Despite some positive outcome, State Bank of India chief Arundhati Bhattacharya took a cautious stance on India transitioning into a cashless economy. This, despite SBI witnessing a boom in the adoption of its tech-enabled services post demonetisation, where it downloaded 70,000 to 80,000 times daily on its wallet, as opposed to a feeble 6,000-7,000 a day before demonetisation, and transactions at their Point of Sale (POS) touchpoints rocketed from Rs. 95 crores to Rs. 450 crores a day. At the Wharton India Economic Forum held in Mumbai recently, the SBI chief stated, “Whether demonetisation came prematurely, only history will tell. While it has indeed given a huge push to the digital economy, I don’t really believe that India can be a cashless society. I always say that we will be a ‘less-cash’ economy - that is a more reasonable goal to work towards. In a cashless transaction that requires less human intervention, the cost advantage must be transferred to the consumer. However, we are at a stage where we haven’t been able to completely jettison the manual and usher in the digital. Hence, the cost advantage of the latter is cancelled out by the cost disadvantage of the former, thus giving rise to a great hindrance in the path to a complete digital economy and cashlessness,” explained Arundhati. Considering the level of digital awareness in rural areas, if we try to push the digital economy too fast, too quickly, the abuses will then also become prevalent, she warned.
Vikram Pawah will take charge as the president of BMW Group India, with effect from March 1 this year. The 45 year-old Pawah will take over from Frank Schloeder, who will assume a new position at BMW Group headquarters in Germany. Pawah has over two-decade experience in the automotive and non-automotive industry after his previous experience with Honda cars in India and Australia and as Managing Director of Harley- Davidson India. This move will see Schloeder, acting President, BMW Group India return to BMW Group Headquarters in Germany, where he will assume the position of Head of Business Steering-Luxury Class.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest private sector employer in the country, is now named chairman of Tata Sons Ltd, the Tata group’s holding company. Rajesh Gopinathan was named as TCS’s new MD and CEO, after Chandrasekaran got elevated. Also making the cut above is N Ganapathy Subramaniam who will be the president and Chief Operating Officer. Subramaniam, who is currently President (TCS Financial Solutions), has also been appointed as a director on the board of TCS. Previously serving as the Chief Financial Officer at TCS, Gopinathan has been with TCS since 2001. He was appointed as CFO in February 2013. He has also worked with Tata Industries. He played a key role in helping TCS becoming a USD 16.5 billion global company with over 371,000 employees. An electrical and electronics engineer from REC in Trichy (now NIT, Trichy), Gopinathan graduated in 1994, before pursuing his Post-Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad.
Shalini Adhaar will now be the business HR-Head of Cargill. She brings in a rich experience in the sector, having worked with brands such as Reckitt Benckiser and Nestle earlier. A pass out from Xavier Institute of Social Service in 1999, she ventured into the corporate world making her first appearance with Tata Cummins as Manager-HR before making headway into Bhartia Cutler Hammer as the section head, OD & Training. Post that, she worked with Nestle for two years as consultant HR, before moving to Airtel as Head-Talent Management & Talent Development for Airtel’s enterprise services in 2006. In July 2008, Adhaar re-entered the FMCG space joining Reckitt Benckiser as the capability building and organisation effectiveness head for its South Asia market. With over 17 years of experience across industries, Adhaar makes for a seasoned executive for the role at Cargill.
It has just been one year as CEO of Flipkart for co-founder Binny Bansal as he hands over charge to Kalyan Krishnamurthy. The former Tiger Global executive, Krishnamurthy has been spearheading restructuring at the company. Krishnamurthy, 44, branded the ‘turnaround man’ at the e-commerce firm, who had been heading critical functions like commerce, advertising and products will now be designated as the chief executive of the Bengaluru-based firm. Bansal will be the group CEO, in a newly formed role. Krishnamurthy, Ananth Narayanan, CEO of Myntra-Jabong combine and Sameer Nigam, PhonePe CEO, will all report to Bansal. While Bansal steered Flipkart, Krishnamurthy, who rejoined the company as head of category management in June last year, saw his role expand extensively over the past six months. Known for being acutely media shy but possessing great execution skills, Krishnamurthy, a close aide of Tiger Global’s Lee Fixel, will now add engineering and supply chain to his portfolio. He will get full control of the profit and loss at the company. Ravi Garikapati, head of engineering and Nitin Seth, the newly appointed COO will be reporting to him. Saikiran Krishnamurthy who was heading Ekart will now join Bansal’s team. The Flipkart Group is in the process of hiring a group CFO and general counsel.
Top guns leaving companies for greener pastures is making the rounds at Amazon India, as two of their senior executives, Kinjal Choudhary , director and head of HR, and Projesh Kundu, director operations-Amazon Logistics, have left the company. This move has made way for Steve Walter, HR head of Asia-Pacific operations to take on Choudhary’s role. It has been just over two years since Chaudhary joined Amazon India from PepsiCo in 2014, while Kundu’s association has been since the company’s entry into the country. Kinjal Choudhary and Projesh Kundu have moved on to pursue opportunities outside the company . With the growth of Amazon India, the company is in the process of adding people and resources across multiple roles and locations to support its rapid and immense business ramp up, according to sources. Prior to Amazon India, Kundu had stints in Kellogg India, ITC and Britannia, while Choudhary had worked with ITC, HUL and ITC Infotech.
US ambassador to India Richard Verma presents Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan with an award of appreciation for his invaluable contribution to the US-India Partnership on Tuberculosis
In what could be called coming together for a good cause, US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma and legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan were together for a Live Video Chat on Facebook, dedicating their talk to the important issue of tuberculosis (TB) with their fans and followers. Going live from Mumbai, the two talked about the US Embassy’s collaboration with Bachchan for ending TB in India, US-India partnership, among others. Verma thanked Bachchan “For his dedication to support the cause and for sharing his story as a TB survivor to reduce the stigma associated with TB.” Sharing his views the Indian legend of B-town said, “Together we can save more lives and remove the burden this disease places on families, communities, corporations, and India.” Before the live chat, the US ambassador also presented an award to Big B on behalf of the US embassy in recognition of his efforts and support to the US-India partnership for the TB-free India campaign.
Rana Kapoor, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Yes Bank Ltd, has become a billionaire as shares in the lender jumped 16.4%. This escalation made the Yes Bank Ltd shares the best-performing stock among India’s banks. According to the analysts, investors find the Mumbai-based bank attractive because of its low bad-loan ratio and robust return on equity. The gross bad-loan ratio of India’s banking industry jumped to a 14-year high of 9.1% in the recent months, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s recent Financial Stability Report. As a result, their profits were squeezed. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Rana Kapoor’s net worth has lifted to $1 billion.
Adidas, the German sportswear brand seems to have ‘declared’ its three-year innings with Virat Kohli, as it has not renewed its endorsement contract with the Indian cricket captain though Kohli has been on top of his game. Kohli signed a deal worth 30 crore with Adidas in 2014. The deal was up for renewal last month, company sources said, adding that Adidas will continue its association with cricket. “It was an amicable decision made by both parties,” said sources on anonymity condition. “The association with Kohli has added a lot of value and helped strengthen the brand in the past few years,“ according to sources. Meanwhile, Adidas will continue to support cricket through its assets like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and many other next-gen athletes. “We will also continue to drive our key categories such as running, football, training with even more focus and investment,” said Adidas India spokesperson about the future of the brand which has been actively involved in different sports in the country. Kohli endorses over 16 brands. Smartphone maker Gionee recently signed him on. Other brands he endorses include Swiss luxury watchmaker Tissot, men’s ethnic clothing brand Manyavar, Punjab National Bank, MRF Tyres, Colgate’s SuperFlexi Toothbrush and real estate developer Nitesh Estates.
Chief operating officer Ramesh Nair will take over as chairman and country head of JLL India, the country’s largest property advisory firm, as Anuj Puri decided to quit to start his own real estate venture. Ramesh Nair will be responsible for overall direction, strategy and growth of JLL’s India business, taking charge from March 1 this year. Nair joined JLL in 1999, has risen swiftly through the leadership ranks and has been a member of the India Leadership Council since its inception in 2008. Nair will report to Asia Pacific CEO Anthony Couse. Puri had joined JLL in 2007 when his company Trammell Crow Meghraj (TCM) merged with the Indian arm of global real estate firm JLL. This formidable partnership gave rise to the largest real estate services company on the Indian subcontinent. “It’s been an incredible 10 years at JLL, but now is the time to step back and reflect before moving in a new direction,” said Puri, who has been in the real estate business for over two decades. Talking about his stint with JLL, Puri said, “I have done to the level that I could bring it within the company (JLL) and I thought from here onwards it needed different skill-sets to take it to the next level.” He went on to add, “Going forward, the business requires a more technology-focused, younger person to be able to drive, and that’s where Ramesh was the right fit”.
Dharampal Gulati, the 94-year-old man with a turban who can be seen promoting masala brand MDH on television commercials is India’s highest paid consumer product CEO. Gulati, who is a fifth grade school dropout, took home more than Rs. 21 crore as salary last fiscal. This amount is higher than the salaries of Adi Godrej and Vivek Gambhir of Godrej Consumer, Sanjiv Mehta of Hindustan Unilever, or ITC’s YC Deveshwar. The Mahashian Di Hatti company, better known as MDH, where he holds 80% stake, saw a 15% jump in revenues to reach Rs. 924 crore and a 24% increase in net profit which is at Rs. 213 crore. Gulati diligently makes his daily round of factories, markets and dealers including on Sundays. “My motivation to work is being sincere in product quality sold at affordable prices. And nearly 90% of my salary goes to charity in my personal capacity,” said the newspaper reports quoting the second-generation entrepreneur who joined MDH nearly 60 years ago. The corporate journey started with Gulati’s father Chuni Lal starting as a small shop in Sialkot, Pakistan, way back in 1919. Gulati moved to a shop in Karol Bagh in Delhi after partition. Today the company is a Rs. 1500 crore empire with 15 factories supplying 1000 dealers in India and which runs the masala company, about 20 schools and a hospital.
Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), a Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Defence, has promoted R N Bagdalkar to the post of HR director. Bagdalkar was executive director. An old hand in BEL with a stint of more than 33 years, Bagdalkar joined the company after completing his engineering in electronics and communication. He was at BEL-EMD Hyderabad as a part of the core team. He completed his PG diploma in computer systems in 1987 from the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. He spent 27 years in Hyderabad working on D&E, testing, system integration & installation, and commissioning of electronic warfare (EW) systems. Then he went on to head the state-of-the-art Intelligence Electronic Warfare Project for the Indian Navy. During his stint at Hyderabad, Bagdalkar and his D&E team successfully completed various projects for the Indian Navy, Indian Army as well as for exports. He played pivotal role in initiating a number of in-house technology development modules, which will be the basic building blocks for futuristic EW systems. He became general manager-technology planning at the BEL corporate office in July 2012. Under his leadership, the Bengaluru unit of BEL achieved stupendous growth as its turnover reached the Rs. 550 crore mark and revenue to Rs. 1 crore per employee.
by Joe Williams
