’s not pretend we are a middle economy and accept that across skill distribution and job roles.
unemployment and its impact will ripple beyond the economy. The middle part (mostly) or the routine
jobs of the skill chain, which is easily au-
Jobs are not to live off, it’s much more. Job is a ‘definer of ‘self’ for most tomated and suffer much more from au-
India is automating, it echoes as polarisation i.e., increasing high and low-wage jobs and tomation and technology proliferation,
the corresponding decline of mid-wage jobs. Polarisation adversely impacts ‘middle’ is experiencing a sharp, even a lasting
jobs, hurts low-skilled constituents of the workforce. decline. However, automation is a friend
of the higher skilled, those performing
For the middle aged and middle-income earners, employment equals producing complex cognitive tasks. Similarly, au-
something, serving someone, and doing something meaningful. For many others it’s a tomation has little or no effect on low
sense of purpose. Jobs provide several wider benefits to the individuals, their families, skilled, low wage jobs that require man-
and society at large. ual dexterity, hand-eye co-ordination.
The cost-benefit discourages automa-
The evolution of the Indian labour market has been characterised by the shift of tion; and is difficult.
employment, away from agriculture (earlier) and manufacturing (now) toward the
services industries and ‘value adds’. This is caused, and largely explained by the lack of The Crux study highlights a substan-
competitiveness in the manufacturing sector, and the changing nature of manufactur- tial cross-industry heterogeneity for both
ing itself. Similarly, farmland has halved every six years; now at a point where farming ease and pace of technology adoption.
is unviable for 90 per cent of small farmers. The agri sector is marked by low-income, The technology proliferation in the man-
seasonality, disguised unemployment and diminishing opportunities. As much as 90 ufacturing sector has robbed millions of
per cent of Indian farmers are micro, face a bleak future. jobs. However greater use of ICT has al-
most no impact on the services sector.
The agri sector spews out even the ‘employed’ to the vagaries of the ever-shrinking job The ICT penetration has diminished la-
market. Policymakers are solving the wrong problems by resorting to ‘work welfarism’. bour demand by half in the manufactur-
MNREGA and its ilk are inefficient, mostly ineffective, and perpetuating. ing sector, even as the sector has doubled
in size.
Tech adoption will accelerate. India is ill prepared for transformation
A Crux study focusing on the relationship between jobs and growth, has lessons

16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

Learning largely delinked to education The future may be very
The Crux study highlights that 90 per cent of Indians have little or no ICT skills at all. different. We may well
Only a fifth of the graduating students can perform the simplest ICT tasks. The situa- experience reversal of
tion is no better amongst the ‘qualified’ and gets even more distressing. Only a fourth job polarisation, driven
of Computer Science students will acquire ‘effective’ digital skills. Only a third of all largely by technological
professionals have the cognitive skills to evaluate problems and ‘solve’ them. changes and a profound
and permeating shift in
It will be critical how policymakers react to the profound transformation. India the industry structure.
needs to revamp its educational framework that has largely focussed on education, This will manifest as
less on learning. Similarly, we need a radical shift in our skill programmes that are de- shrinking employment
linked and decoupled with education. In addition, our higher educational institutions opportunities at the
must focus on creating and disseminating relevant and contextual skills. Information, bottom. India may not
Communication and Technology (ICT) and soft skills must be an integral part of the be impacted by this
education framework. trend in the near future

The labour reforms are equally important. Institutions like the trade unions that
advocate and insist on narrow gains, at the cost of trade, hurt the very people they
seek to protect. Labour unions must accept the evolving reality of the gig economy,
fragmented careers, and contract jobs.

Looking into the future is notoriously hard. Dangerous too
Similarly, the corporate sector must embrace the idea of portability and expansion of
welfares and benefits. Entitlements should be linked to individuals rather than jobs;

In a globalised world India must ‘pick
and choose’ the industries where it has
competitive advantage, focus on the job
creating sectors and wholeheartedly in-
vest. India ’serves’ well; and will create
jobs.

so that they are portable from one job to the next. Industry must invest in re-skilling Empowering Demography: But
and up-skilling and incentivise workers for life-long learning. The government must
co-partner the corporate sector and the larger ecosystem to support the disadvantaged where are the jobs?
section of the employment chain. In the meanwhile, the government and
the economic actors must act. Jobs can’t
The future may be very different. We may well experience reversal of job polarisa- be created on thin air. India’s job prob-
tion, driven largely by technological changes and a profound and permeating shift in lems can be solved only by a concentrated
the industry structure. This will manifest as shrinking employment opportunities at and focused approach to ‘value migra-
the bottom. However, India may not be impacted by this trend in the very near future. tion’. At the macro level policymaking will
The optimists believe and project an entirely different narrative predicated largely on need the intertwined and concentrated
several new tasks opening up in the ensuing economic transformation. contribution of several ministries, in a
sustainable holistic manner. The labour
ministry must work in tandem with the
ministry of education and skill. The min-
istry of finance must contribute it’s might
to the ministry of MSMEs.

Labour, education, industrial, and agri
reforms must be holistically pursued.
And implemented well. It needs politi-
cal will in plenty.

The author is an economist and columnist
The views expressed are personal

Photograph by Zhuzhu 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 17

Minhaz Merchant COLUMN

Economic
Costs of War

R OILED BY THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR, the global economy is again
on a cliff edge. Having barely recovered from the debilitating effects
of a two-year-long pandemic, the conflict in Europe threatens nas-
cent economic recovery. In the United States inflation has reached a
decades-high 7.9 per cent. Crude oil prices are rising, throwing India’s
fiscal math into disarray.

The ONGC’s performance remains below par. Reliance Industries

and British Petroleum too have had little luck in striking large oil

and gas fields. Cairn Oil and Gas, a Vedanta Group company, has

earmarked an investment of $4 billion (Rs 31,000 crore) over the

next three years to triple its production to 0.5 million barrels a day (roughly 10 per cent

of India’s requirement).

For India, the price of crude oil is vital. In the 1970s, India’s dependence on oil

imports was 60 per cent. Today it is 85 per cent. The failure of India’s oil exploration

policy over the last 20 years is a cross the economy has now to bear. And yet all is not

doom and gloom. The Indian economy has weathered the third wave of Covid-19. The

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is above pre-Covid levels. In January 2022 it rose

1.3 per cent over the previous month. MINHAZ MERCHANT
IS THE BIOGRAPHER
Michael Patra, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is sanguine OF RAJIV GANDHI AND
ADITYA BIRLA AND
about inflation which he believes will remain under control with the consumer price AUTHOR OF THE NEW
CLASH OF
index (CPI) steady at around six per cent despite rising food prices. Patra, however, CIVILIZATIONS (RUPA,
2014). HE IS FOUNDER
implied that the RBI could, at its next meeting, raise interest rates to damp down OF STERLING
NEWSPAPERS, WHICH
inflationary pressure. WAS ACQUIRED BY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Delivering the keynote address at the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, GROUP

Patra said: “For India, direct trade and finance exposures in the context of the ongoing

conflict are limited. The contagion could, however, impact India through a broader

fallout on EMs (emerging markets) as an asset class. If worry were to give way to panic,

liquidity, especially US dollar funding, could dry up and markets could malfunction.

With crude oil still above $100 per barrel, new macroeconomic headwinds could be a

second channel of contagion.”

While punitive sanctions on Russia by the United States-led West have not yet af-

fected India’s trade, the longer they remain in force, the greater the danger of contagion

for the Indian economy. India is exploring options to circumvent the sanctions by

paying for Russian crude in rupees and enhancing rupee-rouble trade in other sectors.

With the rouble crashing by 40 per cent against a basket of international currencies,

this could prove beneficial to India. Moscow has also offered a 20-25 per cent discount

on the benchmark Brent price of crude.

China and the Arab world have largely ignored Western sanctions on Russia. India

has a legacy relationship with Russia, especially in defence equipment, as well as an

expanding economic and security partnership with the US. Reconciling this triangular

arrangement is a diplomatic challenge.

India has abstained on three US-backed United Nations resolutions condemn-

18 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

ing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wash- reinforce welfare benefits that contributed to the BJP’s success in the recent assembly
ington is not pleased but understands
India’s predicament. Besides, the US elections while focusing on four key development areas.
needs India as a counterweight to China
in the Indo-Pacific. The US companies First, infrastructure: airports, highways, housing and power. The emphasis is on
too need India’s large consumer market
– the largest in the free world and the building green energy and modernising India’s civic infrastructure. Second, private
second largest overall after China. With
an estimated 500 million middle-class investment: the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has drawn an outstand-
Indian consumers by 2030, India’s con-
sumer market will be more than double ing response from leading Indian and foreign companies. This scheme will be greatly
America’s and significantly larger than
that of the entire 27-country European expanded over the next two years, transforming India into an export hub.
Union (EU).
Third, privatisation and divestment: these will re-
What then are the prospects for the
Indian economy as the beginning of The Indian ceive new impetus. The Ukraine-Russian conflict has
the new financial year, 2022-23, bears delayed the mega Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)
down on us? Buoyed by the BJP’s vic-
tory in four of the five states that went government’s public issue. Nonetheless, it heralds a new approach
to the polls this spring, Prime Minister focus on four key to divestment. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
Narendra Modi is likely to double down (BPCL) is next on the block. The government holds
on pending economic reforms. Last development
year proved a setback for reforms. The 52.98 per cent of BPCL’s equity. Selling a large portion
repeal of the three farm laws under pres-
sure from a small but powerful lobby of areas, will help of this equity will result in privatisation with the gov-
landed farmer-politicians and arhityas the economy ernment retaining only a small minority stake. Bharat
(middlemen) was politically expedient Petroleum is India’s second largest fuel retailer with
but economically ruinous. Fortunate-
ly, since agriculture is both a state and recover faster excellent legacy assets.
central subject, several states have qui-
etly begun implementing agricultural from the double Fourth, Indian startups: they will be encouraged to
reforms that virtually mimic the three whammy of the set up centres of innovation in artificial intelligence,
repealed farm laws. deep machine learning, web 3.0, blockchain technol-

As the prime minister’s second term Covid-19 ogy, space science and fintech. The success of India’s
enters its final two years, the government
will adopt a two-pronged strategy. It will pandemic and UPI (unified payments interface), now accepted as a
the Russia- gateway by more than ten countries, has raised India’s
profile from being a mere IT services provider to a na-

Ukraine war tion at the top of the innovation value chain.
All these initiatives will help India’s economy re-

cover faster from the double whammy of the Covid-19

pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. As Union

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said

at a recent Economic Times Global Business Summit (GBS): “We have strong funda-

ments in the economy today, the highest ever FDI (foreign direct investment), breaking

records year after year. Our merchandise exports are set to cross $400 billion this year.

We are over $375 billion already. Our GST (Goods and Services Tax) collections have

been robust despite the third wave of the Covid pandemic and our startup ecosystem

continues to grow by leaps and bounds.”

Photograph by Andriano CZ 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 19

COLUMN Ashutosh Garg

T HE BEST INVESTMENT you can make is in yourself” says War- lines you know you cannot meet even
ren Buffet. before you have accepted the task?
Consistency is the hallmark of every successful brand.
When you think of any major brand, you know that you will get l If a task is assigned to you, is your
the same experience that you have experienced earlier. If there is boss certain that you will get it done
any variation, you will be seriously disappointed. within the stipulated time frame?
People continue to invest in themselves to propel themselves for-
ward to gain acceptance in a society higher than the one they per- l Do you bring innovative ways
ceive themselves to be in. Moving ahead is human nature and this can be achieved of doing things into your workplace
by constantly investing in and educating ourselves. thereby saving time and money for your
company?
From time immemorial, we have seen that the children of the rich and famous are
sent to “finishing schools” in Switzerland to improve their abilities to be presented Once you have a clear answer, hope-
to the larger society. The concept of “presentation to the society” in a formal “com- fully a strong positive, to the above
ing out” party was necessary in the olden days for the young ladies to find a suitable questions, you have started your jour-
ney to building yourself into a brand.

The next set of questions that you

BRAND YOU

Invest
in Yourself

match for marriage. need to answer are:
Good manners, good speaking skills, good dressing skills, ability to communicate l Are you known and respected in

at parties and ability to carry themselves in any community are all about adding your professional community, outside
to the value of the individual’s brand. Finishing schools cover personality develop- the four walls of your organisation?
ment, dining etiquette, power dressing, business etiquette, social etiquette and
public speaking. l Does your name come up when
decision makers want an opinion re-
Good social skills apply to each one of us as individuals, irrespective of whether we lated to your field of specialisation?
can afford to go to a finishing school. Our parents and our teachers, in their own way,
teach us these skills as we grow from childhood to adolescence. Based on whatever Think of the answers to these ques-
knowledge they have; they teach us the first and basic ingredients of Brand You. tions. Ideally the answers should be a
strong positive.
Yourepresentyourownbrand. Eachoneofusassumesabrandvalueofourselves.
More often than not, this is a grossly exaggerated value we believe we have. Your brand must make an impact
well beyond your workplace. In today’s
Ask yourself, what is it that your brand offers that others do not? interconnected world, communicat-
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself: ing your message is easy but it is getting
l Are you seen as a dependable person when it comes to taking responsibility your message to be seen, heard and un-
at the workplace? derstood that is very difficult.
l Do people remember you for your work ethics?
l Doyouhavetheabilitytosay‘no’whenyouarebeingpushedtoachievedead- For you to achieve this you need to in-
vest in yourself, using your knowledge

20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

think of.
Blogging can be a very impactful way

of communicating your thoughts. Sub-
jects can range from your work-related
specialisation to a sport you love, to
music.

Remember that what you say should
be yours originally. Once you have
written your blog, you can promote it
through the various social media plat-
forms.

l Startspeakingatindustryconfer-
ences and at other forums. Speaking
not only gives you a platform to express
your ideas and thoughts, it also forces
you to prepare well, in advance, on the
subject of your speech. The easiest way
to get your first speaking invitation is
to put your name down in industry as-
sociations for panel discussions.

Conference organisers are always

and skills that you know best. More and Ask yourself, what is it that your brand offers that
more people are sharing their knowl- others do not? Are you seen as a dependable
edgeand their experiencesthroughso- person when it comes to taking responsibility at
cial media in a never before manner. the workplace? Do people remember you for your
work ethics? Do you have the ability to say ‘no’?
At the same time, negative social me-
dia posts also have a strong negative re- community of people in the world. looking for good speakers!
percussion on your personal brand. It is important to be original in what l Write a book outlining your

Social media has empowered every- you say. Simply liking or retweeting thoughts and experiences. Everyone
one. Everyone can now aspire to speak may not get you the recognition that has at least one book inside them. The
to the world, using their global voice. you are looking for. challenge in writing a book is first to get
There are no restrictions on what you started and then, more importantly to
can say and how often you can say. You l LinkedIn gives you a very good finish what you started.
can address any one at any time on any platform to share your professional
subject. knowledge with your peers on a pro- A well-written book will have several
fessional level. It is a group where you publishers waiting in line.
You too can use the various social me- can judiciously select building up your
dia platforms to talk about your per- contact base. Even if you are not able to find a pub-
sonal brand and to make yourself seen, lisher, you have the ability to self-pub-
heard and talked about. While I have You will also be able to follow iconic lish through several channels. If you
covered social media in much more de- professional managers and read their have established a strong presence on
tail in my book, I am giving below a few views on a wide range of subjects. social media, marketing your book will
thoughts for you to think about to build not be a major challenge.
Brand You. l Writing a blog is one of the best
ways to communicate what you feel The author is an executive coach, an angel
l Social media platforms like Fa- about a subject. Given the opportuni- investor and Founder Chairman of Guardian
cebook, Twitter and Instagram give ties available to publish across so many Pharmacies. He has authored six best-selling
you an excellent opportunity to share different forms of media, you can write
personal experiences. These platforms on virtually any subject that you can books, including The Brand Called You
help you to reach out and get followers
beyond the people you know when you
start to say things that interest a larger

Photograph by Ragakawaw 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 21

ARTHSASTRA By Amit Kapoor

T HE INDIAN middle population captures a significantly large excluded from this definition.
class has always occu- lower middle class with low disposable However, extending EWS to defin-
pied a space of intrigue income, a static middle-middle class with
about its composition extremely slow mobility and an upper ing the middle class is to see the latter
and characteristics. middle class close to the affluent upper through a narrow lens, further obscur-
Viewed with both po- class. Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee ing the fuzzy boundaries between the
classes and the sub-groups. A definitional

tential for change and and Esther Duflo calculated the thresh- clarity over the middle class is pertinent

suspicion of vested in- olds for the Indian middle class based on for a comprehensive analysis of poverty

terests, the middle class has remained an per capita expenditure. With the global and inequality in our country. While the

ambiguous entity. This ambivalence re- poverty line threshold set at $1.90 daily movement in and out of poverty could

sults in difficulty in monitoring the com- percapitaexpenditure,thelower-middle be traced by comparing the per cap-

positional change within the group and class is capped at 2$-4$, and the middle- ita expenditure to the poverty line, the

understanding the patterns of mobility. middle class is between 4$-6$. With movement within the middle class be-

These deviations become significant for these numbers being inconsistent with comes a highly arduous task. Therefore,

drawingdistinctboundariesandtargeted the national poverty threshold, a correct it is important to derive a threshold in

policy interventions to increase the mid- evaluationofthemiddleclassonthebasis order to measure the movement within

dle class’s share in the country’s growth. ofpercapitaexpenditureremainsincom- the sub-groups. A heterogeneous entity

The liberalisation policies of the early plete. Additionally, the distance between with both socio-economic vulnerabilities

The Panoramic
Middle Class

1990s are believed to have steered the the people on the poverty line and those in and accumulation of assets and wealth
solidification of the middle class leading the lower-middle group is not truly repre- (towards the upper end of the spectrum),
to a higher visibility of the class. The col- sentative through the cut-offs established the middle class symbolises both power
loquial Aam Aadmi has been caricatured by Banerjee and Duflo. The NCAER has and depravity. The salience of this class
for their aspirations of a “comfortable set a cut-off for the middle class between in reinforcing discourses lies in its eco-
life”. In popular media, an urban middle the household income of Rs 2 Lakhs per nomic diversity and varying experiences
class household has been depicted as the annum to Rs 10 Lakhs per annum. The of inequality and poverty. We argue for an
primary beneficiary of the liberal reforms. closest we have of a governmental defini- absolute threshold for the middle class to
The diverse discourse lands the middle tion is the official categorisation of the analyse the triggering points of descent
class at the core of economic develop- Economically Weaker Section (EWS), into poverty or downward mobility. At
ment, presented as the prototype of an which is based on both income and assets. the same time, an absolute definition will
economically healthy class with a high A candidate is eligible for reservation un- help correlate income or asset-based in-
and dignified standard of living. der the EWS category if their household dicators with multi-dimensional inhibi-
income is less than Rs 8 lakhs per annum. tors of growth that generate inegalitarian
Previously, scholars and organisations People with property of notified sizes are structures and aid their sustenance.
have attempted to define the middle class
to map their mobility between classes The author is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India and visiting scholar and lecturer, Stanford University.
and within the sub-groups. A group as Jessica Duggal, researcher, Institute for Competitiveness has contributed to this article
large as nearly 80 per cent of the Indian

22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022



(A)MUSE & MUSINGS By Srinath Sridharan

T number of MSMEs is 6.34 crore (as per the ministry statis-
tics), this means only 11 per cent MSMEs are registered and
HE MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM have access to formal institutional credit support.
Enterprises (MSME) sector is critically
important for the economic and social Also, not much is known, with even reasonable accuracy,
development of India, as it not only about what more needs to be done to help the sector, as most
fosters entrepreneurship and nation MSMEs work in the informal sector, are self-financed, and
building, but correspondingly gener- are outside the formal credit system! On 3 February, 2022,
ates large employment opportunities the government replied to a parliamentarian’s query on how
at a comparatively lower capital cost. many MSMEs were closed down temporarily or permanently
The lower end of the industry has sin- during the pandemic. The government’s response was, “As
gle-person entrepreneurs like grocers MSMEs function in both formal and informal sectors, data
and everything in between from com- regarding temporary and permanent closure of MSMEs are
not centrally maintained.”

The MSME industry associations traditionally have been
a key policy input force for the industry, as the industry is
fragmented and spread across the country. These associations
have been functioning for the cause of the sector, despite not
having the ability to raise large sums of funding, that other

MSME
Associations’

Unsung
Efforts

mercial vehicle owners to village crafts- larger industrial associations have been able to. As the gov-
women. Thus, it is a vast spectrum of ernment accelerates its efforts to develop the MSME sector, it
businesses and employability both. would benefit from using the network and expertise of these
industry associations.
However not much is known about
how many (M)SME units were revived VALUE-ADD BY THE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
through credit supply. Research has in-
dicated that the Emergency Credit Line Show & Tell
Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) provided Trade shows, if utilised well, are powerful business drivers,
the much-needed additional credit to revenue-accretive and positive branding reinforcement.
more than 1.3 crore MSMEs and helped Many of these trade associations take the lead in participat-
them mitigate the adverse impact of ing in global trade shows; this brings cost efficiency to the
the pandemic. As per the MSME min- industry participants to showcase their products collectively
istry’s Udyam registration portal, as on and to pitch to the potential global buyers.
19 March, 2022, the registered MSME
units stood at 73,83,333. Since the total Their efforts can be further supplemented if Indian policy
makers enable a world-class ‘India Trade show’ regularly that

24 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

can showcase Indian prowess across It is While we have had partial success with skill-
various SME / MSME verticals. This imperative ing initiatives in the past few years, it is time
can also be promoted by various Indian that in we encouraged our universities to work with
consuls around the world. It would also the entire the MSME sector; to develop new products,
help showcase India as an investment MSME policy especially where our manufacturing verticals
destination in those MSME micro-sec- framework, are concerned. Some funding in the form of
tors, and not just as a supplier of prod- there research grants can be provided by the govern-
ucts to the world. are more ment to support innovation.
concerted
Policy Development Inputs efforts to Within these university ecosystems, we could
The MSME industry is scattered and involve think of setting up “SME Industry Skilling
industry associations are a pivotal force industry Institutes (SISI)” focussed on specific micro
for bringing in collective knowledge associations. segments. Yet again, if we can tweak our cur-
and policy inputs. Unlike in the case There is rent regulatory framework, we can improve
of large-scale industry associations, much native interaction and collaborative hands-on efforts
where the worry of misuse of lobbying intelligence between the industry and academia.
power for specific (large) member com- and
panies exists, the MSME industry asso- cumulative A case in point: Can we allow a professor to
ciations don’t have that baggage. Their sectoral work with an industry association or even an
members are small or mid-sized and knowledge MSME firm on deputation or private-service
rightfully need their voices to be heard. that resides secondment? (We need to allow such a depu-
The industry associations bring in that within tation, to count for “service continuity” in the university. Else
grassroots level operational issues and industry the academic talent won’t move to work with the industry).
policy impetus needed as inputs to the associations,
policy makers. whichneedto CO-SHARED INDUSTRY PARKS
be harnessed There is also an example of state governments allotting
LEARNING FROM PEERS for sectoral land for an industry body to develop and set up a dedicated
progress. machine-tool park. Again Taiwan has been a pioneer in this
Academia and R&D Depth and that’s what’s helped them in being a global exporter of
Picking up learnings from China and electronics. Can more state governments grant large tracts
Germany where the SME and MSME of industrial land (with built-infrastructure) to industry as-
contribute to a large proportion of the sociations so that their members – the local state MSME
economy, “skilling” and “research” ca- manufacturers – can set up shop and benefit from it?
pabilities could be useful.
ATMANIRBHARTA & PRE-BID CRITERIA
In the innovation race that we live in, pre-bidding eligibility
of “prior experience” could deter any innovation. By its very
nature, innovation needs an ecosystem with the ability to
experiment! For example, we won’t have a company with a
product with the prior three years of usage, if it’s a new in-
novation! Policy makers can help the industry by taking care
of these anomalies in the old rules and regulations. Globally
policy makers encourage new innovation with relaxation in
rules for initial pilot attempts.

It is imperative that in the entire MSME policy frame-
work, there are more concerted efforts to involve industry
associations. There is much native intelligence and cumula-
tive sectoral knowledge that resides within industry associa-
tions, which needs to be harnessed for sectoral progress. By
empowering industry associations, and working with them,
policy engagement can be honed with sectoral insights and
requirements.

The author is a corporate advisor & independent markets commentator

Photograph by Dmitry Rukhlenko 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 25

Noorings [email protected]

DESIGNING ‘BACK TO enabled under remote working?
WORKPLACE’ Should it be left to the employee to
decide? There is nothing wrong
As more companies begin back to office drives, with any of these except one step
the shift cannot be as simplistic an approach as forward is taken, and the bigger
pre-covid times or a hybrid structure that thinks picture is factored in, there is the
foreshadowing of apprehensions.
function, not people
In one of our earlier conversa-
by Noor Fathima Warsia tions in April 2020, when the pan-
demic was just about finding new
I F THERE WAS a silver lining about the third Covid wave, it was how ways of working, Nestlé India’s
shortlived it was and the comparatively controlled loss it entailed. Chairman and Managing Director,
Both these factors played an important role in encouraging compa- Suresh Narayanan had very cor-
nies to earnestly plan their work-from-office strategies. Some com- rectly pointed out that the spirit of
panies are thinking as simplistically as getting all back in. Social a company, and some of the means
distancing norms at the workplace cannot be ignored yet. Surpris- that contribute to creating a cul-
ingly, some offices are not factoring in post-covid norms and that in ture, is in the famous watercooler
itself needs a revisit. conversations. As we look to work
with a set of people who will not be
However, many companies are still looking at a mixed or hybrid version of partaking in these, and for good
back to work. In these cases, more meticulous planning is required because reasons, how do we ensure equality
back-to-office means different things to different people, both from their per- in hybrid?
formance and their personal lives standpoint. As concepts such as diversity
and inclusion and hybrid come together, some new areas of concern arise that The remote working lifestyle had
require organisations to carefully weigh in on how do design their hybrid pushed many advantages to the
model. fore, inclusivity of talent being one
of them. Now, as we look to nor-
Will it be as simple as functions that require teams to work together, will malcy, what happens to some of
have to come to the office on certain days and the single-person tasks can be these benefits? What is the right
model that can retain the best of
both worlds?

One popular answer is to solve
for individuals and not teams and
to be people-centric. But executing
this is a much more intricate exer-
cise than what is presently seen.
One would have imagined certain
sectors, technology, for example,
would have laid the foundation on
what could be seen as optimal hy-
brid structures. But even in those,
the best cases are just different
forms of experimentation.

A company’s HR cannot just put
the new workplace model together,
it has to be designed. It needs to be
both strategic and long-term.
There may be a need here for more
minds to come together to work
out what back to work should look
like so that they can take inclusivity
forward instead of regressing.

26 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

6th

IN DEPTH CORPORATE

ON THE
ON 17 MARCH, the share price of GHCL hit a
BSE-listed diversified 52-week high (Rs 552) surpassing its previ-
entity GHCL, the ous high of Rs 499.45 on 11 March 2022. In
second largest March, GHCL stocks have gained 43 per
cent. What is working for the company?
manufacturer of soda Gujarat-based GHCL caters to almost 25
ash is buzzing on the per cent of the country’s annual domestic demand for soda
bourses nowadays. ash. It is a well-diversified group with businesses across chem-
What is clicking for icals, textiles and consumer products. So, what is working for
the company and its the company? It appears that a significant part of the move-
shareholders? ment in stock prices is due to the recent developments around
the company’s textile business.
By Ashish Sinha
It all started on 3 March 2022 after GHCL received ‘No
adverse observation/ no objection’ letters from the BSE and

28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

al and strategic benefits to each business segment as separate

listed entities. It will lend focused growth, concentrated ap-

proach, business synergies and will help increase operational

and customer focus. It will also allow us to address independ-

ent business opportunities with efficient capital allocation and

attract a different set of investors, strategic partners, lenders

and other stakeholders,” says Jalan, adding that the demerger

will result in enhanced value creation for all stakeholders.

What happens post-demerger? “After the demerger, the

spinning business will be separately listed and shareholders of

demerged companies will get one equity share of the resulting

company, i.e. the textile company.”

But what was the thought process behind the demerger

of the home textile business? According to Jalan, over the

last decade, GHCL’s home textiles business had become a

prominent market player in the sector. On a strategic note, it

was decided that the business would be transferred to ICIL

by way of a business transfer agreement dated 06 December

2021. “This decision was made to ensure continuity and fur-

ther growth of the home textiles business as ICIL are market

leaders in this particular product category,” informs Jalan.

Therefore, it’s clear that the spinning division will remain with

GHCL and will be demerged into GHCL Textiles.

“We believe that the divestment of the home textiles busi-

ness is a significant step towards unlocking value for GHCL

and its stakeholders. It will enable us to focus on our strategic

growth pillars, i.e., our chemical and spinning businesses,”
MOVE
says Jalan. This divestment will enable
the company to explore opportunities and
undertake initiatives, such as greenfield
expansion, enhancing its green energy
portfolio, increasing its product baskets,
and expanding the capacity of refined
bio-carbonate business. It will also allow

GHCL to enter into joint venture arrange-

ments and explore opportunities in auto-

mation.

The acquisition by ICIL also makes

the National Stock Exchange of India for a proposed Scheme sense. According to analysts, after the acquisition, ICIL’s ca-

of Arrangement. In early December last year, the board of pacity will stand at 153 million metres. ICIL will increase the

directors of GHCL had approved a scheme of arrangement acquired cutting and sew capacity to 45 million metres by

involvingdemergerofthespinningbusinessdivisionofGHCL operating in two shifts as GHCL was operating in a single

toGHCLTextiles(subjecttoregulatoryapprovals).GHCLex- shift only.

pects this new scheme to be completed by around September GHCL’s home textile revenue for FY21 stood at Rs 435 crore

2022. Then, the company has also recently divested its home andforH1FY22itwasRs386crore.“GHCLwasoperatingat

textiles business to Indo Count Industries (ICIL) for Rs 596 50 per cent capacity utilisation level. The ICIL management

crore. This sale, the company insiders say, may unlock the stated in December that they would target increasing the

valueforitsstakeholders.Theproceedsofthesalewillbeused capacityutilisationlevelasdemandfromICILcustomerscon-

to further grow the chemicals business, the core for GHCL. tinuedtoremainstrongandproductsfromGHCL’shometex-

BW Businessworld caught up with R.S. Jalan, Managing tile facility will be sold to ICIL customers. The management

Director of GHCL to understand the situation. How will the of ICIL indicated that the acquired capacity has a revenue

demergerhelp?“Thedemergerwilldelivervariousoperation- potential of Rs 1,300-1,500 crore over the next two to three

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 29

IN DEPTH CORPORATE

years,” says a senior analyst tracking the company.

Growth strategy

How is GHCL planning to further grow its businesses? Ac-

cording to Jalan, the company’s future growth strategy is

based on various initiatives such as clean energy, long-term

sustainability, environment friendly practices, corporate gov-

ernance and talent management. GHCL is now looking at

further enhancing its renewable energy portfolio to fulfil

almost 80 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable

sources. At the moment, 55 per cent of the energy requirement

of the yarn division is being met through renewable energy

resources. “We have commissioned a 10 megawatt (MW) solar

plant in January 2022 and another 20 MW is in the pipeline

which will be completed within three months. This will lead

to cost competitiveness and better margins,” says Jalan.

The company’s spinning division is situated in Madurai,

Tamil Nadu. It is equipped with the latest machinery mak-

ing the company a highly cost-efficient spinning business

in South India. It produces 30,000 metric tonnes of a wide

variety of yarn annually.

What about the growth prospects of the “We believe

chemicals business? As mentioned earlier,

GHCL manufactures soda ash as well as so- that the
dium bicarbonate at its manufacturing facility divestment
located at Sutrapada, Gujarat. With an an- of the home

nual production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes

GHCL is the second largest manufacturer of textiles yarn demand remained strong and higher
soda ash in the country, with a 25 per cent business is prices were absorbed,” he says.
market share. a significant

“Soda ash is used in the manufacture of The second quarter saw swift economic

glass, detergents, etc. Globally, soda ash is the step towards recovery across the country due to improved
10th most consumed inorganic compound unlocking value vaccination coverage and a growing sense of
in the world, which has been used for over normalcy. “With a strong focus now on re-
5,000 years. It is a safe, simple compound for GHCL and its newable energy, solar glass emerged as a new
and a key component in a variety of indus- stakeholders” segment for soda ash. However, supply chain
trial processes from the manufacture of glass disruptions and an increase in raw material

to dry powder detergents and lithium-ion R.S. Jalan, and energy prices continued to affect the top
batteries. It is also an important ingredient line,” says Jalan, adding, “Our revenue grew at
in the food and pharmaceutical industries.” Managing Director, 16 per cent on a sequential basis.”

Globally, the soda ash market is growing at GHCL By the third quarter, the aggressive vaccina-

a 2 per cent CAGR requiring around 1.2 mil- tion drive by the government led to a revival

lion metric tons of additional supplies every year. of demand and consumption across all sectors. Certain chal-

lenges did persist due to an increase in the input cost and

Taking stock supply chain challenges. “Yet, we were able to achieve higher

The last three quarters saw the unfolding of the adverse im- realisations and better margins. In Q3 FY22, we recorded a

pact of the pandemic on he economy. So, how did GHCL revenue increase of 25 per cent on a sequential basis, from

perform during the same period? Jalan says that despite the the earlier quarter in FY22. We expect the positive trend to

second wave of Covid, the demand for soda ash was strong. continue through 2022,” says Jalan.

“We did face certain supply side disruptions, which could be

offset due to better soda ash pricing. In the spinning business, [email protected]; @Ashish_BW

30 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

#BWHRTech

APRIL, 2022

REGISTER ON

https://bit.ly/HRtechsummit

BW HR Tech Summit brings Together all facets of leadership in innovation, driven by HR
Tech that Contributes to sustainable economic development at scale. BW HR Tech
Summit seeks to Provide a platform for Industry stakeholders to share a road map for
unleashing the true potential of the business. The discussions at the forum would focus
on the ongoing changes including the evolution in the workforce Industry, People
Management, Digitization in Workforce etc. with a view to understand the influence of
these developments on business and explore the need for operations excellence; new
strategies and a pool of next gen leaders to sustain high growth in the present changing

working environment.

For Delegate Registration :
Ashish Kumar | [email protected] | +91 97179 22747

For Sponsorship :
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IN CONVERSATION

“Aiming
to close
FY22 at
Rs 1,900 cr
revenue”
Withadailyproductionof
How has Walkaroo’s sales growth been last year and 4,00,000pairs,footwearbrand
this year? Give us an overview of the branded footwear Walkaroo,whichhasadominant
market in India. Despite a GST hike, why is there an presenceinsouthIndia,ishoping
overall growth? toclosethecurrentfiscalwith
Like most footwear manufacturers, the last two years have over20percentgrowth,abulk
been tough on business due to Covid and the subsequent ofwhichiscomingfromnorthern
lockdowns. Still we managed to post a 2 per cent growth India. V. Noushad, Managing
with revenues of Rs 1,570 crore in FY21 and we will be Director,WalkarooInternational
aiming to close FY22 with around Rs 1,900 crore revenue. talkstoASHISHSINHAofBW
Businessworldaboutthenuances
Despite the rising raw material prices and supply ofbrandedfootwearmarket.
crunch over the past two years, we are seeing positive Excerpts
sentiments from the demand side with the opening up of
markets and economic activities. Brands with organised
supply chain and strong distribution network have been
able to tide over the difficult times. However, the new
GST hike on mass footwear from 5 per cent to 12 per cent

32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

is having a visible impact on the industry and can slow IPL 2021. Walkaroo has invested 6 per cent of revenue

down this growth. on marketing and trade promotions every year. We will

continue to invest in the brand and look to have a strong

In terms of geography, which region offers maximum presence in the digital and social media space.

growth for Walkaroo? What do you make of the overall

size of the market, the sub-categories, and the growth How many stores does Walkaroo operate in India?

within them? How many stores do you plan to add this year?

The Indian footwear market is estimated to be worth While Walkaroo works closely with 750-plus dealers and

around Rs 70,000 crore, with an annual consumption more than 1,50,000 retailers spread across the country,

of 3 billion pairs. Out of the overall footwear market, the we have started our retail business in a small way to get

mass segment (priced less than Rs 500 per pair) accounts direct feedback from customers and give them an op-

for about Rs 50,000 crore, with PU footwear accounting portunity to experience our brand in our exclusive stores.

for Rs 20,000 crore, Hawai providing Rs 15,000 crore, We currently have eight exclusive stores with three new

and the rest being PVC and EVA footwear. The penetra- stores have been launched in Pune, Maharashtra in Febru-

tion of organised brands in Indian footwear is as low as ary 2022. We are planning to open around 22 new stores

20 per cent, but it’s grow- in the next financial year

ing rapidly especially in with 12 own stores and 10

rural areas, Tier-2 and franchisee stores.

Tier-3 cities. The majority

of business for Walkaroo Are you looking at roping

comes from south India, in region-centric brand

which accounts for two- ambassadors for promo-

thirds of the total revenue tion?

and we have grown at Walkaroo is one of the

nearly 10 per cent year on leading brands in the mass

year in these markets. Out- category, which is a price

side south India, Walkaroo sensitive segment and

is growing at more than 20 the costs have to be kept

per cent year on year. under check to remain

competitive in the mar-

What is the break-up ket. Hence, we do not have

of your revenue in the regional-centric brand

south, north, east and ambassadors. But we

west? “We have started our retail busi- have Bollywood superstar
The south accounts for ness in a small way to get direct Aamir Khan as our brand
feedback from customers and
70 per cent of Walkaroo’s ambassador since 2018.
business, where we are Our ladies’ collections are
growing at around 10 per endorsed by Indian actress
cent while the east, west, give them an opportunity to expe- Keerthy Suresh.
and north each contribute rience our brand in our stores”
10 per cent. In the north, Are you planning to in-

we are growing at more crease your manufactur-

than 20 per cent year on year. ing capacity to meet the demand?

Walkaroo has 12 factories — three each in Kerala, Tamil

How much has Walkaroo invested in marketing ac- Nadu and Karnataka and one each in Andhra Pradesh,

tivities? Gujarat and Haryana. We have invested in capacity expan-

Walkaroo has been consistently investing in marketing sions keeping in mind the growing demand. Currently, we

and brand building activities. During the festive season, have the capacity to produce 5 lakh pairs a day. Today, we

we released a series of five TVCs featuring Aamir Khan in are operating at 80 per cent of its capacity in three shifts

five different avatars which garnered good reviews and producing around 4 lakh pairs per day.

feedback from the market. We also conducted integrated

marketing campaigns in social media and ATL during [email protected]; @Ashish_BW

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 33

IN CONVERSATION

“Green finance has
been majorly

skewed towards
renewable energy”

C.K.MISHRA,formersecretaryintheMinistryofEnvironment,
Forest&ClimateChange,andChairperson,ExpertCommittee
onSustainableFinance,inaninteractionwithAnnuragBatra,
Editor-in-Chief,BWBusinessworld,talksaboutIndia’sstrategy
tomitigatetheimpactofclimatechangeandhowstakeholders
fromdifferentindustriesarehelpingformulatepoliciesfora

greenerfuture.Excerpts

34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

Following our bold commitments made during the the right kind of message and awareness regarding climate

CoP26 Conference, do you think India has the required change.

capacities to achieve its climate change goals in a time-

bound manner? What steps can be taken to increase awareness and com-

I think India has already initiated its plan since the Paris municate the impact of climate change to the citizens of

agreement of 2015. Yes, the commitments made during the country?

CoP26 are bold and will definitely require tremendous We need to create a platform for climate change discussions,

amount of technological and financial resources to success- whereby the government, the people and the industry come

fully implement the climate change goals. We are actively together and the learnings from this are communicated to

working towards drafting a plan that measures if adequate all. Additionally, as a country we must recognise and honour

financial support is being provided in this area. Addition- the efforts that are targeted towards mitigating the impact

ally, we need to focus on sectors that require a tremendous of climate change. An institutional mechanism needs to be

amount of in-house technological innovation in order for put in place to recognise sustainable consumption.

them to deliver on India’s commitments.

How economically viable is it for companies to make

What are the efforts the government of India taking or investments in sustainable activities given the fact that

ones that should be taken with regard to the goals that some of them are struggling to survive as a consequence

have been laid down under Panchamrita? of the pandemic?

An issue like climate change should be Yes, I understand and acknowledge the

treated as a holistic societal responsibility. “Climate fact that companies are struggling finan-
The government of India aims to provide cially given the fact that some of them are

an enabling environment that promotes change is not still trying to recover from the aftermath
green activities and green projects. The only the re- of Covid-19. But we need to look at this
government should enable financing from a deeper angle because if we miss

capabilities for certain projects, provide sponsibility the opportunity now, we will miss it all to-
incentives and draft policies that support of the govern- gether. Currently, the per capita emission
the implementation of such projects. But is low, the overall emission by the country

climate change is not only the responsi- ment but also as a whole is low. If companies take cor-
bility of the government but also of the of the private rective measures now, it will prove to be
private sector and the citizens at large. extremely cost effective and timely. I do

Citizens need to reflect on their choices sector and the believe that we need to help MSMEs that
that lead to an increase in emissions. Peo- citizens...” are currently in financial distress, which
ple also need to take charge and spread can even translate into certain fiscal or

Photograph by Igordutina 09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 35

IN CONVERSATION

non-fiscal incentives. “Currently, the there is also a popular misconception
Providing fiscal incentives to MSMEs per capita emis- that if we are able to reduce emissions,
sion is low... you will be able to reduce the ill-effects
If companies
via institutional mechanisms may not take corrective of climate change. But we need to look at
be as effective as expected given their measures now, the impact of climate change on lives and
large numbers. What is your take on that’s where the adaptation part steps

this? it will prove to in. Adaption is a central part of climate
MSMEs will continue to play a pivotal be extremely change, and it is extremely critical for
role. If we do a breakdown of the emis- countries like India. Even if we look at the

sions caused, MSMEs play a very criti- cost effective...” green climate fund, it is majorly in favour
cal role. The government of India has of mitigation, even though the charter
schemes in place such as Credit-linked states a 50-50 distribution. We need to

Subsidy scheme, Zero Effect Zero Defect have a strategy where we combine both.
scheme. However, these schemes only

benefit a section of the industry. We need Why is that we mostly talk about re-

to have a combination of government incentivisation and newable energy as the key sector for climate change

creation of a financial instrument that provides funds at a finance and not sustainable agriculture, sustainable

cheaper and affordable rate. The access to finance is rigid, infrastructure, etc?

we need to make it more liberal as far as the MSMEs are Yes, green finance has been majorly skewed towards renew-

concerned. We need to create a market space whereby they able energy and there are two reasons for it. Firstly, there are

are able to access finance on their own terms. easily available technologies across the world for renew-

able energy. Moreover, such investments provide you great

There are two major trends in climate change finance. returns. We need to include sectors like infrastructure and

A large section of climate finance is dedicated towards target investments for sustainable developments in those

climate mitigation initiatives and a very small part of it sectors.

is focused on climate adaptation initiatives. Why do you

think of these trends? What role can the private sector play in climate change

Global trend is focused on mitigation as it gives you im- finance?

mediate results. Additionally, the finances that are directed Private sector should make ESG its top priority, and this

towards mitigation have an element of profit, therefore will definitely benefit them in the long run, in terms of being

the private sector is slightly inclined towards that. I think more cost-effective.

36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022 Photograph by Michal Balada

SIMOPCAICATL COLUMN

By Kiran Karnik a growing number of
social impact funds.
SOCIAL
IMPACT PIONEERING LAWS
MATTERS In addition, India’s pio-
neering corporate social
Itisnowtimefor responsibility (CSR)
laws have, in effect, made
organisationstorealise it mandatory for certain
organisations (large and
theimportanceofsocial profitable ones) to spend
2 per cent of their profit
impactandmakeita on social programmes.
Some of them, even
corepartoftheirown before these laws, real-
ised their social respon-
performanceevaluation sibility and were spend-
ing substantial amounts
O VER THE LAST few years, the cor- on social development
porate world has become increas- programmes.Mandatory
ingly conscious of its responsibil- CSR spends have now
ity towards larger social good. The increased the thrust on social impact.
objective of an enterprise has What is significant, though, is the new awareness amongst consum-
evolved from being focused merely on pro- ers and prospective recruits, many of whom now place a premium on
viding ever greater financial returns to its organisations that are involved in doing social good. Thus, it is no
shareholders or owners. It now encom- longer merely about the 2 per cent CSR spend, but whether the organi-
passes the idea of contributing to the well- sation carries out all its operations with a sense of social responsibility.
being of all stakeholders, including not Increasingly, this is also beginning to be recognised in the stock market.
only employees, suppliers, distributors,
and customers, but the community too. BEYOND BOTTOM LINE
Equally, a new generation of business professionals have imbibed this
Also, with greater understanding of the understanding of the role of business in society and they are driving
larger consequences of an organisation’s companies to look beyond the bottom line of profit. Thus, social impact
operations and wider concerns like pollu- and responsibility are a part of their own agenda and not based only on
tion and climate change, sustainability – in a “tick-in-the-box” for legal compliance. It has gone beyond a public
its broadest sense, covering ESG – is now relations ploy and a few pages in the annual report, to being a core part
the new buzzword. As a result, social of company values.
impact has assumed importance and is
now centre stage. This may sound like a rosy-eyed view of a more commercial reality
but, unarguably, the trend line is heading in that direction. However, it
Social impact has, of course, long been does need additional reinforcement and thrust. An important way of
the objective of development organisations doing this is by giving public recognition and showcasing exemplary
(civil service organisations or NGOs) and work in this area. It is in this context that one appreciates the initiative
of a multitude of government programmes. by BW to give awards to outstanding corporate professionals for their
Now, it is also the main goal of many for- work on social impact.
profit enterprises. Giving them a boost are
As part of the jury for these path-breaking awards, I was deeply
impressed by the quality of entries and the excellent work of so many
committed individuals. It is now time for all organisations to realise the
importance of social impact and to mainstream it internally so that it is
a core part of the company’s own performance evaluation.

Karnik, former President, NASSCOM, is an author and has long been
associated with several development organisations

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 37

IN DEPTH DEFENCEINNOVATION

DRDO India’s DRDO
AIMS has been
HIGHER spearheading
some of the
INDIA’S SECURITY issues are at the forefront. The most successful
government’s focus has been on exploring possibili- defence
ties to boost defence manufacturing in India. Multiple innovations,
announcements within the Defence Acquisition Pro- including India’s
cedure (DAP) 2020 have outlined concrete measures. indigenous
According to the Stockholm International Peace Re- missile
search Institute (SIPRI), the five biggest spenders in 2020, programmes. In
which together accounted for 62 per cent of global military its new avatar,
expenditure, were the US, China, India, Russia and the UK. with structural
In 2020, the US military expenditure was an estimated $778 changes and
billion, while China’s military expenditure, the second high- thrust on
est in the world, was estimated to be $252 billion. In contrast, accountability,
India’s defence budget was approximately $70 billion in the DRDO is
financial year 2022-23. The US has its own compulsions, poised to push
but India cannot ignore China’s military spending. We are boundaries
already dealing with the Chinese military at our doors and By Manish K. Jha
this warrants a ‘capability-comparison’.
budget allocation on R&D alone. The defence sector has
Within India’s defence budget, the capital outlay, which seen many technological breakthroughs which have totally
focuses on the modernisation of armed forces has been transformed the battlefield. An infusion of R&D funds is
increased by 12.82 per cent with an allocation of $20.36 urgently needed in areas such as microelectronics, hyperson-
billion in 2022-23. India’s total defence R&D expenditure ics, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, man-machine
is around Rs 12,000 crore. In recognition of the moderni- interfacing, autonomous unmanned systems, 5G network-
sation deficit, the defence budget sets aside 25 per cent of ing and other similar high-priority military capabilities.
the total R&D budget (i.e., around Rs 3,000 crore) for pri- Defence-related R&D has the potential to turbo-charge the
vate industry. The R&D allocation is less than two per cent fourth industrial revolution in India’s context. The case for
of India’s total 2022-23 defence budget. The Lok Sabha indigenising defence technologies has never been stronger.
Standing Committee on Defence 2019-2020 had noted that India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation
the People’s Republic of China (PRC’s) R&D spend was 20 (DRDO) has been spearheading some of the most success-
per cent of the Chinese defence budget. This would mean ful defence innovations, including India’s indigenous mis-
that China could spend as much as India’s entire defence sile programmes. In its new avatar, with structural chang-
es and thrust on accountability, DRDO is poised to push
boundaries. G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary DDR&D and

38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

Photograph by DRDO/PIB “BY APRIL, WE SHOULD BE
ABLE TO COMPLETE ATAGS.”

G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary DDR&D and Chairman
DRDO

Chairman DRDO has been responsible for much of the
changes lately. He speaks about the importance of meeting
deadlines and the crucial link between DRDO and industry.

ADVANCED TOWED ARTILLERY GUN SYSTEMS
Among the most crucial project that promises to showcase
the successful collaboration between DRDO and industry
is the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS).
After years of futile effort by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB),
the project was handed over to private industry to develop
the gun system designed by DRDO. ATAGS is under the
final leg of the trials with BFL and TATA. Beginning with
ATAGS to Light Tank, Reddy talks about the collaboration
with Bharat Forge and TATA. Although fully designed by
DRDO, Reddy gives credit to the private players involved
in the project. “We have developed two guns with two in-
dustries. Major things are common. However, these are
separate units which are made with their own expertise,” he
says. Winter trials in Sikkim have concluded successfully.
Some minor issues pertaining to the rate of firing and other
issues are being addressed following the trials at Pokhran
last year. ATAGS have two versions—one gun is from TATA
and one is from BFL. Reddy confirms that both the guns
have reached Pokhran and second rounds of trials should

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 39

IN DEPTH DEFENCEINNOVATION

combat aircraft (AMCA) project which

is under the Special Purpose Vehicle

(SPV) norms. The modalities around

the development and technology access

issues subsequent to the development

are still being worked out. Reddy ex-

plains that as far as the aero engine is

concerned, the country has worked on

the Kaveri engine. By the time it came

up, the requirement of the LCA Tejas

had changed. So Kaveri could not be

used. But with some modifications,

the Kaveri dry engine which is about

50 KN will find another application.

With respect to the AMCA, Reddy says

that a higher thrust engine, which is not

available anywhere in the world today,

is needed to meet the specifications of

the Indian armed forces. He underlines

currently be in progress. He expects all issues to be sorted the need for advanced materials, a processing mechanism

out by April. for the single crystal blade and an advanced propulsion

system if the AMCA project is to be a success.

UAVS-RUSTOM II

The more ambitious project is the medium-altitude AIR INDEPENDENT PROPULSION (AIP)

long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE On the naval front, Reddy takes particular pride in the

UAV). The indigenous drone will give India the capabil- higher capacity fuel cell for the Air Independent Propul-

ity to undertake credible Intelligence, Surveillance and sion (AIP) system that DRDO has successfully developed.

Reconnaissance (ISR) activities. DRDO’s MALE UAV The indigenous technology recently underwent 14 days of

named Rustom has gone through advanced stage trials prototype testing. The AIP is based on fuel cells which will

with impressive results, power P75 I – the next

operating at altitudes of The capital outlay, which focuses on generation submarine
18,000 feet. The pro- themodernisationof armedforceshas of the Indian Navy. A
gress has led to the can- been increased by12.82per cent withan plug is being developed
cellation of planned im- allocation of $20.36billionin2022-23 to fit the AIP in the P-75
ports and will result in [Scorpene class subma-
savings of US$ 3 billion. rine] and integrate it as

Even if the government per the Indian Navy’s

puts one of third of the $3 billion into domestic R&D effort, requirement.

it could lay the ground for next generation ISR capabili-

ties. “Industry could create magic,” says a leading scientist HYPERSONIC WEAPON

who is working on such projects. Rustom II can reportedly While the DRDO has been successful in testing Hypersonic

operate at 27,500 feet altitude. More trials are underway Technology Demonstrator Vehicle using the indigenously

and the DRDO is confident of adding combat capabilities developed scramjet propulsion, China has already deployed

to the drones that meet all the qualitative requirements and a hypersonic weapon. The DRDO is not far behind and has

parameters set out by the armed forces. conducted highly successful initial trials. The DRDO is cur-

rently working on the scramjet engine required and the

AERO ENGINE (PROPULSION SYSTEM) materials required to withstand the thermodynamic stresses

Another technological breakthrough pertains to the mate- in the hypersonic vehicles. The task ahead is challenging but

rials for an aero engine. This coveted technology has allud- Reddy believes that the DRDO in concert with industry can

ed India for a long time. The DRDO is currently collaborat- and will deliver.

ing with a French original equipment manufacturer (OEM)

for developing an aero engine for the advanced medium [email protected]; @ Manish_BW

40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022



IN CONVERSATION

“Penetration
of fashion online
is just 9 to 10
per cent”

RISHI VASUDEV,Co-founderandCEO,GOATBrand
Labs, inconversationwithAnnuragBatra,Chairman&
Editor-in-Chief,BWBusinessworldandUrviShrivastav
ofBWBusinessworld,speaksabouthisjourney,his
visionasastartupowner,andtheneedforD2Cmarket
space.Editedexcerpts

When you started your career 23 years ago, did you ever think you would become
an entrepreneur?
I always thought I would bring my energy to ventures that have already started. If anyone
would have said even a year back that you are going to be an entrepreneur, I would have
been surprised.

You grew up in north-east. What was your childhood and growing up years like and
what were the key influences?
I am a Punjabi, but I come from the north-eastern part of the country. I’m from a small
town called Lambde, which is close to the Nagaland border. My father was also born there.
My grandfather migrated from Pakistan to that part of the country looking for work. My
mother is from Delhi; she is an M.A. in Mathematics, and my father is a B.A. L.L.B. Both
were keen that I didn’t just join my father’s timber business. They wanted me to study
and get into the corporate side. My childhood was spent playing with the children of the
locality — it was a small town upbringing. As we realised there were not good enough
English speaking schools in that town, beyond class five, my parents decided to put me in
a boarding school. First I studied in Shillong, then Mussorie, and then Kolkata, following
which I did my engineering and MBA.

How would you describe Rishi Vasudev?
I would describe myself as someone who looks at things from a purist point of view, and

42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022 Photographs by Jagadeesh N.V.

would always want tomorrow to be better than today. I you for the future?
am always in the pursuit of making things better. If in any One thing became very clear in college that I would not be
job or assignment, I reach a point of stagnation, I really an engineer, that is, I would take the degree but I would
push myself to change it. This is applicable to my running, not take job as an engineer. I got into a lot of cultural
sports, or any other aspect of life. events, organising events, and was the secretary of the
college photography club. I was always into organising
You went to an engineering school. How did it prepare things; was in charge of Microbus, which was the elec-

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 43

IN CONVERSATION

The Team:
Rishi
Vasudev
poses with
his team

tronic society. I also managed to be in top five or top seven I thought why not get into the upcoming sector which
of the class. That was also a time when people were migrat- is ecommerce. I was one of the first senior leaders to get
ing to the US, and solving the Y2K problem. I went for an into Flipkart and fashion online. That was back in 2014,
MBA because it seemed my calling was in management. I and built their fashion business from $200 million to $2
did not even sit for my campus placements. billion over six years. That was the journey where I saw
online as well as offline retail business practices.
What was the story behind getting into MDI?
I got into MDI by chance. I would spend an hour or two I then realised I had to do something, which is why I
everyday preparing for the test, and did absolutely no stepped out to do lifestyle. It struck me it is the same as
preparation for the interviews. I cleared most of the col- I had left it offline. I then decided to start my own entre-
leges. However, when it came to interviews I was probably preneurial journey. The idea came about, as online was
not doing as well. I was on waiting list in MDI, and for- the new arena to buy and regain distribution for a lot of
tunately they extended it from 60 to 90 seats. That is how brands, and growing at a very fast pace.
the waiting list got confirmed into a sure seat.
The penetration of fashion online is just nine or ten per
You have set up GOAT Brand Labs. What is your vi- cent, and there is a long way to go if you look at markets
sion, and what have you been able to accomplish in the like the US, China, etc. One way of giving back to society
last six months? is to work with some of these upcoming brands and make
I spent most of my working years going deep into one them bigger. I got some marquee investors, which is how
segment, which is fashion and lifestyle. I joined Aditya the journey of GOAT Brand started.
Birla Group and joined their textile business which went
into working for Madhura Garments and Louis Phillippe, You have now raised $2 million in equity and $6 mil-
where I built their suits business. lion in debt. You have acquired seven brands and are
in the process of acquiring a few more. What is your
I then moved on to Arrow and handling Calvin Klien. vision for GOAT over the next 24-36 months?
In that journey as well I was looking to do things deeper We have raised a total of $36 million, which included $16
rather that dabbling across industries. That is when Flip- million in equity and remaining in debt. This money we
kart happened. I was plateauing in terms of learning, are using to acquire brands. It has been four months since
having spent so much time in Aditya Birla Group, and we raised this capital.

We are already a team of 35 people. We have already

44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

closed out 13 brands, of which we have announced seven. him in the back-end. That way he does not have to get into
Every week we are announcing one or two new brands, things like wharehousing, logistics, where the economies
and the idea for next two years is to acquire 30-35 brands. of scale works.
Currently, there is a pipeline of 25 brands, which is under
discussion. We have experts in various areas which help the found-
er. These are available to you, but not thrust upon you.
From our side we want to build an infrastructure that all However, there are exceptions to this when the founder
these brands can use, so that it becomes a plug-and-play has been around too long and wants to opt out.
kind of model. When a new brand comes, there will always
be a tie up with logistics, warehouses, market places, digi- Most of these brands are $2 million to $5 million in size.
tal marketing, and the like. The brands which were earlier At this scale it is easier to amalgamate brands together.
running at a level can quickly scale up. Once they become Rs 50-100 crore brands, it is difficult
to integrate them.

When you acquire a brand it presents its own set of While D2C continues to grow, physical retail contin-
challenges, be it issues of culture or vision. Sometimes ues to be robust. What do you have to say about om-
it makes sense to keep the founder, sometimes it makes nichannel experience. Do you feel the D2C space is
sense to let go of them. What are your views on this? getting too crowded?
We started GOAT Brand with the aim to create better We acquire brands which are digital first, not digital only.
selection for the consumer by helping brands and their There is a clear strategy that we will grow them in the of-
founders thrive. We want to be the most founder friendly fline world as well. I have over 15 years of offline business
partners in the world. experience as a very senior person who had helped Arvind
grow these brands in the offline space. Most single retailers
Therefore, the whole thing starts with how to enable the or large chain are very close to me. That is where we will
founder. This is because the founder has built the brand, take these brands as well. However, if you are completely
he adds bandwidth to the team, creativity, layer of innova- dependent on offline as a distribution, the scale up is slower.
tion, which might not be the right placement when picked
from a corporate job. We acquire about 60 per cent and Ecommerce allows you to grow across the country at a
keep 40 per cent with the founder so that he has a large very fast pace. D2C allows you scaling at a very low overhead
stake. We give him complete control on all the aspects of cost. Unlike some of the developed markets, India is not a
creativity, brand marketing, operations, etc, and support one-platform market; you have Flipkart, Amazon, etc.

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 45





COLUMN

Padmaja Ruparel,
Co-founder at Indian
Angel Network (IAN)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FUNDRAISING and encourage them to take high risks. From an early-
THE RIGHT WAY stage startup’s proof of value (POV), funds are critical
for growth, but the founder needs to clearly enunciate
Early-stageorangelinvestorslook why they are the best after sliced bread.
forlargemarkets,tractionintermsof
Idea, Team, Business Model
customersandtheteambehind Fundraising needs a passionate founding team with
thestartup clarity on need for their solution, who is their customer
and how will they sell and deliver. It is that cycle which
T HE NEED FOR capital when successfully executed will bring in revenues. And
is an indispensable it is that growth in revenues and profits, which makes a
part of any business’ startup attractive for an investor.
growth strategy.
Many early-stage From a business strategy perspective, before reach-
startups find fundraising a com- ing out to any investor, an early-stage startup must have
plicated process because of the clarity on the lines of revenue which it will build in the
various nuances involved. Simply next few years. The product, service or proposition
put, for startups that are at an
early stage, it is important they must have a customer base that
have built something which will the startup can sell to.
create revenues and that is what
encourages investors to write Investors
cheques for their business. Angel investors evaluate financial
performance from every angle,
What is vital for a startup is to and want to invest in companies
be aware that when it raises funds, it competes not only that are modestly valued and
for investors’ money but also competes with other com- expected to give high returns.
panies from multiple sectors who are also fundraising. Good investors understand that
undervaluing a company can
In fact, out of the 19+ sectors where Indian Angel limit future fund raising and
Network (IAN) invests, the focus has always been on therefore growth of both the
investing in companies that address real-world company and their own invest-
problems. ments.

Early-stage or angel investors look for large markets, Overvaluing a company also
traction in terms of customers and the team behind the has its risks as the next round of
startup. It is this combination that has the potential to investors will pare it down, which
create a big company which will give investors returns is not great for the company. But
it is imperative to choose early-
stage investors based on what
value they can add rather than
just valuation. It can make a huge
difference to the future of the company.

Network And Mentorship
Access to high-quality networks and mentorship pro-
grammes are key to the success for many entrepreneur-
ial ventures. Startups need high-quality mentoring
with different skillsets to build innovation, embed deep
technology, or scale their growth strategy.

The author is Founding Partner of IAN Fund. IAN is one of the world’s
largest seed and early-stage investment groups

48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022

COLUMN

Neeru Sharma, Director,
Platform Business Service,
Infibeam Avenues

Gaining currency

Not only new-age digital entrepreneurs, but even
entrepreneurs from the old economies have joined
the digital bandwagon. Digitalisation has a phe-
nomenal impact on small businesses, neighbour-
hood kirana stores, Small & Medium Enterprises
(SMEs), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) and even large corporations. Digitalisation
has touched all kinds of entrepreneurs, and most of
them have adopted and adapted to the digital way of
doing business. Believe me, I have been lucky to be
amongst the prime witnesses to this transformation.

I have personally experienced and lived this entre-
preneurial digital age phenomenon and witnessed it
at Infibeam Avenues Ltd. We have had a fantastic,
high-growth, high-passion, and most dynamic jour-
ney, having played our role in bringing digital
empowerment to merchants, brands and businesses
through platforms, payments and data centre solu-
tions. We are also fortunate to be a part of the

ENTREPRENEURSHIP DIGITALISATION has ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
democratised entrepre- THE DIGITAL AGE
neurship worldwide,
inspiring millions of citi-
zens to taste and test
their hands-on entrepreneurship

and explore their inner inquisitive- Indiahasaddedabout42unicornsin2021asagainst
ness to try and dream big. 37unicornscreatedintheprevious10years
Digitalisation, low-cost internet

accessibility, and pandemic induced

forced consumer behavioural change have ushered a Government of India’s ecommerce initiative,

new generation of the entrepreneurial spirit, creat- Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a one-stop gov-

ing a new class of global economy – startup economy ernment good and services procurement ecommerce

or new-age digital companies. Digital age entrepre- portal hosted by the Union Government of India.

neurs have significantly brought forth novel ideas Since 2016, we have been the ecommerce platform

and products to the market, transforming the age- technology partner, engaged in building and main-

old physical market into a digital marketplace taining GeM, and it is the most amazing instance of

through ecommerce platforms. This has enabled acceptance and adoption of digitalisation by the

entrepreneurial opportunities and has also enabled smallest and largest of businesses.

product and price discoveries for a larger consumer Last year, in June, even the Department of

base, thus disabling the old economy barriers. Commerce, Government of India, has publicly

The omnipresent growth of digital age entrepre- acknowledged that GeM has provided enormous

neurship has been well-established by now, and is market access to seller groups like MSMEs, women

reflected in one of the recent reports of HDFC SHGs and startups.

Securities Ltd., which points out that India has Today, there are more than 39 lakh sellers and ser-

added about 42 unicorns in 2021 as against 37 uni- vice providers registered on the GeM portal, and a

corns created in the previous 10 years together and maximum of them are Medium and Small

probably another 100 new unicorns will be added in Enterprises (MSEs), which proves the growing digi-

2022. tal entrepreneurship in the country.

09 April 2022 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 49

WESA WINNERS
ESSAY

By RESHAM SUHAIL

The Wonder Women
A CCORDING to the Global Gender Gap report
2020, it will take another 100 years to achieve How The Jury Did It?
gender equality based on the rate of progress The esteemed jury panel included Padmaja Ruparel, Co-
in the growth of women entrepreneurs in the founder and President, Indian Angel Network (IAN); Bhu-
ecosystem. Does it seem realistic? BW Disrupt vana Ravi, Director, Drishya Education Scholarship Foun-
recognises trailblazing women entrepreneurs dation; Paulomi Dhawan, Strategic Advisor on perception
who defied all the odds to establish a mark of significant busi- image management, media, marketing, brand communica-
ness success. tions; Dhruv Nath, Director-Lead Angels Network, earlier
Senior Vice President, NIIT; Professor, MDI Gurgaon; Co-
The Women Entrepreneurship Summit and Awards author, Funding Your Startup And Other Nightmares; Atul
(WESA) is an exclusive initiative of BW Disrupt in association Hegde, Co-founder, Rainmaker Ventures, Annurag Batra,
with BW Businessworld that celebrates exceptional women Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW Businessworld and
entrepreneurs whose clutter-breaking approaches have cre- Founder, exchange4media, Noor Fathima Warsia, Group
ated positive changes in the business and startup ecosystem in Editorial Director, BW Businessworld. The process of fi-
India. BW Disrupt WESA also serves as a melting pot of differ- nalising winners took place under the supervision of jury
ent kinds of industry stakeholders, with a focus on technology, chair -- Meena Ganesh, Co-founder, MD and Chairperson,
that come together to create and support a future-fit company. Portea Medical.

Innovations Across Industries More than 800 entries were received which were then
Even during the tumultuous times and uncertain economic brought down to over 300 after the first screening round.
scenario in the past, these women entrepreneurs did not give Subsequently, after the second level of deliberation, a total of
up. 67 nominees were shortlisted and invited to be present before
the power-packed jury panel. Nominations received for BW
In its fourth edition this year, the Women Entrepreneur Disrupt WESA were put through a multi-tier screening and
Awards endeavours to acknowledge and appreciate women shortlisting procedure.
leaders who are paving the path across the spectrum of in-
dustries. The demand for health-centred solutions is rising Bright Future Ahead
especially after the pandemic. In the list of nominations, it was Brands and enterprises that are getting ahead with promising
witnessed that most of the applications were of healthcare or growth and eyeing to capture potential market opportunities
health-focused brands. were effective in convincing the jury members. The key pa-
rameters of evaluation were financial performance, unique-
This year the categories ranged across Creative Women ness of the business idea, efficiency in solving a problem and
Entrepreneur Award, Education and Edtech, Fashion and scope of long-term impact. Applications were critically as-
Lifestyle, Fintech and more. The platform did not forget to sessed and discussed to find the most suitably deserving can-
include the most relevant sector during these times, Tech- didate in the various categories of the award.
nology, Young Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (Below 30),
Startup Woman Entrepreneur Award. Besides this, BW Dis- India still has pockets that demand mindset change in order
rupt had Health, Wellness and Healthtech Award, Social to achieve equality equilibrium. Each women entrepreneur
Impact Woman Entrepreneur Award as the categories and is demonstrating a story of her own but the drive to make an
has seen significant participation. impact remains a common goal for all.

50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 09 April 2022