Business Goa July 2022 by Business Goa

JULY 2022

VOL 8 ISSUE 7 PANAJI GOA

GOA’S ONLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE

RNI No.: GOAENG/2015/59955

POSTAL LICENSE No.: G-2/RNP/Monthly/Goa-19/2021-23

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INDUSTRY DOSSIER

As Business Goa enters its teenage years, we bring to you the growth stories of various industry captains and entrepreneurs

ARMAN BANKLEY ATUL PAI KANE CAITANNO J FERNAANDES DEEPAK TRIPATHI GAUTAM VERLEKAR MAHENDRA KUMAR GUPTA OSCAR DE LIMA PEREIRA PRAMOD RANE PRAVIN KAKODE RAJASI DHAVALIKAR RAJKUMAR KAMAT RALPH DE SOUSA SANGAM KURADE SARIKA VARSHNEI SHEKHAR SARDESSAI SHRINIVAS DEMPO SIDDHARTH GOYAL SRIRAM NATARAJAN TANMAY KHOLKAR VISHWANATH PAI BIR

NEWS VIEWS ARTICLES INTERVIEWS PROFILES FOCUS ANALYSIS OPINIONS EVENTS FEATURES

CONTENTS Cover Story 26

As Business Goa enters its teenage years, we bring to you the growth stories of various industry experts and entrepreneurs

Focus Goa: Mining 48

In the midst of the mining ban and mining companies seek to lay off in view of the uncertainty over resumption

Focus Goa: Industry 50

While the Goa Government maintains that there are no industrial plots at hand in Goa, data shows otherwise

Goan Brand 52

Assess Build Chem Private Limited is a one stop destination for all your waterproofing needs

Starting Young 56

On the occasion of Business Goa’s 13th anniversary, we highlight youth from around Goa who are making a mark in society with their talent, intelligence, and creativity

Interview 60

Joshua Silveira speaks on Frontline Managed Services’ core philosophy, recruitment process, and the future of managed services in India

Lady Power 70 52

An ace photographer, Samantha da Cunha encapsulates transitory memories and immortalises them with the aid of breathtaking photography

72 94

Professional Dossier 72

Dr Lenny da Costa speaks on his journey and future plans of combining modern and functional medicine to help people lead a better life

Bon Appetit 94

60 COLUMNS

78 Economic Periscope

Satyendra Nayak speaks about the factors and effects of high inflation and low growth rates on the world economy

80 Beyond Classroom

Dr Pradeep Salgaoncar illustrates the benefits and feasibility of pull marketing

82 Cabbages and Queen

Nandini Vaidyanathan uses the analogy of a mountain trek to draw comparisons with the corporate world

84 Invest Right

Mahesh Pai explains the importance of financial planning before one’s retirement

04 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

The holy month of Shravan brings a number of dietary restrictions, but Fortune Miramar has found a way to celebrate this period

86 Speaking Tree

Kishore Shah explains the New Education Policy and ensuring CSR support in the education sector

88 Women and Health

Dr Emanuel Gracias explains the workings of the foetal heart monitoring device and its advantages

90 Market ka Samay

The Markets bounce hard from its major support zone, says Samay Shetti

06 Editorial 08 Corpo Scan 14 Anniversary Special 54 Entrepreneurship 64 Technology 66 AlcoBev 68 Campus 69 BookShelf 74 Biz Bytes 92 Event 96 Goa Buzz 100 Newsmakers 100 BG Quiz

Shree Mahalakshmi Damodar Prasanna

EDITORIAL

Stay in Growth Mode JULY 2022 Publisher & Editor Harshvardhan Bhatkuly Group Director Urvija Bhatkuly Business Head Annalise Gouveia Chief Reporter Sybil Rodrigues Graphic Designer Rakshama Naik Circulation Mayur Santineskar Contributors in this Issue Cassandra Carvalho Dr Emanuel Gracias Dr Pradeep Salgaonkar Kishore M Shah Mahesh Pai Nandini Vaidyanathan Samay Shetti Satyendra Naik Sweta Sharma PRESENTED BY

Editorial, Advertising & Administrative Office

Business Goa

409, Citicentre, EDC Patto Plaza, Panaji, 403001 Goa India Tel.: 09834340633 Email: businessgoa.media@gmail.com Unsolicited material may not be returned. The opinions in columns and other stories expressed in Business Goa Industry Dossier are not necessarily that of the publishers and the Publisher/Editor shall not be held liable for any inaccuracy or otherwise. While great care is being taken to ensure accuracy of information, the publishers are not responsible for omissions or incorrect information. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the publishers.

The popular saying for any business model is “if you’re not growing, you’re dying.” Whether you like it or not, standing still is catastrophic for organizations, especially for small businesses. Identifying opportunities for business growth need to take center stage for long-term success. However, growth is elusive and requires a deliberate approach to achieving business objectives. There are two major reasons why experts consider growth as elusive: a. Inadequate consideration of opportunities within the core business, adjacent to the core business or within new customer sub-segments. b. An organizational infrastructure that cannot support successful execution. To be successful and stay in the business, growth and profitability are the two most important factors that a company should consider – it helps them remain attractive to investors and analysts. There are various consequences that your business might face if it lacks growth: a stagnancy and drop in earnings and profits, employees’ income, productivity, business opportunities, and job openings; limited options for innovation; failure of existing infrastructure to support additional complexities; and the inability of your unique selling point to impress customers. However, growth is critical for a company’s long-term sustainability. It is a stage wherein your business reaches the point of expansion and hunts for additional options. Nonetheless, ushering a business from an idea to long-term success is no cake walk. While there is no onesize-fits-all formula for determining optimal growth, it is important to plan growth so that it is controlled. Let us understand why businesses need to grow: Growth is required for sustainability – To sustain means to continuously exist in the industry for a longer period of time. An organization needs to adapt to an evolving business environment and grab opportunities for its sustainability. Growth builds credibility – When a business sustains for a longer period in the industry, it builds credibility in the market. A credible organization attracts new investors, employees, and customers. The approval and confidence of

06 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

Harshvardhan Bhatkuly

people can have a direct and profound effect on the main objective of the company. Growth keeps competition at bay – When a business is constantly growing it helps face the competition effectively at all levels while paving way for expansion and diversification. Growth reduces commercial risks – Commercial risks refer to potential losses arising from the market or trading partners. It has become an easy task for well-managed and sustainable businesses to reduce the risk of falling over the precipice. Growth helps innovation – Innovation brings in new products and services while increasing its efficiency and push profitability. It benefits both the consumers and businesses. Contrastingly, a company loses its market share to competitors and falls short of productivity and efficiency if it stops growing at a sustainable rate. Growth reaps partnership and joint ventures – When a business is growing, it often plans for partnerships, joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions. The benefits are more contacts, increase in market shares, lower commercial risks, broader customer base, favourable financing opportunities, more resources, and a way to enter a new market. Growth retains customers – Popular studies reveal that acquiring new customers can cost a company around five times more than retaining the current ones. Stable growth helps retain existing customers, who are your best bet for increasing sales. Growth impacts profitability – Although growth is not limited to profit alone, it helps achieve and maintain profitability. Even though an organization is good at profitability, there should always be scope for growth since this offers opportunities for greater overall profitability and sustainability in line with customers, analysts, and potential/current investors. Organizations looking to prioritize growth should have a growth strategy and need to plan it carefully. The right strategy is capable of delivering stability, security, and long-term success. Once you have passed the start-up stage, set growth goals, involve management, control costs, and regularly review targets not just to sustain the business but to stay relevant

Printed, published and owned by Harshvardhan V. Bhatkuly and printed at Elegant Offset Printers, D2-31, Tivim Industrial Estate, Karaswada, Mapusa Goa 403526 and published at 409, Citicentre, EDC Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa 403001. Editor: Harshvardhan V. Bhatkuly

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GSIA supports Govt decision for app-based taxi services in Goa

Mauvin Godinho

The Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) has urged the government to resist the pressure tactics employed by the taxi unions while supporting the government’s decision to establish app-based taxi services in the state. According to GSIA President Damodar Kochkar, the Association believes that the introduction of app-based taxi service aggregators is the best way to end the problems faced by travellers. As per Kochkar, it is a generally known fact that taxi drivers in Goa overcharge people in the absence of digital metres and monitoring of taxi fares, tarnishing the state's reputation both nationally and internationally. If the government intends to boost tourism, Goa urgently needs

Damodar Kochkar

some sort of reliable, reasonably priced transportation service. He added that if Goa’s cab operators start their own appbased taxi aggregator, GSIA would undoubtedly support them. Mauvin Godinho, Minister of Transport, also emphasised the necessity of taxi aggregators in the region. He asked the state’s cab drivers to band together and launch their own app and promised them financial support from the government. Godinho stated that all MLAs would be welcomed to a meeting he would shortly meet the cab drivers in order to discuss the matter and guarantee affordable public transportation for tourists as well as affordable taxi charges for Goans

Goa Small and Medium Hoteliers demand clampdown on illegal tourism establishments

The Goa Small and illegally without Medium Hoteliers obtaining requisite Association demanded permissions and immediate crackdown consents from the on over 11,000 illegal authorities including tourism establishments the Department of operating in the state. Tourism, Fire and The Association Emergency Services, had submitted a Goa State Pollution Serafino Cotta memorandum to the Control Board and Minister for Tourism, Rohan local governing bodies. Cotta Khaunte highlighting the impact said that the Goa Tourism of illegal hospitality sector Development Corporation on their business. Following appointed consultancy firm in submission by the Association, its report, submitted in 2020, the Minister directed the had said that there are 76 per Tourism Department to cent illegal five-star hotels identify the illegal operators operating without permissions, and take necessary action. while another 29 per cent are The President of Association, in the category of three-star Serafino Cotta claimed that hotels. As per the report, he according to the government said that there are 43 per cent report, the State has over 11,000 illegal hotels operating under hotels, guest houses, villas, C-category while another 74 resorts and others operating per cent are in D-category. 08 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

CII feedback on draft investment promotion policy stresses on improvement in EoDB

CII in its recommendations on the draft Goa Industrial Growth and Investment Promotion Policy-2022, has urged the government to improve on Ease on Doing Business by adopting a process for deemed approvals. CII proposed setting up an online single window system for existing industries. It stated that while the policy’s endeavour is to attract new investment, it is important to look after existing stakeholders and make things as easy as possible for them to run their business. It further stated that the existing Single Window System (SWS) needed improvement by doing away with physical interface and document submissions. CII also called for a grievance redressal mechanism in the existing SWS. The industry body suggested that the government departments including panchayats and municipalities be brought onboard the SWS. On the EoDB front, CII has suggested continuous upgrading of new services with continuous monitoring of the existing services and proper back end support. It further proposed

relaxation for starting ecotourism activities and other thrust areas of the policy by the Town and Country Planning Department. To further accelerate the process of establishing business in the state, CII urged the departments to consider implementing provisions for deemed approvals and approvals on the basis of self-declaration. CII expressed concern about reforms and processes remaining on paper due to poor training and implementation by government officials and stated that the land allotment policy needs to be simplified by making Goa Investment Promotion Board (IPB) the single point of contact for land. CII also suggested that incentives to Green Investment Scheme 2017 should be extended and funds should be allotted for the scheme. CII said that EDC should be instructed to offer low-cost financing to industries looking to adopt solar energy so that capital expenditure can be deferred to manage cash flows. It also proposed production linked incentives for existing businesses in the state

Goa records 67% increase in GST revenue

Goa recorded a 67 per cent increase in GST revenue collection this year as compared to last year. In a contrast to June 2021, when the State’s GST revenue collection was `256 crore, it has increased to `429 crore in June 2022. However, the revenue collected in the month of June this year was `32 crore less than that of May 2022, which stood at 461 crore. According to the Ministry of Finance, the gross GST

revenue collected countrywide was `1,44,616 crore in June 2022, an increase of 56 per cent year-on-year. In addition, the gross GST collection in June 2022 was the second-highest collection after the `1,67,640 crore collection in April 2022. For the fifth time since the introduction of the GST and for the fourth consecutive month since March 2022, the GST collection exceeded the `1.40 lakh crore mark

Cotta informed that he had submitted a memorandum to then Minister for Tourism Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar highlighting the illegal hospitality business. Cotta is now hopeful that the new Tourism Minister will take some action in this regard. He has advised the government

to ensure that the tour operators do not sign deals with these illegal hotels. In their series of demands, the Association urged the government that they should be given representation in tourism related decision, in lines with the TTAG as well as be given representation on the Tourism Board

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TOURISM DEPARTMENT TO LAUNCH HELPLINE TO HELP TOURISTS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS IN GOA The Department of Tourism will launch a helpline for tourists and tourism stakeholders so that travelers to the state may receive information on tourist attractions and activities as well as resolve queries and report any complaints that they may have. In the past twenty years, the Calangute-Baga belt has undergone a great deal of change as traders compete for customers and space, which has resulted in confrontations and illicit activities. Not only do visitors require assistance, but occasionally even individuals

who work in the tourism industry struggle. Since filing a formal complaint with the appropriate government requires time, a hotline should be able to fulfil this need. It will be of use in reporting

Mormugao Port Authority terminates lease to establish Nauxi Marina Project

The Mormugao Port Authority has terminated the lease to set up the `350 crore Nauxi marina project in Tiswadi. At its meeting on May 27, the MPA decided to revoke the leasing agreement dated October 12, 2010, as well as to release and return the Kagarwal Construction company’s performance guarantee. Despite the fact that the lease deed has been in effect for more than 11 years, neither the physical possession of the leased territory nor the final NOCs/clearances needed for the marina project have been given to Kargwal, according to MPA’s D M Kamble. Some villagers and fishermen from the community filed a petition contesting the Mormugao Port Trust's authority and jurisdiction to issue the lease of the foreshore water area of 1 lakh sqm (without port limits) of the waterfront area on the northern bank of the Zuari dated October 12, 2022.

The petitioners claimed that the lease document is unlawful and petitioned the High Court to intervene, in order to have it annulled. They added that resources like air and water is important, it would be completely unjustified to turn them over to private hands. For more than ten years, locals and environmental organisations have opposed the marina project. The petitioners stated that the setting up of the marina at Nauxi bay would be merely for pleasure and not a necessity for the public at large. Members from the fishing community have stated that their livelihood will be destroyed with the setting up of the marina, the petitioners said. As per the petitioners, building the marina in Nauxi bay would be purely recreational and not necessary for the general public. They claimed that the construction of the marina will harm the local fishermen’s means of subsistence

10 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

crimes without disclosing one’s identify to the authorities for fear of the complainant being singled out. Currently, if tourists or tourism stakeholders need information or need to report an incident to the authorities, they must contact the department; however tourists are likely to rely on social media. Therefore, having a helpline will be preferable to depending on information that may not be accurately shared on social media by a traveller. The Department intends to open the helpline prior to the beginning of the new season

Mining to resume in Goa after five months: Chief Minister

According to Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, mining would resume in Goa in the next five months. He anticipated that the process of obtaining environmental permits and auctioning would take around four months. Since the ECs are clubbed, he said that the mines will be auctioned in blocks rather than leases. Dr Sawant took a stance for the local miners in response to Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai’s query in the legislative assembly, stating that blocks longer than 10 kilometres cannot be put up for sale in accordance with the MMDR Act. Dr Sawant stated that local miners would be

DR PRAMOD SAWANT LAUNCHES PUBLIC GRIEVANCE PORTAL ON COMPLETION OF 100 DAYS IN OFFICE

Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant initiated a public grievance portal (https://dpg. goa.gov.in/) for time-bound settlement of public grievances upon his completing 100 days in office. The facility offers userfriendly platforms for citizens to lodge their grievances and check the status of their complaint, with the goal of improving the administration’s responsiveness, accountability, transparency, and citizenfriendliness. According to Dr Sawant, the public grievance portal will operate continuously, and the complainant will be informed of the progress of his complaint within 48 hours. Each department will also have a public grievance officer who will be responsible for resolving complaints within the allotted time frame. When the deadline has passed, the complaint will be referred to higher authorities so that the required action can be taken. The applicant will have access to a feature that allows them to check the status of their complaint online at any time. In addition, a special helpline with the number 9319334335 has been established for residents. The hours of operation for this call centre are Monday through Friday, 9.30 am to 5.45 pm, with a break for lunch between 1 pm and 2 pm. Allegations of corruption, malpractice, employee harassment, atrocities, landrelated issues, legal issues, pension-related issues, service quality issues, and schemerelated issues fall within the general category of grievances that will be reviewed given the chance provided they had conducted their mining in a transparent manner. Additionally, minor miners would be given smaller leases

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Government establishes IT Advisory Council to support startups in Goa The Goa government has established an Information Technology (IT) Advisory Council to support the state's startup and IT industries. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is the chairperson of the council while IT Minister Rohan Khaunte will be serving

as the co-chairperson. The IT Advisory Council will give the state advice on the steps to be taken in order to create a robust startup and IT ecosystem that will support sustained economic growth and create numerous job opportunities. The other members include

Shrinivas Dempo, chairman of the Dempo Group of Companies; Secretary (IT); Mohandas Pai, co-founder and Chairman of Aarin Capital; Jose Manuel Noronha, Chairman of the Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC), as well as other corporate representative

Public Debt in the State increases by 12%, touches 27% of GSDP The pandemic is still having a negative impact on Goa’s finances as evidenced by the fact that Goa’s public debt has climbed by 12 percent and reached 27 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2021–2022. Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, informed the state legislative assembly that loans of `17,514 crore had been obtained through the auctioning of state securities.

State should encourage Feni exports: Deviya Rane

Dr Deviya Rane

According to Dr. Deviya Rane, MLA, Poriem, the Goa government should initiate and encourage feni exports since they will provide income for the women who pick cashew apples in Goa's rural areas. There is a higher demand in the market for cashew nuts than there is for cashew apples. Even though women collect it, a lot of apples are wasted. Rane stated that the government ought to think about encouraging feni manufacturing so that the State may export the product and provide these women an additional source of income. Given that feni is a Goan product unique to the region and cannot be produced anywhere else; Dr Rane confirmed that there is already a demand for it abroad. Rane also guaranteed assistance via the Goa Forest Development Corporation, which she chairs

As a result, during 2021– 22, market borrowings made up 75% of the overall debt basket. Twenty percent of the debt was made up of central loans, totaling `4,686 crore. The remaining `1,068 crore in funding was obtained through loans from financial organisations such as the Power Finance Corporation, the National Cooperative Development Corporation, and NABARD. In 2021–22, the provisional GSDP increased by 9% as opposed to 5% last year. Additionally, tax collection increased as the state's financial position changed throughout that year, moving from a deficit to a surplus. The revenue

during 2021–22 was `928.9 crore, compared to a deficit of `1652.4 crore the year before, due to the increased revenue from important revenue generating sectors like excise on alcohol, VAT on petrol, and GST. Goa made headway on infrastructure projects in spite of the financial hardships since capital expenditure increased by 32 percent – from `1996.7 crore in 2020–21 to `2638.7 crore. The increased capital investment was made possible via budget management across all departments. The government claims that the implementation of reforms has assisted the state in paying off debt and managing the debt to GSDP ratio

GOVERNMENT WILL ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE ALL PENDING PROJECTS, SAYS DR PRAMOD SAWANT Goa government seeks to complete all ongoing projects as soon as possible and put them into commission. The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic constraints, according to Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, prevented various projects of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) from being completed on time over the past two years. Due to these delays, the project costs have increased, making it impossible to move forward with those projects in the present. In some instances, the deadline could not be achieved because the necessary land was not fully obtained or land was not acquired, while in other instances the contractors were to be blamed. Following discussions with the MLAs, the government has created a priority list – after taking

12 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

Dr Pramod Sawant

state finances into account – that includes projects like architecture and pharmacy schools that will be given priority. In addition, Dr Sawant said that the government was also considering finished but abandoned projects like the Ravindra Bhavan at Sancoale. More than a few MLAs have expressed discontent over the delays in the completion of several of these projects since the GSIDC was constituted for the purpose that the infrastructure projects could be completed quickly

Countries awaiting to sign agreement with Goa to run charters or flights: Chief Minister

According to Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, many nations are eager to sign contracts with the state government in order to run their charters or flights. However, the agreements could not be carried out due to a lack of landing space and time slots at the Dabolim International Airport. Dr Sawant stated that the State currently has agreements with 18 nations due to the infrastructure at the international airport, but this figure is expected to increase once the greenfield International Airport in Mopa opens in September 2022. Dr Sawant reassured the opposition, which had expressed concerns about the potential closure of the Dabolim Airport, that the administration had no plans to do so because Goa would eventually require two airports. Only 70 flights, he claimed, are allowed to arrive at the Dabolim Airport each day since the airport forbids landings in the hours between 9 am and 2 pm. Furthermore, the number of flights landing in Goa will increase to 150 if the Mopa Airport is put into service. Earlier, Congress MLA Sankalp Amonkar expressed concerns over the fate of the airport after the opening of the Mopa Airport. Vijai Sardesai, GFP MLA, believes that Dabolim will be able to handle 11 million people once it has been upgraded, compared to Mopa’s initial capacity of 4.4 million. Dr Sawant stated that the government has invested over `850 crore for upgrading Dabolim Airport, pointing out that the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation has confirmed in writing that the Dabolim Airport will remain open following the completion of the Mopa Airport

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ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

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13 years of featuring the best of business in Goa Established in 2009, Goa’s only business magazine Business Goa, celebrates its 13th Anniversary this year. As we cherish this celebration, we take a look back at the editions of the past year By CASSANDRA CARVALHO

he 12th anniversary special July 2021 issue was themed ‘Bounce Back’ in the face of the pandemic. Industry insiders presented their ideas and strategies to overcome the economic lull and uncertainty that covid-19 had imposed on the world. Our regular features Starting Young (Ryan Menezes), Goan Brand (Narla) and Industry (Lakood) also found mention in the anniversary special. The August 2021 issue of Business Goa took us back to the 9th edition of the Business Goa Awards with 23 awardees being honoured in a glittering ceremony that felicitated excellence in business and public service. Focus Goa threw light on tourism. Global Goa featured Vimson Group and Newlab’s Prospect Mining Studio to explore new possibilities in mining. Enterprise saw Dhruv Rajani highlighting his venture Imperial Wealth Services and the financial products offered by them. Goan Brand showcased Global to Local, a well thoughtout social entrepreneurship venture by Asha Arondekar to support women and their livelihoods. Dr. Vrinda Borker spoke on her rise from a lecturer to become principal of Dhempe College of Arts and Science in Lady Power. Bon Appétit highlighted Padaria Prazeres, a cosy little café offering classy European specialties. The September 2021 issue of Business Goa gave us a preview of behind the scenes at Verna Industries Association, right up from its inception, to the dynamic body it is today. National Focus had India’s then Chief Economic Advisor, Dr. K V Subramanian being optimistic about the country’s economy. Goan Brand featured The Nature Masons, where products are 14 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

made with natural ingredients and love. In the Interview section, Chandrashekar Prabhudessai spoke on his role as Chairman of the Institution of Engineers, Goa State Centre. Lady Power saw Sheryl de Sa elaborating on her rise in the hospitality industry and her role as President at Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Diversity and Inclusion (WICCI D&I) Goa. Bon Appétit highlighted Ping’s Bia Hoi, which boasts of authentic South East Asian fare with a beer garden and a perfect ambience. The October 2021 issue of Business Goa saw Nandan Kudchadkar’s ‘All About Alcohol’ museum throwing open its doors to narrate the story of Goa’s tryst with the alcohol business. Starting Young had Rochelle Pinto highlighting her journey from being a young intern to the Founding Editor of Tweak India. Agus P. Saptono, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia to India, spoke about trade between India and Indonesia along with the possibilities of investing in Goa, in the interview section. In Professional Dossier, senior advocate Jose Elmano Coelho Pereira outlined his journey from practising in the early 70s to being Advocate General of Goa. Bon Appétit highlighted Feliz, housed at DoubleTree by Hilton. The cover story of the November 2021 issue of Business Goa featured the new Startup Policy that looked to promote startup entrepreneurship in Goa. Focus Goa emphasized about responsible tourism. Three young founders spoke about their tech startup, Scanwich (Starting Young). Sridevi Sira, National Lead, NASSCOM FutureSkills, spoke on the organisation’s MoU with Goa Technology Association. Dr Vikram Dukle highlighted

Goa’s first Aesculap Einstein Vision 3.0 3D laparoscopic surgical system. Chartered Accountant Edwina de Souza Cordeiro was featured inLady Power. Bon Appétit featured a Japanese dining experience at Grand Hyatt Goa. The December 2021 issue of Business Goa kept up with the festivities, as the Cover Story saw entrepreneurs and retailers shed light on various ways to market their wares in light of the pent-up demand in the festive season. Focus Goa threw light on the new covid variant Omicron. Startup Promotion Cell (SPC), Government of Goa and CII Goa organised a virtual Startup conference and exhibition on ‘Enhancing the Start-up Eco-system in Goa’. New Biz had Sandra Sousa Menon’s new venture, Potpourri. Goan Brand brought Ria Patil Chandray’s brand Josa, into focus, which ensures that women have access to comfort with care. Real Estate celebrated 25 years of Denzil Xavier as one of Goa’s leading realtors. The January 2022 issue of Business Goa ushered in the New Year with former President of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry Manguirish Pai Raiker; taking a walk down memory lane to list out the highlights of Goa’s tryst with industry in the post- Liberation era. Focus Goa threw light on the important financial and tax changes to look out for in the New Year. Accolades saw Venkatesh Dempo and Viraj Marathe making Goa proud by winning the national level Google Code To Learn Contest. Interview had Pravin Satardekar Chairman of Institute of Company Secretaries of India; Goa Chapter speaks on his plans as Chairman and challenges faced in the realm of corporate governance in Goa. The February 2022 edition of Business Goa had Tulip Diagnostics (P) Ltd., one of the largest manufacturers of invitro diagnostic reagents and

kits in India, headed by Deepak G. Tripathi, as the Cover Story. The National Focus had

economist Satyendra Nayak analysing Union Budget 2022. Focus Goa saw Ralph De Sousa elaborating on the industry’s expectations from the new Government; and Manguirish Pai Raiker deconstructed the new draft policy for MSMEs. AaniEk, is the Goan Brand which curates infused feni with various flavours. Bon Appétit highlighted the best of Goan Saraswat cuisine which is on offer at Kokum Curry. The March 2022 issue of Business Goa featured Dr. Emanuel Gracias, obstetrician, gynaecologist and minimal access surgeon at Gracias Maternity Hospital providing an insight on his vision to transform healthcare, redefine doctor-patient relationships. Focus Goa saw the state’s social media influencers explain the key aspects and functions of influencer marketing. As we celebrated Women's Day, a few lady bosses spoke up on issues faced by them as entrepreneurs and professionals in a post covid scenario. Startup put Brunch Bites into focus, a brand which aims to revolutionise the eating habits by serving are fresh, healthy and hygienic meals. Alden do Rosario on creating Uttor, the Konkani version of the hit, daily game: Wordle, in Global Goan. Lady Power featured Prof Dr. Sushila Mendes, an educator who recently won the State Award for Excellence for teachers 2021. In April 2022, we featured the 10th edition of the Business Goa Awards, which was celebrated in grandeur with 25 awardees being honoured in a splendid ceremony. Focus Goa saw CA Rohan Bhandare analysing the Goa State Budget, while explaining allocations to various verticals. Leadership put Mahendra Kumar Gupta into focus. Interview had Swati Salgaocar, the newly elected Chairperson of CII-Goa State Council share her plans for the organisation in the year ahead. GKB Hi-Tech Lenses, a brand synonymous with ophthalmic

lenses was our Goan Brand for the month. Bon Appétit highlighted Larder and Folk which brings the best of sweet and savoury creations to delight one’s taste buds. The May 2022 edition featured Tanmay Kholkar, founder of one of Goa’s fastest growing real estate companies, Manas Developers. Focus Goa had the Government directing mining leaseholders to vacate their leases. Goa Technology Association brought the state’s eminent techpreneurs together to share their ideas for the industry. Starting Young saw Dielle Pillay highlighting her journey from learning music to opening up her own music academy. Interview had Nilesh Shah, who was re-elected as President of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa. Our Goan Brand for the month was Spexmojo whose goal is to be the trusted advisor for their clients by investing their money to preserve capital and deliver long-term returns. The June 2022 issue of Business Goa saw Goa’s Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant elaborating on his ideas to attract industries to Goa. Focus Goa presented an insight into various perspectives of the fishing ban and the mechanised fishing business; along with the draft industrial policy highlighting the simplification of online systems and application process, while promising to cut down on red tapism. New Frontiers put Rajkumar Kamat, into focus, who talked about his ideations, current plans and future direction for his company; and getting listed on the bourses. Enterprise highlighted Paul Chadda’s brand Bliss Space, which is a respected name in the domain of kitchens and wardrobes. Dr. Sangeeta Sonak spoke about her achievements and projects as an environment researcher in Lady Power. All in all, a year of renewed hope and vigour in the realm of industry, entrepreneurship and excellence

JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 15

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Business people from all over Goa and entrepreneurs of every hue are the readers and stakeholders of Goa’s only business magazine. I would like to congratulate Business

Congratulations to Harsh, Urvija, and the team at Business Goa on the completion of 13 glorious years. A premier business magazine of Goa, The Business Goa Team has never failed to impress me with their stories about new and budding entrepreneurs from Goa. Giving these businesses the required visibility and highlight in order to open up opportunities is a very important role that Business Goa plays in the state’s business ecosystem. Getting showcased on Business Goa is the dream of every Goan businessman. Maintaining the magazine’s standard is very important and I believe that Harsh has done it quite beautifully. Similarly, giving mileage to every business

Goa magazine on its 13th anniversary. Harsh and Urvija have been publishing this magazine continuously for the last 13 years. I attended the 10th Business Goa Awards ceremony this April. I would like to applaud the magazine's efforts to promote industry and entrepreneurship in Goa, with a strong focus and emphasis on industry and excellence. As Goa’s Chief Minister, I am committed to encourage and promote entrepreneurs from all sectors and facilitate on the ease of doing business. Business Goa has been voicing the opinion of industry and entrepreneurs, which is often a good point of reference for policy makers

I have seen the rise of Business Goa since its inception and have taken a keen interest in its growth. When I was president of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), I saw from close quarters, the dedication of the magazine to focus on Goan businesses and industries. Later, my business house, NRB Group was associated with ‘Business Goa Awards’ for six long years; and it was satisfying to have been part of the idea that felicitates business achievers in Goa. I wish Business Goa many more years of success

Narayan Bandekar

Chairman, NRB Group

Dr Pramod Sawant Chief Minister, Goa

which has grown in leaps and bounds in content and coverage while touching upon the current and critical business issues of Goa, the Business Goa team has showcased the tenacity to withstand the pandemic and came out victorious. The lockdown did not deter them from providing our brains with fresh business news and updates. I always appreciated Harsh’s efforts in identifying new entrepreneurs and giving them a platform to showcase their business ideas. I wish the Business Goa magazine more success and accolades in the years to come Jayesh Raikar Director, Goldy Group

from the North to the South has been his passion

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Mangirish Salelkar

CEO, UMANG Group

Business Goa has been consistently providing information about businesses in and around the state of Goa, thus playing a major role in promoting, representing, and 13 is a lucky number for some! It certainly is for Business Goa as it enters its teens. Teenage is an exciting age of discovery and growth. The magazine has chronicled the growth of Goa through business enterprise for well over a decade. From mining to tourism and real estate, it has captured Goa’s evolution over the years. Business Goa has survived the onslaught during covid successfully with every issue coming out on time. The publication is inspirational for young entrepreneurs and pole vaults lesser known entrepreneurs to fame. I wish

motivating the Goan business fraternity. The magazine’s love for the business sector continues to remain strong, keeping its readers informed about the things going on and the accomplishments of various individuals in the entrepreneurial space. In this day and age, wherein businesses struggle to survive, Harsh and his team have done a commendable job in constantly finding Goa’s pulse in almost every sector of industry. On behalf of the Bandekar Group, I heart fully wish Harsh and the Business Goa team a happy 13th Anniversary and a prosperous journey ahead

Deepak Bandekar

House of Rajaram N.S. Bandekar

Harshvardhan and his team greater success for the years to come

Dr Mukesh Batra

Founder-Chairman, Dr Batra’s Group of Companies

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL I extend my heartiest congratulations to the team of Business Goa on the completion of yet another major milestone on their 13th anniversary. Over the years, the magazine has forged an impressive path, meeting the expectations of its delighted readers, encouraging new entrepreneurs, and attaining widespread popularity as Goa’s only business magazine. I wish you all the success and goodwill in your future endeavours. Good health and happiness to you all!

Congratulations to Mr Bhatkuly and the team of Business Goa for successfully completing 13 years of the publication. As Goa is the smallest state of India, it is difficult

Business Goa is the lead business magazine which promotes Goan entrepreneurs. It serves as a source of motivation for emerging businessmen

My best wishes to Harshvardhan and the entire team of Business Goa on the 13th anniversary. Business Goa has encouraged young business minds, successful professionals and people with an impact on the social sector. I always look forward to their new edition for industry insights and latest trends. Thanks you and best of luck! Aditya Desai Saad Infrastructure India Pvt. Ltd

Dr Sean da Silva

Medical Director, ASG Eye Hospital

for business magazines to survive knowing the limits of the business volume and subsequent readership. Despite this difficult environment, Business Goa has managed to stay relevant and successful over the years. The Business Goa magazine has boosted the morale of many young and new entrepreneurs while also popularising their products and services in the state. Moreover, they have managed to give due credit and exposure to the established business houses. Keep up the good work and wishing many more successful years to you

I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations to the Editor, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, as well as the entire team at Business Goa on the successful completion of 13 years of operation in Goa on behalf of Goa Marriott Resort and Spa. The magazine, which is Goa’s first and only business publication devoted to business, trade, and commerce, has succeeded in capturing the interest of everyone involved in the state’s booming business community. We have had long-standing relations and successful connections with the publication. I hope for the best

Prakash Pereira

Director, Armarcar Group

and makes a lot of difference to their self confidence and entrepreneurial spirit. The magazine, through its ample coverage and the annual Business Goa Awards, plays a big role in recognising local enterprise and talent, especially the first generation Goan entrepreneurs, which would not have been possible otherwise. Since nearly all of their editorial and events coverage is Goa-centric, we highly recommend that our clients advertise with Business Goa. I wish to congratulate Harshvardhan and Urvija Bhatkuly and their team in bringing out Goa’s only business magazine for the last 13 years and wish Team Business Goa all the very best!

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Angelo Nunes Owner, AdCity Advertising

I visit Goa at least four times a year, sometimes six. It is an eclectic mix of business work, staying at my ancestral home in Assonora, and attending a few pre-invited social dos or mixers. I struggle to tell all my associates and friends in Mumbai that I am off to Goa for work! Goa is considered to be just beaches, fun, frolic, feni, resorts, and perennially expensive taxi issues – all mixed and garnished with the susegado attitude. Business Goa, published and edited by Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, is the eye, ear, nose,

for Mr. Bhatkuly and the group in the upcoming years

Gaurav Apte

General Manager, Goa Marriott Resort and Spa

and voice of the business world in Goa. Last but not the least; it creates a yearning in Non Resident Goans to return to Goa, as its true daughters and sons. How do Harsh and his team do it? Issue after issue, sniffing around the cities of Panaji, Margao, Ponda, Vasco, Mapusa, and all the waddos of Goa? Twenty percent of the Business Goa subscribers and readers are Non-Resident Goans, living abroad, always waiting for that business opportunity in order to return from the Middle East, Europe, or Portugal. On the occasion of the 13th Anniversary of Business Goa, I wish the team on behalf of Lawrence & Mayo Group. It has always been a serious and mature magazine and the annual Business Goa Awards is something which my wife Dr Suhani and I never miss. Kudos to Business Goa!

Vivek Mendonsa

Marketing Director, Lawrence & Mayo

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” I think when Business Goa began 13 years

Congratulations Harsh and team Business Goa for giving us a magazine worth waiting for, every month. It is no easy task what you and your team have achieved, in bringing the best reading material for the last 13 years. I wish you and your team many more successful years ahead and hope in the days to come your magazine will not only be sought after in Goa, but pan India. Wishing you all the very best, from an avid reader

back, it really understood the need of being that beacon in the industry, to tell the world, how Goa and its industries strive to be the best in their class, articulating their struggles and successes, month to month, painstakingly for the last 13 years. As Business Goa celebrates its 13th Anniversary, we at Fortune Miramar are proud to be associated and celebrate this grand milestone with you. We look forward to many great articles with valuable insights and entrepreneurship journeys

Ricardo D’Lima

Cluster General Manager Goa and West Coast, Fortune Park Hotels Ltd.

I fall, I cry, I get up and walk again, As long as I have this childlike resilience, The wonders of life are mine to explore… Congratulations to Business Goa on its 13th Anniversary. We are proud of your presence, persistence, and perseverance to always stay current and be a valuable part of the business community in Goa. May the future see this publication grow along with the industry and continue to

Dinesh Sinari Parijat Traders

Business Goa is Goa’s premier business magazine and I have always appreciated the efforts and focus that this magazine has in order to promote local businesses and start up initiatives. I would like to congratulate Harsh and the team at Business Goa on their 13th Anniversary and wish them continued success in the years to come Guitry Velho Vice President and General Manager, Heritage Village Resort and Spa

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Congratulations to the editorial team of Business Goa on achieving another milestone and completing 13 years in the field of business journalism. The efforts and hard work invested in bringing out resourceful and healthy information and boosting the business growth in Goa is highly appreciated. Business Goa has always been at the forefront of boosting new minds and promoting talent from the Goan business diaspora. Business Goa has gathered remarkable recognition in the last 13 years, and we wish the team will

be a point of reflection and inspiration to all

Carlos de Sousa

Managing Director, de Sousa Group

Business Goa has been the pioneer for the last 10 years in providing Goan businesses an apt platform to showcase themselves. This platform has inspired thousands of entrepreneurs in the state and has boosted the morale of existing businesses thereby fostering and nurturing a strong community. Goa is always promoted as tourism hub but Business Goa has been successful in propagating over hundreds of success stories of indigenous entrepreneurs to readers across the globe. FiiRE Goa is working closely with next gen tech entrepreneurs in Goa and truly appreciates the efforts put in by the team at Business Goa. I wish Business Goa decades of success and prosperity!

D S Prashant

CEO, FiiRE Goa

continue their endeavour in acknowledging the efforts done by the business fraternity

Ankit Prabhudessai

Architect

On the 13th anniversary of its publication, I wish to extend my best wishes to the team of Business Goa. It is indeed a milestone in itself. Having read many magazines during my travels across the globe, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that Business Goa is one of the finest reads

Prashant Kumar

Principle Consultant, Mindspace Certified Coach (London)

Over its journey as a teenager, Business Goa has helped shape my understanding of the corporate surroundings as they are in the state. Business Goa has a vibrant cover, classic reportage and an attractive spread of write-ups, which has consistently built over the years thus making it the prima donna magazine of Goa

Pavan Agni

Founder, BuySpex

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Celebrating and applauding the Business Achievers of Goa The 9th edition of the Business Goa Awards was held in August 2021, with 23 awardees being fetted for their business excellence

he 9th edition of the Business Goa awards was celebrated in grandeur with 23 awardees being honoured in a glittering ceremony that felicitated excellence in business. The HDFC presents Business Goa Awards 2021 was held on 1st August 2021 in a glittering function at Goa Marriott Resort, Miramar, in view of the pandemic protocols. Organising an event of this scale, in the shadow of covid-19 was not a cakewalk, yet Business Goa went ahead and presented a business awards function that Goa could be proud of – The Business Goa Awards for Corporate Excellence – an awards ceremony honouring all those who have significantly contributed to Goa’s vibrant economic development. 2020 and early 2021 saw businesses crumble and fall victim to the pandemic, which swept the ground beneath our feet. Goa being the smallest state, suffered at every turn, yet the common man along with the business fraternity rose up like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes and managed to

innovate and adapt themselves to the changing circumstances. Although held on a smaller scale as compared to past editions, the who’s who of the business world in Goa made their presence felt and said that the event helped uplift spirits and boost their morale. The keynote speaker for the evening was Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman of Kirloskar Brothers Pvt. Ltd, who delivered his speech remotely, which was played on screen. The awards were spread across various categories spanning across sectors, scale and size of businesses. These categories range diversely to cover sectors like hospitality, real estate, manufacturing, technology. The event saw 23 awardees being recognized for their efforts in the space of business, economy and excellence. The four categories of the Awards – Hospitality & Real Estate, Excellence, Best Companies and Top Honours, honoured some of the best and brightest minds for their contribution to business and excellence in Goa.

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The winners in the Hospitality & Real Estate category were Saad Infrastructure (Real Estate Company of the Year), Rajdeep Builders (Real Estate Brand of the Year), L & L Builders (Contribution to Real Estate), Hilton Goa Resort (Luxury Hotel of the Year), Peep Kitchen (Best in Goan Cuisine) and Prashant Kumar (Hospitality Consultant of the Year). The winners in the Excellence category were Heta Pandit (Preserving Goan Heritage), Mac Vaz (Service to Business), Rotary Club Panaji Riviera (Social Responsibility Award), Verna Industries Association (Business Organisation of the Year), Supriya Rane (Author of the Year) and Kishor Naik Gaonkar (Journalism). The winners in the Best Companies category were Kilowott (IT Company of the Year), Glazetech Systems (Industry of the Year), Como (Style Business of the Year), AR-Mine's Industries (Make in India Award), Wooden Homes India (Goan Brand), and Spintly

(Startup of the Year). The awardees in the Top Honours category were Nandan Kudchadkar (Influencer of the Year), Dr Kedar Padte (Professional of the Year), Molbio Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. (Innovation in Healthcare), Damodar Kochkar (Business Leadership Award) and Narayan R Bandekar (Lifetime Achievement Award). HDFC Bank was the title sponsor; Fortune, Miramar and Tangentia were the associate partners for the awards. The event was powered by Dr. Kurade’s, Real Group of Companies, and Vision Dempo. John Distilleries was the beverage partner, TPT Productions was the creative partner, Goa Hyundai was the automobile partner, while My Goa and Savoir Faire were the magazine partner and organising partner respectively. AdCity was the outdoor partner, Goa Marriott Resort was the venue partner and DNA-Goa was the broadband partner. The host for the evening was Swapnil Kamat, CEO and co-founder of Work Better Training

ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

A Decade of Celebrating and Honouring the Goa’s Business Stars

The 10th edition of the Business Goa Awards was held in April 2022, in grandeur, where 25 awardees were celebrated in a glittering ceremony that toasted the best of Goa’s business

he 10th edition of the Business Goa awards was celebrated in grandeur with 25 awardees being recognised in a splendid ceremony that felicitated excellence in business The Spexmojo.com presented Business Goa Awards 2022 for Corporate Excellence was held on 3rd April 2022 in a grand function at the Goa Marriott Resort, Miramar. With a bold and brilliant goal of being the ‘Voice of Business in Goa,’ Business Goa magazine celebrated the 10th edition of the Business Goa Awards with much pomp and glamour. The ceremony was graced by many prominent personalities of the business world. Having awarded more than 255 persons till date, The Business Goa Awards for Corporate Excellence is one of the most coveted business award events in Goa. It celebrates and honours those individuals and businesses that have made massive contributions in the social and economic growth of the State. The keynote speaker for the award show was none other than the Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant. While

congratulating the organisers and award winners, he stated that the Government of Goa also plans to organise a similar function in the future in order to promote and support the up and coming entrepreneurs in the state. Business Goa Awards 2022 saw 25 awardees being acknowledged for their efforts in the space of business, trade, technology, and excellence. The awards encompassed various personalities, businesses, and start-ups that have achieved significant milestones in Goa’s socio-economic milieu. Some of the best and brightest minds in the State were honoured for their contributions to business and excellence in four categories of the Awards – Hospitality & Real Estate, Excellence, Best Companies, and Top Honours. The winners in the Hospitality & Real Estate category were Manglam Build Developers Ltd (Real Estate Company of the Year), Equiknox (Real Estate Brand of the Year), Copperleaf - Panaji (New Restaurant of the Year), and Hamerzz (Best Nightclub of the Year).

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The awardees in the Excellence category were Goa Business School (Excellence in Education), Sanjay Centre for Special Education (Social Impact Award), Priyanka Row (Enterprise Changemaker), A. Durga Prasad (Excellence in Film Making), Dr Emanuel Gracias (Excellence in Women’s Healthcare), Forum for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship (Startup Incubator of the Year), Mangirish Salelkar (Leadership in Technology), and Lokmanya Multipurpose Co-op Society Ltd (Excellence in Banking). The winners in the Best Companies category were Shukra Jewellers (Jewellery Company of the Year), ASG Eye Hospital (Healthcare Brand of the Year), Cottons Daily (E-Commerce Company of the Year), Saltwater Sutra (Investment Banker of the Year), Blisspace (Modular Furniture Company of the Year), AdCity Advertising (Outdoor Advertising Agency of the Year), Purple Crest Advertising (Advertising Agency of the Year), and CAM Industrial Services (Excellence and Sustainable Development

in Sanitation and Waste Management). The awardees in the Top Honours category were GKB Hi-Tech Lenses Pvt Ltd (Brand of the Year), B:Live (Startup of the Year), Santosh Kenkre (Professional of the Year), Ralph De Sousa (Business Leadership Award), and Mahendra K Gupta (Lifetime Achievement Award). The host for the evening was Swapnil Kamat, CEO and co-founder of Work Better Training. Spexmojo.com was the title sponsor while ASK Wealth Advisors, Manas Developers, and Fortune Miramar were the associate partners for the awards. The event was powered by Dr. Kurade’s, Assess Build Chem Private Limited, Tangentia, and Frontline Managed Services. John Distilleries was the beverage partner, Goa Marriott Resort was the venue partner, Indigomusic.com was the radio partner, TPT Productions was the creative partner while 25fps was the video partner. My Goa and Savoir Faire were the magazine and organising partners, respectively

COVER STORY

THE ANATOMY

GROWTH As Business Goa enters its teenage years, we bring to you the growth stories of various industry captains and entrepreneurs

t is aptly stated that growth is a stage in the process of growing. No matter the size or the capital invested in a company, every entrepreneur seeks to improve their business by employing various growth methods. The same can be said regarding an individual, or, in our case, a publication. With constant dedication, commitment, and passion for representing the voice of business in the state, Business Goa has successfully completed thirteen years as Goa’s only business magazine. It would not be wrong to state that the publication has entered its teenage years, since “thirteen”

By SYBIL RODRIGUES & SWETA SHARMA

marks the entrance of a human being into adolescence – a period of spontaneous growth and drastic change. Dhirubhai Ambani, founding father of Reliance Industries boldly declared, “Ideas are no one’s monopoly. Think big, think fast, think ahead.” Before the execution of any idea, it must be dreamed of, thought of, and formulated. However, envisioning a product or a business is not hard; there could be millions of people with the same idea. What matters is the dexterity and industry one shows with their ideas, the way in which they are employed in order to

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build a successful company. Although it is true that the success of a business relies heavily on finances, the resilience and gusto one shows while taking that business forward is also important. The billionaire industrialist, philanthropist, and Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla has rightly said, “The golden rule I can think of is the fact that you must follow your passion and do something that is close to your heart.” The cover story chronicles the histories and memories of enthusiastic industry magnates and entrepreneurs who have

created a niche for themselves in Goa’s business ecosystem. “None can destroy iron, but its own rust can. Likewise, none can destroy a person but his own mindset can,” states Ratan Tata, one of the most influential businessmen that India has ever seen. Similarly, it is important for leaders and enterprises to continue learning, innovating, and growing. Only through persistent work and struggle do we gain the strength required to grow. Those who actively pursue growth will be able to rid themselves of the rust of inactivity, thus advancing both internally and externally

COVER STORY GROWTH TO ASSERT LEADERSHIP

hrinivas Dempo is the Chairman of Goa’s leading business house, Dempo Group of Companies, whose modernera activity cover calcined petroleum coke production, shipbuilding, newspaper publishing and electronic media, food processing, real estate development, sports promotion, the travel business, and renewable energy generation. When Shrinivas took over the business, the Group ran six operating businesses, their largest one being mining. Back then mining had a turnover of around `1000 crores. The Group had Goa Carbon which is a listed entity and is in the calcine petroleum coke business and lesser size businesses such as ship building, real estate and food processing. The total turnovers of all these entities were around `2000 crores when he took over. As soon as Shrinivas took over the business, along with

“Today, if you don’t grow to a particular size, you can’t survive; let alone thrive”

SHRINIVAS DEMPO

Chairman, Dempo Group of Companies the rest of the stakeholders, they took a strategic decision to exit mining as they felt it would be in the best interest of the Group to do so. With the liquidity

and the cash that was available each of their verticals could grow looking at the size of the market in India and the kind of export opportunities available.

This is what triggered growth and Shrinivas felt that either one should grow or perish as a group. One important milestone that the Group achieved was becoming a significant player in the calcine, pet coke industry. When he took over, in terms of capacity they used to control hardly 10% of the Indian market and today they are number two in the country while controlling almost 30% of the capacity. Speaking about growth, Shrinivas wishes his Group to be a significant player in all their business verticals. “Today, if you don’t grow to a particular size, you can’t survive forget about thriving. Each of our verticals has a growth plan. I feel that turnover is only a matter of numbers. In the next five years I would like to double our turnover. If we look at all these ideas we can have a huge growth potential so those are our aspirations and dreams to take it forward

Growth to conquer new horizons

he de Souza Group is a leading business house based in Goa. It has interests in hotels, tour and travel companies, forex, serviced apartments, construction, and estate holdings. The dynamic nature of the group has seen it evolve constantly to keep ahead of the changing trends. What hasn’t changed, are the standards of excellence they have always been known for. The group was founded from scratch by Ralph and his brother, late Norman de Souza, both first generation entrepreneurs. Their foresight of the growth of tourism in Goa in the 1980s, both in the domestic and international markets motivated the two brothers to venture into the hospitality business. The brothers witnessed the rise in footfalls of tourists and in the mid 80s commenced their business with one resort; and the rest is history. The starting of charter flights from Germany and UK triggered

the idea of growth for the De Souza brothers. The direct connectivity between Goa and overseas destinations through Air India, Indian Airlines, Air Arabia, Oman Air and Qatar Airways provided a boost to international FITs movement. Goa’s cuisine popularised by O Coqueiro, Nostalgia, Mandovi and Sousa Lobo brought many an elite domestic visitor into Goa. Mario Miranda with his illustrations and cartoons reached the length and breadth of the country and consolidated Goa in the international map during his world wide exhibitions. The launching of the Fort Aguada Beach Resort in 1974 and the Oberoi Bogmalo around the same time were the important milestones that motivated all young hospitality entrepreneurs which led to the boom of tourism in Goa. The loss of Norman in 2011 was a personal blow and it created a vacuum in the group’s

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“With over 350 rooms, three travel companies, Goa’s second largest Forex division; and an estate development firm, the de Souza Group is poised to conquer new horizons” management domain. With regards to the next growth stage, Ralph has handed over the baton to the next generation. “Carlos Noel is looking at going into small luxury hotels, while Lana Sophia has successfully branched into readymade garments, and Karla Maris is a

RALPH DE SOUSA

Chairman, de Souza Group professional by her own merit and pitches in the business as and when required. With over 350 rooms, three travel companies, Goa’s second largest Forex division; and an estate development firm, the de Souza Group is poised to conquer new horizons”

COVER STORY Visionary Growth Story

ahendra Kumar Gupta, an Engineer (BE) by profession, is the Chairman and Managing Director of GKB Hi-Tech Lenses group of companies. They are manufacturers and exporters of spectacle ophthalmic lenses. Gupta was born in Delhi and came to Goa in 1982. He shifted part of his family business of manufacturing ophthalmic lenses to Goa, Tivim Industrial Estate back in 1982, making Goa famous on the international optical trade map. His company products ‘Opththamic lenses’ or ‘Spectacle Optical Lenses’ are manufactured using stateof-the-art technology in Goa and exported to 30 countries all over the world. The company also has laboratories in other states of India as well as outside the country at Dubai, Sharjah, Iran and South Africa. When Gupta took over the business, the company turnover was `10 lakhs a month; and today

the company has grown to doing `22 crores of business per month. Gupta had a vision and focus to build up his business and firmly believed that hurdles were just stepping stones to success. Gupta had three important milestones that he associates with growing his enterprise. The first was to take Indian optical trade for exports to South Africa after apartheid in 1992; the second to re-mould the Indian optical business to go directly to the optician without an intermediary; and the third was to decentralise the manufacturing and distribution of the company to create a large network throughout the country. All of these three milestones were successfully achieved by Gupta – including being able to quickly adopt the latest technology in lens manufacturing. As far as the next growth stage is concerned, Gupta says, “We have moved to the path of becoming one-

MAHENDRA KUMAR GUPTA

Chairman and Managing Director, GKB Hi-Tech Lenses Pvt Ltd

“We have moved to the path of becoming a one-stop-shop for opticians as well and consumers. This will further take our company to greater heights” stop-shop for opticians as well and consumers by supplying complete spectacle according to

the prescriptions and this will further take our company to greater heights”

GROWTH IN THE R&D SPACE OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS “Business is not just about survival – it is about growth and productivity”

SRIRAM NATARAJAN

Founder-CEO, Molbio Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.

ounder-Director and Chief Executive Officer of Molbio Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Sriram Natarajan ventured into the business world with a certain

vision in mind. With an experience of thirty-four years in developing, manufacturing, and marketing of diagnostic kits and equipment, Sriram wanted

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to create a new technology that would revolutionise the molecular testing world. During the pandemic, Molbio Diagnostics was the first Indian company to be approved for covid testing. It took Sriram and his team almost fifteen years to create Truelab Real Time Quantitative Micro PCR System. The revolutionary product enables PCR technology right to the point-of-care, independent of laboratory settings, facilitating early and accurate diagnosis for around 35-40 infectious diseases. When it comes to Indian technology, not only is the Research and Development part very time consuming but it is also very demanding in terms of resources. However, the company successfully overcame these difficulties. Molbio Diagnostics is endorsed by the World Health Organization for tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics. A majority

of the nations in the world, whose citizens are plagued by TB, are eager to introduce this platform in their countries. It is a milestone achievement since Molbio is the only company to be approved as a point-of-care technology. Sriram seeks to expand his company in the following years with the aim to achieve a billion dollar turnover. By establishing firm ties in the market and finding reliable distributors for its products, the company hopes to become a dominant player in the next three years. On the subject of growth, he says, “Growth is the fundamental part of any business enterprise. Unless your business grows, the sustainability of the business itself becomes questionable. You have to keep innovating and growing in order to be relevant and do better than other people in the market. Business is not just about survival – it is about growth and productivity

COVER STORY Growth with global synergies

ike the Ambanis at Reliance fully described it, growth is life and the same is for business, articulates Shekhar Sardessai, Chairman and Managing Director of Kineco Group of Companies. Since its commencement in 1995 as a small industrial unit in Goa, his company has emerged as one of India’s leading and innovative enterprises in the field of composites, with its presence across multiple sectors such as defence, aerospace, railways and industrial. In 2013, Kineco tied up with Kaman Aerospace, USA to get on into overdrive mode of business expansion. According to Sardessai, growth is not only required to make a business grow but to assure that the business sustains over a longer period of time. In the face of the intense competition that everyone is facing, entrepreneurs have to be privy to the fact that the only way to sustain and lead the competition is to create a scale

which gives them the strength to sustain the onslaught of competition. Kineco has strived for nonfinancial milestones as their stepping stones to growth – realising a product for the market has always been their foundation. Although finances are one of the most essential factors for growth, says Sardessai, it is not the only thing that leads to the success of any business. One needs to have the ability to visualise growth and competition in the market, eventually developing the ability to articulate one’s business strategy in a manner that allows them to use the money effectively and achieve the scale envisioned for the business. Relating to the future of his company, he states, “At this point of time, all the markets that we are into are in a very buoyant stage of growth. I see us having all the fundamentals in the right place and at the

“We want to sustain our leadership in each of the market segments that we compete in”

SHEKHAR SARDESSAI Chairman and Managing Director, Kineco Group right time, I believe in the next five years, a thousand crore milestone will be reached.

We want to sustain our leadership in each of the market segments that we compete in”

GROWTH TO SUSTAIN ENTREPRENEURIAL VISION

ATUL PAI KANE

Chairman, Pai Kane Group

tul Pai Kane, who has more than 33 years of experience in the industry, has built a solid repertoire of engineering

he has transformed the Group into a world class Setting “Growth could enterprise. the group’s vision occur due and strategy as to multiple well as identifying processes. and developing SQCLDM new areas where (Safety, Quality, the Group may Cost, Logistics, contribute, he Delivery, and consistently pushes Management) his team to raise the is a good start bar for the entire point” company. Additionally, Pai Kane has actively participated in various business organisations and presided over the CII Goa state council from 2013 to 2014. He has also led Goa State Industries Association. In addition to being a member of the state’s Investment Promotion Board, he was chosen in 2012 as the products and services to meet Task Force’s leader to devise the demands of a variety of Goa’s investment policy. people in the global market. As According to Pai Kane, there Chairman of Pai Kane Group, are many milestones which can

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be associated with the growth of a business enterprise. Revenue, profits, and the number of employees in a company are the straight forward ones. The more qualitative metrics for him would be the number of repeat customers, growth in annual recurring revenue, long-term contracts, low returns, low early hour failures, growth in market, and geographic penetration. He states, “Growth could occur due to multiple processes. SQCLDM (Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Logistics, and Management) is a good start point. All of these must be preceded by an idea which needs to be supported by an objective and nurtured with passionate planning and execution.” Most importantly, it must be in accordance with what’s desirable, be it better margins, quality of customers, cash flow, opportunity for adjacent businesses, or an increased life time value

COVER STORY Breaking new grounds for growth

first generation agribusiness, established in 1994, with a passion for excellence and innovation, Dr Kurade’s is a well known name in this sector, in India and globally. With two farms Zuari Foods & Farms Pvt. Ltd. and Tropical Mushrooms (Goa) Pvt. Ltd., it is one of the largest and oldest (Zuari Foods) mushroom agribusiness in India. Two multi-facility farms are spread over 1,20,000 sq. mt. with 2,70,000 sq. ft. of vertical growing area and presently has an installed capacity of over 6000 tons annually of fresh mushrooms with sales and distribution all over Western and Southern India. Dr Kurade’s has been in business over the last two decades, having started the business from ground up and has seen the market evolve over the years. They have been growing mushrooms even before people could include this super food in their regular food cycle due to its health benefits.

The business had to be build brick by brick through lot of micro management and took a calamity to ensure growth in order to survive. Growth was the only salvation for the survivor! Dr Sangam Kurade mentions that the Canacona flash flood of 2009 was an important milestone for growing his enterprise. They were not in the market and consumers across Goa not only wished them speedy comeback but within 3 days of their re-launch they managed to regain their full market. They attribute their recovery to the blessings and good wishes of the consumers who have placed their trust in their product and found value in their brand. Going forward, Dr Kurade says, “While our last decade of growth was planned to reach a certain scale and reach on pan India basis, our vision, besides growing scale in what we do, is to create new verticals and create innovative new products in

DR SANGAM KURADE

Managing Director, Dr Kurade’s

“Our vision, besides growing scale in what we do, is to create new verticals and create innovative new products in allied areas of processed foods, seeds and agri renewables” allied areas of processed foods, seeds and agri renewables. This would also require us to have

multiple facilities beyond Goa and to have a presence beyond India”

GROWTH TO MANAGE THE EARTH’S SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES

RAJKUMAR KAMAT

Founder & Managing Director, EP Kamat Group

oday, I believe we are sitting on a heap of opportunities because of the product lines that

we have. These product lines primarily cater to sanitation and water recycling areas;

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both of which are important Treatment Plants (ETP) – to from an environment point their product offerings. Thus, of view,” states Rajkumar G. they are able to cater to the Kamat, Founder and Managing requirements of top hotel chains, Director of the EP Kamat multi national companies, Group. Leading an enterprise housing complexes, institutions that provides solutions to a and the government, besides clean, green and safe planet, builders and individuals whom Kamat has more than 25 years they were already catering to. of experience in the industry. Kamat believes that growth EP Kamat Group is the objective of a manufactures products “Consistent person entering a like fibre-reinforced growth is business. In addition, polymer (FRP) doors, a must. If when somebody bio-digester tanks, there is no is running their fire retardant doors growth, the business, they cannot and other allied organisation just look at the growth products. In 2017, will decay” of the company but the Group acquired must look at the Bio-digester technology from growth of their employees as Defence Research Development well. “Consistent growth is a Organisation (DRDO), must. If there is no growth, which helped them get into a the organisation will decay,” he government tenders under the opines. Swachh Bharat Mission. This Kamat envisions the marked a shift in the growth company to grow by more than of the company. Additionally, 300% in the next three years the company also added new besides generating wealth for verticals – Sewage Treatment the investors who subscribe to Plants (STP) and Effluent the IPO being launched

COVER STORY Growth to make Goa sustainable in waste management solutions

Dr. CAITANNO J FERNAANDES Founder, CAM Industrial Services

AM Industrial Services, founded by Dr. Caitanno J Fernaandes, is the first company

in Goa to introduce portable sanitation to outdoor events. It was founded with the core value

of serving society by meeting take steps to provide sustainable its most rudimentary needs – solutions to society so that Goa providing essential services to can remain clean, green and people. healthy. CAM Services An important began their journey “CAM would milestone for with just 50 portable like to make Dr Fernaandes toilets and now the sustainable was receiving a organisation has grown sanitation state award for to working in the fields and waste contribution towards of housekeeping, bio management making Goa open remediation, e-waste solutions defecation free and management, zero accessible to promoting sustainable waste management all” development in the services, information state in the field education communication of waste management and activities, installation and sanitation at the hands of Chief construction of Indian Minister of Goa, Dr Pramod household latrines. Through Sawant. their work in portable The Group has its corporate sanitation and housekeeping, offices in Goa, Dubai and France. Dr Fernaandes and his team As for the future, Dr Fernaandes realised that there was an urgent says, “We wish to work towards need for more sustainable sustainable development in solutions for sanitation and Goa, India and the world at waste management Goa, which large. CAM would like to make triggered the idea of growth. sustainable sanitation and As a home-grown organisation waste management solutions they felt that they needed to accessible to all”

GROWTH TO BE A LEADER IN THE IN-VITRO DIAGNOSTICS SPACE

ulip Diagnostics (P) Ltd., headed by Deepak G. Tripathi, is one of the largest manufacturers of in-vitro diagnostic reagents and kits in India. The company has its footprints globally with exports to about 80 countries. From its humble beginnings in the year 1990, the company has grown to be one of the largest employers in Goa and has its footprints not only pan India but also globally with exports to about 80 countries. In 2017, the company was acquired by Perkinelmer Inc, a large listed global IVD and analytical science company based in USA. Tripathi’s other two partners exited the company; and when he took over the turnover was approximately `249 crores. Last year their turnover touched close to `560 crores. Tripathi and his team wanted to keep on following their development strategy, their sales and marketing strategy, introduce more productivity

“I want to take the business to a stage where our turnover will be at least 750 crores in the next three years” and added a few more products. The company became more efficient and productive; they could control their costs in a better way and could expand their market by addition and diversification of their sales force. Around 2018, Tulip acquired a company in Mumbai to add to their instrumentation portfolio. They added two new plants in Goa and another two in Mumbai which has helped them improve their capacity. Tripathi considers building four plants in a span of four years a pretty significant milestone in his journey. As far as his growth plans are concerned, Tripathi says, “I want to take the business to a stage where our turnover will be at least `750 crores in the next three years”

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DEEPAK TRIPATHI

President, Tulip Diagnostics (P) Ltd.

COVER STORY GROWTH IN THE LUXURY REAL ESTATE SPACE

OSCAR DE LIMA PEREIRA

Founder, Equiknox Group

scar de Lima Pereira is an entrepreneur who brings value to the table with high quality luxury real estate projects and the ability to

network with the movers and shakers of corporate India. His company, Equiknox Group is a leading real estate developer having various lifestyle home

in partners with similar projects at different prime aspirations and ideas who locations in Goa. brought with them unique Founded in 2004, the concepts and designs; making company has utilised its land each project unique in its own banks to create luxury homes way. All projects collaborating with are known for their the best developers “We want to stunning views and and internationally be known as renowed architects, the real estate stylish architecture. Having mainly providing world class company that engaged in joint architecture. The doesn’t just developments, an motto of Equiknox create homes has and will but addresses. important milestone for Oscar was when always be ‘Quality We want to Equiknox took a step and Customer create a niche for ourselves to start developing Satisfaction.’ on their own. That’s Oscar has built for creating Equiknox from addresses to be the time they build their own team ground up and the proud of” and brand without first project that any collaborations. As far he executed was a luxury villa as the future and growth is development of 70,000 sq feet concerned, Oscar says, “We in South Goa. want to be known as the real At present, Equiknox is estate company that doesn’t just engaged in 3 hospitality projects create homes but addresses to and two luxury villa addresses be proud of. We want to create a with more new launches soon. niche for ourselves in that space Oscar has added value for creating addresses” to their land bank by getting

Growth with a strong focus on sales

n integral part of the largest industrial craft brewery in India, Sarika Varshnei’s journey towards corporate success didn’t quite begin with the beer and beverage industry. Before joining her son at the brewery, Varshnei had successfully opened a bakery called Crispy Cream in 2003, added it to her restaurant named Machu Pichu, running it for almost a decade and then shifting it to her boutique hotel in 2011. In 2016, she installed her very own beach club called Voca Loca in Goa. Varshnei was one of the founding members of a company that is making a difference in the consumption pattern of alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic beverages in India. Her involvement was crucial in the process of creating Maka di and Borecha. “We started with the sale of sixteen cases a month to now, when we have scaled it up to almost 8,000 cases a month,”

SARIKA VARSHNEI

Chief Growth Officer, Latambarcem Brewers Pvt Ltd

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she says about Borecha. Varshnei states that sales are the most important part of the growth of any company. If there are no sales, there will be no finance. As an entrepreneur, she generally believes that growth should be organic and not spontaneous – the health and stability of the company should be the major priority. “There are many companies which look for a huge revenue growth in the first few years. If you ask me, real revenue growth would only come if your cash outflow is lesser than your inflow. Your earning has to be more than your expenses,” she states. With a vision to see the products available in as many cities and states as possible, Varshnei perceives her enterprise to be half a billion dollar company in the next five years

“Sales are the most important part of the growth of any company. No sales, means no finance”

COVER STORY GROWTH TO SYNC TECHNOLOGY AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

ajasi Dhavalikar established her brand, Cottons Daily in the year 2016 when she started selling her products among her friends and social media. Her passion for expanding the business led to an entry into the e-commerce space. Cottons Daily “We envision offers an opportunity ourselves to to all cotton lovers promote Indian to buy, style their handlooms fabrics online and get especially it delivered at their cotton, at ease doorstep thanks to its with growing online platform. digitisation all Rajasi’s brand over world” values quality over everything else. Therefore, Cotton Daily sources fabrics and sarees directly RAJASI from their approved weavers. DHAVALIKAR They have approximately 50 Founder, weavers from different regions Cottons Daily of India. The ‘Maheswaris’ are sourced from Madhya Jaipur and other places in India. Pradesh, ‘Paithanis’ from Yeola, Rajasi encourages Goan women Maharashtra, ‘Ikkats’ from who are known to create good Pochampalli, Andhra Pradesh, embroidery, which they take up block prints materials from as a hobby, to make it a source

of their livelihood. She has tied up with local artisans for hand embroidery on some of her products. One can always find local products handcrafted by

Goan artisans on the Cottons Daily website under the head ‘Cottons Daily Customised’. Cottons Daily is Rajasi’s baby and she considers it her first business venture, when she decided to enter the e-commerce space. Tapping the right opportunities is what triggered the idea of growth for her. Promoting Goan handloom Kunbi Sarees worldwide through their online platform is an important milestone that Cottons Daily has achieved and has contributed in re-creating a demand for various kinds of cotton sarees. Speaking on her growth plans Rajasi says, “We are delivering our products all over India and we have recently started worldwide deliveries to select countries. We envision ourselves to promote Indian handlooms especially cotton, at ease with growing digitisation all over world”

Growth to enrich the gourmet dining space

ishwanath along with his brother Sachin Pai Bir were associated with Copperleaf since its inception. When Vishwanath was stationed in the US, the brothers would discuss ideas over Skype calls in order to enhance their business. After spending 11 years in the US in the IT field, Vishwanath decided to come down permanently to Goa to hop on the Copperleaf bandwagon to drive the expansion plans. When Vishwanath joined officially in 2019, they were operating at Porvorim with 180 covers and 100 staff. The idea of growth, once he took over the business came to him with his ideology of competing with their own selves. In short, whatever one does, should be done in a better way the next time around. And hence, the idea of Copperleaf Panaji was born. Their focus was on getting the Panaji restaurant up and running and also enhancing the Porvorim

restaurant. “The pandemic period slowed down our growth plans, but with God’s grace, the Panaji project was completed. Getting Copperleaf Panaji up and fully operational was an important milestone”, says Vishwanath Pai Bir. Panaji was a dream restaurant project which started just a few days before the covid lockdown in March 2020. It was executed with great difficulties throughout the pandemic, and was completed in October 2021. Copperleaf Panaji is one of the biggest 300-seater fine-dining restaurant, with spacious seating, spread across 10,000 sq. ft. of ground and first floors. It has three dining sections namely Cilantro, Citrus and Infinity. Panaji also has private dining spaces in the name of Solitaire and 10@ Infinity. The facility includes 5-star amenities, such as splendid international standard washrooms, wheelchair accessible entrance, wheelchair

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“In terms of growth, the next Copperleaf is there in the pipeline”

VISHWANATH PAI BIR Director & COO, Copperleaf accessible washrooms, grab bars in washrooms as well a baby diaper / nappy changing station. Vishwanath has big plans for the future. “Our current plans are to stabilize both the

outlets with optimum levels and ensure that they run and operate efficiently. In terms of growth, the next Copperleaf is there in the pipeline”

COVER STORY Growth to make a difference

anmay Kholkar, Tatas and Birlas who a first-generation “We want to join many look up to, e n t r e p r e n e u r hands with the Goan entrepreneurs founded Manas community and like Dempos, together help Salgaocars and a Developers, and grew his company create an urban first generation from the ground up. landscape in the e n t r e p r e n e u r Today it is one of the city of Panjim, like Anil Counto which we are became a source fastest growing real proud of” estate companies in of inspiration Goa. He has built for the thriving the business from a scratch entrepreneur in Tanmay. Every and has grown it into what it completed project by Manas is today. Tanmay always knew Developers is a milestone he was destined for something in their journey to success. big and although he didn’t have However one recent significant a background in business, with milestone for him is the creation the support of his family, he was of the KayaM Trust which he able to take a leap of faith and established recently. Tanmay turn his dream into reality. His considers himself blessed to drive to build his own venture receive guidance and support didn’t stem from a pre-set from many. agenda, rather, it catapulted Giving back to society as an organic inkling from his is important to him and fascination with the stories of community outreach initiatives entrepreneurs who set off from will be executed through the humble beginnings, scurrying trust in the years ahead. Lastly their success to dizzying Tanmay elaborates on the topic heights. of growth and says, “The team at Besides behemoths like the Manas Developers puts its heart

TANMAY KHOLKAR

Founder, Manas Developers and soul into the creation of each project. We are now slated to work on several projects in the near future. We want to join

hands with the community and together help create an urban landscape in the city of Panjim, which we are proud of ”

GROWTH IN ALL VERTICALS TO INCREASE BUSINESS FOOTPRINT

R-Mine’s Group was started by Arman Bankley and his wife Avani. A techno commercial personality, an experienced chemical engineer, with an experience of 20 years, Arman is a self made man and a founder member of Dimac Organics Pvt Ltd. With his profound knowledge, hard work and sheer dedication he further expanded and boosted trading and manufacturing activities, and has today achieved a prime position of respect and confidence in the industry. His sharp business sense has motivated him to diversify his business venture in the field of manufacturing of machine made concrete blocks and fire prevention and safety. In a short span of time this new business venture has also been a great success catering to the requirements of reputed upcoming real estate projects in Goa. ARMine’s Industries has its own processing plant, adequate

ARMAN BANKLEY

Director, AR-Mine’s Group

“We export products to 11 countries; and plan on targeting 25 countries by the end of the next financial year” warehousing facilities, modern computerised infrastructure, very sound financial base and a well-established office with experienced and professional

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executives providing support. The idea of growth was first sparked in Arman when he met Dr Jagat Shah and encouraged him to look for business beyond

boundaries and that took him down the path of his business growth which then spread to international shores. Vibrant Goa was a game changer for his business journey and since then, Arman has quadrupled his exports and enhanced his vision. His company is highly concerned with the utmost satisfaction of their esteemed clients. At present they have the privilege of being named as the most affluent manufacturer, along with being the most sought after suppliers among all the manganese ore suppliers of India. Arman’s ultimate ambition is to continue with their reputation in fulfilling the requirements of their valuable customers in a highly economical way. Currently his organisation has 132 employees. “I want to double my team in the next one year. We export products to 11 countries; and we plan on targeting 25 countries by the end of the next financial year”

COVER STORY GROWTH FUELLED BY STEELY RESOLVE

ai Ganesh Ispat is a privately held company founded in 2003 by Siddharth Goyal. The company operates a service centre based in Corlim, Goa where hot rolled coils, Jai Ganesh cold rolled coils and Ispat envisions TMT coils are deto become coiled and customised an end-toto the requirements end solution of buyers. Jai Ganesh Ispat also produces and service profiled sheets from provider of colour coated coils finished steel used in roofing and products cladding of structures. The company has authorised dealerships of the major producers of steel in India like JSW Steel, TATA Tiscon, SAIL and Essar Steel. The company handled over 40,000 metric tonnes of finished steel products in FY 2011-2012 and the turnover stands at `1.2 billion. The stockyard and service centre mobile cranes, fleet of trucks, premises are located on a plot of de-coiling machines, covered land measuring 10,000 sq. mts. stocking area. area. The facilities include a 40 Siddharth came to Goa metric tonne overhead crane, in 1997 from Chennai and

SIDDHARTH GOYAL

Founder, Jai Ganesh Ispat & Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd. at that time there were a number of steel industries coming up in Goa. There was no direct trading house in the state which prompted him to

start up his company to act as an intermediary between industries and suppliers. There are many milestones completed by Siddharth’s company but the most important one for him was getting associated with JSW Steel Ltd in the year 2009. Currently, Jai Ganesh Ispat is focusing on value added products, investing a large amount of capital on value added machinery and infrastructure. “We are targeting various segments in the appliance industry, the auto industry, and real estate segment; wherever we can add value to the existing products is where we plan to focus on. Currently, the way steel is being sold in the contemporary style, we want to redesign that process and take it to the next level.” The company envisions becoming an end-to-end solution and service provider of finished steel products

Growth undeterred by first-generation business challenges

ack of finance was the only hurdle that stopped me from starting my own venture earlier. As I am a first generation entrepreneur, and grew up in a license regulated era, entrepreneurship was not as fashionable as it is today,” states Pramod Rane, Founder of La Cabana Beach and Spa Resort. Nevertheless, he eventually created a business empire with next to nothing in his pockets. Beginning his career as a manager in Suvina Travels, Rane’s talent for generating sales was noticed by the management of British Airways. He was given a role in the British Airways general sales agency (GSA) office in Goa and subsequently promoted to their office in Bombay. Airsonic Travels, a travel agency specialising in leisure and MICE business, was launched by Rane in 1988. Under his leadership, the business has earned a name for itself as a provider of a

“Lack of finance was the only hurdle that stopped me from starting my own venture earlier” unique, high-quality service, thus gratifying clients across the country and abroad. The agency’s office in Sydney, Australia, has played a key role in the development and promotion of commercial links between Australia and India. Enamoured with the hospitality industry, Rane launched La Cabana Beach and Spa Resort in 2012. The biggest wedding destination in the state, La Cabana is renowned for its modern facilities synthesised with relaxation and comfort, a combination often sought but rarely achieved. Add to that a breathtaking seaside ambience. Over the years, Rane has perfected the art of developing business ideas by looking for innovative concepts that

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PRAMOD RANE

Chairman and Managing Director, La Cabana Beach & Spa Resort customers would love. His career has been marked by his ability to recognise a commercial opportunity and devote all of his attention to

it. With courtesy, honesty, and diligence, he has managed to create a special space for himself in the travel and tourism industry

COVER STORY GROWTH FOR GEN-NEXT BUSINESS FUNDING

autam Verlekar, a Chartered Accountant by profession, founded Saltwater Sutra, a strategy consulting firm that has opted to operate with a regional focus. It is a new kind of boutique firm that works at a deeper level of strategic engagement to curate new generation businesses and push mid-sized organisations towards global expansion. Saltwater has slowly built an integrated strategy-based investment banking practice right here in Goa over the last two years, enabling firms across India to raise strategic growth capital. As the leader in SME Investment Banking, Saltwater builds both public market investment opportunities as well as private equity deals. Gautam built the business from scratch with the help of key shareholders, investors and mentors. His business lies in being a catalyst to the growth of other businesses.

GAUTAM VERLEKAR

Founder, Saltwater Sutra His philosophy is based on the idea of growth which is fundamental to the success of the country and he feels that only an entrepreneurial spirit

“We are aiming to build our own Investment Fund over the next few years and enable multiple growth shoots from Goa” can enable India to become a developed nation. Saltwater services are expansive and brimming with potential and are reflective of their identity.

Trust, exclusivity and delivery are what set Gautam’s company apart from the rest. Investment banking as a core area of operation, growth is the basis of his company’s existence. As a proudly Indian company, they have a wealth of experience in the sub-continent and its diverse values, cultures, languages, geographies and policies. An important milestone that Gautam would associate with their company’s growth took place in 2017, where they established their global development centre here in Goa, which enabled them to optimise their delivery efficiency and create value to all global clients. As a leading Investment Advisory Group in Goa, Gautam has big plans as far as Saltwater’s next growth stage is concerned. “We are aiming to build our own Investment Fund over the next few years and enable multiple growth shoots from Goa”

Growth to do more

ravin Kakode is the of these are housed in their Managing Director of 12,000 square-foot store at the Upgrade Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Sonsoddo-Raia junction in which was Kakode Trading Margao as well as Khareband LLP, a traditional hardware and Curchorem. store, which is one of the largest At Upgrade, Pravin wholesalers and retailers of says growth is a way of life building materials. Pravin’s which comes naturally to role is more inclined towards an organisation. He firmly strategy as well believes that if one as ideating and Upgrade, to does not grow, they innovating on their Pravin, is an end up stagnating future goals. Over ideology where and eventually time, he has built they take the perishing. a reputation of business, the Pravin’s business being competent to products, the started out like a effectively manage processes and typical trade where distribution of the people they had one shop high-end brands in a positive and they would sit throughout Goa. direction at the cashbox. The When Pravin took tipping point came over the business he began when he took a decision that working with four employees none of them would sit at the and today they stand at a 100+ cashbox which gave them a lot employees and work with close of time to utilise their thought to 30 companies. Upgrade now process in the growing of the represents brands like Tata business. Durashine, Fischer, Hettich Upgrade, Pravin feels, is and Godrej – among 30 other an ideology where they take brands in their portfolio. All the business, the products, the 46 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

PRAVIN KAKODE

Managing Director, Upgrade Enterprises Pvt Ltd processes and the people in a positive direction. Regarding growth, Pravin says, “Our trading company has a good 5 year growth plan in place. We are looking towards more solution based approvals.

As human beings, we need to have a purpose in life. We need to create or build something which people look up to and get inspired by. I have a vision for the future and the possibilities for expansion is endless”

FOCUS GOA / MINING

@businessgoa

Mining closure witnesses a spate of layoffs

In the midst of the mining ban and the legal imbroglio that followed, mining companies seek to lay off workmen over the failure of the government to resume mining activities in the state

By SWETA SHARMA

ountless events and protests have taken place in the wake of the Supreme Court’s (SC) order in 2018 that directed mining companies to stop all mining operations in the state of Goa until they gained new leases. Eighty-eight mining lease holders’ second renewals were invalidated by the SC in a verdict in the same year. By an order dated May 4, 2022, the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) ordered mining leaseholders to quit their respective leases by June 6 at the latest. However, a majority of the leaseholders eventually filed writ petitions before the High Court contesting the Directorate of Mines and Geology’s decision. The government had contested the petitions submitted by the mining corporations because they contrasted with the SC’s decisions. Subsequently, private leaseholders have presented a case with the High Court of Bombay in Goa, challenging the State government’s decree ordering them to vacate their leases by June 6 this year. Goa’s economy heavily relies on four sectors, namely, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and mining. Incidentally, the mining industry is one of the most important pillars of Goan economy, besides tourism. With a complete ban over mining activities, the financial situation of Goa has significantly worsened over the past few years. It has not only affected large conglomerates but also the workers who were employed by them. Fear grips nearly 1,500 mining-dependent workers as mining companies have approached the Centre to retrench them following the stoppage of mining operations in the state. According to Vedanta Limited, mining operations have been suspended in Goa for more

“The government plans to finish the first round of auctions within the next three to four months and see that preference is given to Goa’s mining workforce when new leaseholders start operations”

Dr Pramod Sawant Chief Minister, Goa

than four years as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling which was followed by numerous rulings at judicial forums shortening their lease tenure. In accordance with Section 5B of the Industrial Disputes Act, Sesa Sterlite issued layoff letters to 1,017 employees in its mining division units in Goa in January 2014. Similarly, around 870 employees of Vedanta Sesa Goa, Sesa Resources Ltd, and Sesa Mining Corporation Ltd received retrenchment notices from Vedanta Limited due to the uncertainty surrounding the restart of mining operations in the state. The notice of retrenchment states, “The company by its application to the Labour Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, under section 25-N of the Industrial Dispute Act,

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1947, proposed to retrench all workmen of the said mining divisions from October 5, 2022.” In a statement issued by Vedanta Limited, the organisation acknowledged that Vedanta Sesa Goa, Sesa Resources Ltd., and Sesa Mining Corporation Ltd. had deliberately kept all of its employees on board and have been supporting them and their families since 2018 notwithstanding the cessation of mining operations. Vedanta had investigated a number of legal and other possibilities over the previous years to resume iron ore mining in Goa, but its efforts had not been successful. Furthermore, the Directorate of Mines and Geology also sent a notice on May 4 to terminate all mining leases within 30 days, leaving them with no choice but to

abandon any plans that they had in order to resume mining operations in the state. As a result, Vedanta Sesa Goa, Sesa Resources Ltd, and Sesa Mining Corporation Ltd are required to cease all miningrelated operations and submit layoff requests for 870 of their employees who are employed at various mining units around Goa. Puti Gaonkar, President of the United Mines Workers Association, claimed that the company gave justifications for the layoffs. Since the state government took over their mining leases, they no longer owned any mines and are no longer mining lease holders. Thus, the companies are unable to hire workers in the present. He claims that the corporation has also made it clear that the central government’s decision to raise the export duty on iron ore from 30% to 50% made it impractical to export the ore located within the state. Gaonkar said that the government had failed to restart mining activities and requested that it take an action to do so within a month, either through auctions or by turning

“The government has to take a firm decision to restart mining, which has been stopped for the past ten years; and was once a backbone of the state’s economy”

Sankalp Amonkar Mormugao MLA

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over mining leases to the current leaseholders in an effort to protect the workers. The employees of Vedanta Ltd have met Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, in a bid to seek assistance for the same. Nilesh Karbotkar, Head of the Sesa Vedanta Workers Union, has asked the Chief Minister to step in to defend the rights of the workers. He demanded that the government should guarantee protection to the workers when the mining corporation is established and their interests be served. Moreover, their pleas insisted that the government should impose requirements on bidders to hire these personnel in mining enterprises in the event of an auction. At the start of monsoon session of the legislative assembly, the government was urged by the legislators to take an action in order to provide job security for those workers

The government has failed to restart mining activities and they should do so within a month, either through auctions or by turning over mining leases to the current leaseholders in an effort to protect the workers”

Puti Gaonkar

President, United Mines Workers Association

whose livelihoods depended on the industry. Mormugoa

MLA Sankalp Amonkar said, “The government has to take a firm decision to restart mining, which has been stopped for the past ten years and was once a backbone of the state’s economy.” Legislators also urged that the government set a requirement that 100% of the current employees be absorbed at the time of the auction. Independent MLA of Bicholim, Dr Chandrakant Shetye and Congress MLA Michael Lobo introduced a motion to draw notice to Vedanta’s layoffs. Nearly 1,200 employees, they claimed, have received the warning with only 14 days’ pay. They claimed that nearly 4,000-5,000 workers would be retrenched in the upcoming days. The Directorate of Mines and Geology has established a special auction unit to speed the process of auctioning off iron ore mining leases in the

state. According to the Chief Minister, the government plans to complete the first round of auctions within the next three to four months and see that preference is given to Goa’s mining workforce when new leaseholders start operations. Additionally, Dr Sawant has promised that the government will look into all the options available for providing the current staff preference in employment on the leases that are auctioned. When mining in the state resumes, the Chief Minister has promised to negotiate a relief package for the laid-off workers and secure their employment. Since the orders of the government are not set in stone yet, it remains to be seen whether the government manages to effectively implement its plans and come to the aid of the mining corporations as well as the workers

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JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 49

FOCUS GOA / INDUSTRY

www.businessgoa.in

Industrial plots in Goa: Available or not?

While the Goa Government maintains that there are no industrial plots at hand in Goa, data shows otherwise By SYBIL RODRIGUES

hile the government claims that Goa has a shortage of industrial land and is considering the option of private industrial estates, the data released paints a different picture. It shows that 21.2 lakh sqm of industrial area remains unutilised and vacant. More importantly, the data which was provided to the former Leader of Opposition, Michael Lobo reveals that entire industrial estates are empty in the hinterlands with zero activity taking place, often due to the lack of basic infrastructure such as roads, water supply and power connections. The Latambarcem industrial estate, Panchawadi industrial estate and Quitol industrial estate are completely empty, thus raising questions about the government’s intent in promoting industrial activity in the hinterland areas. Data provided by Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) shows that in 19 industrial estates, huge tracts of land remain barren. More than seven lakh sqm of land at the Verna Industrial Estate remains vacant. This includes the five lakh sqm of industrial land that was recovered from the SEZ promoters and recently auctioned. Meanwhile, Damodar Kochkar, President of the Goa State Industries Association says there is no barren land lying unused in the State. “First of all, except for SEZ land which was taken back I don’t think any barren land is lying vacant in Goa. If any plots are vacant then the Government can follow the procedure mentioned in allotment regulations to advertise and make plots available for industries.” Industries minister Mauvin Godinho provided the information to Lobo in a written reply to a question about the state government’s effort to attract investment and

“If any plots are vacant, then the Government can follow the procedure mentioned in allotment regulations to advertise and make plots available for industries” Damodar Kochkar

President, Goa State Industries Association

create employment. Godinho also informed Lobo that GIDC has begun the process to recover allotted but unutilised land from 27 entrepreneurs as they have failed to use the land within the stipulated period. Plots allotted to units that lie vacant for more than three years are considered to be unutilised, GIDC stated. Opposition MLAs question the Government over ZACL’s alleged `50,000-crore land scam The Opposition created a ruckus over the alleged illegal ‘systematic’ sell-off of nearly

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50 lakh sqm of land by the Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited (ZACL) that had acquired property back in 1971 from the Sancoale comunidade , for industrial purpose. Congress MLA Michael Lobo and GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai harshly questioned the government over their failure to act in the alleged illegal sale of land by ZACL to Paradeep Phosphates Pvt Ltd. They pointed out that ZACL had broken up the entire parcel of land into small plots, which are being sold individually. They also said that a mega residential project with 1,800 flats is also proposed on the said property. Lobo maintained that since the land belonged to the comunidade it belonged to the people of Goa and the government also has control over it. “Such a big parcel of land cannot be given just like that. If it was given for industry to one company then let them set it up, but they cannot sell it to a third party. There is no provision in the comunidade code where land given on lease can be sold out,” he said. Raising the issue over sale of 500 acres of land given on lease to Paradeep Phosphates Pvt Ltd for setting up the fertiliser factory, Lobo further asked whether the land can be transferred to a third party and of what action the government has taken in this regard. He also

demanded to write to the subregistrar’s office asking not to register the said sale deeds. Lobo brought to notice of the House that following a complaint by one Narayan Naik from Sancoale, the Prime Minister’s office had sought a report from the Goa government in October 2020. “It has been two years now and the government is dragging its feet over submission of reply to the PMO. This itself shows that there is something wrong,” Lobo said. He was supported by Sardesai who pointed out that since the Assembly elections in March till date, a total 35 sale deeds have been executed. In response, Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate

“Once the legal opinion is received, the government will take necessary action in this matter” Atanasio Monserrate Revenue Minister

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said that under Article 30 of the Comunidade Code, such land can be transferred, adding that the revenue department has sought the legal opinion from the law department and the Advocate General. He also informed the House that instructions have been issued through the Secretary (Revenue) to the district collector not to issue any sanad to the sale of plots in that particular land. “Once the legal opinion is received, the government will take necessary action in this matter,” he assured. A month back, Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai had promised to bring up this issue at the Assembly stating that the land was being sold at a premium by the fertilizer company. “What is more important to this government, profits of a private company or nationalism? The government has to ban all conversions given for the purpose of setting

up the fertiliser factory and recover all the land that has been fraudulently transferred and diverted for real estate development,” he added. Sardesai termed it as a `50,000 crore scam, stating that the particular land was given to Zuari Agro Chemical Pvt Ltd by the first Chief Minister of Goa Dayanand Bandodkar for setting up of industry and creating employment for Goans. The Fatorda MLA also demanded that either the land be auctioned or reverted to the Sancoale comunidade . Revolutionary Goans Party MLA Viresh Borkar said that illegal slums and other structures have come up on that land and some people are trying to regularise them, while Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar demanded to immediately stop turning the land into plots. Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said that

“Such a big parcel of land cannot be given just like that. If it was given for industry to one company then let them set it up, but they cannot sell it to a third party. There is no provision in the comunidade code where land given on lease can be sold”

Michael Lobo

Congress MLA

the new company which has bought the factory does not

supply fertilisers to farmers. Due to strong pressure from the opposition, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant declared that he would keep the sale deeds and sanads pertaining to the said land on hold until a legal opinion is received. As the opposition termed it a major land scam pegged at `50,000 crore, the Chief Minister also said that if required, the matter would be handed over to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) dealing with illegal land grab cases. Dr Sawant said that the legal opinion on the sale deed between the Sancoale Comunidade and ZACL is under the scrutiny of the Law department as well as the Advocate General, whose detailed opinions are expected within a month's time. Lastly, the CM added that as per the Comunidade Code, the land is transferable and in 1989, ZACL had sold part of its land to the Goa Housing Board

JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 51

GOAN BRAND

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ASSESS BUILD CHEM PRIVATE LIMITED

Waterproofing solutions under one roof Assess Build Chem Private Limited is a one stop destination for all your waterproofing needs Podium WP

Building Protectocon

ssess Build Chem Private Limited provides construction chemical solutions in the fields of admixtures, concreting and finishing aids, dry-mix mortars, waterproofing, repairs, protection, flooring and specialty materials for application in the field of building construction, infrastructure (roads, airports, ports, and railways), water and wastewater treatment, energy sector and power plants, industrial and heritage structures. Samir Surlaker is the Founder and Director of Assess Build Chem Private Limited and his company offers the latest technologies in the waterproofing industry. Assess Build Chem Private Limited prides itself on being a solution driven company and believes in addressing waterproofing concerns by addressing the key areas of water ingress, namely, capillaries and voids in the concrete body itself, joints [construction and expansion] and cracks and surface defects. Their waterproofing solutions range right from: 1. Concrete and mortar improvement: Integral waterproofing additives and admixtures, plastering additives, and other specialties.

Samir Surlaker

2. Joint treatment: Expansion joint tapes, high performance flashing tapes, special mortars, coatings and reinforcement meshes and high-performance injection grouting systems 3. High performance barrier coatings: Acrylic and polyurethane coatings to crystalline systems, to cater to every kind of situation. Assess Build Chem works a lot in substrate improvement in terms of providing solutions for repair and rehabilitation, such as structural repair mortars, microconcretes and concrete cosmetic mortars. They also provide specialist solutions for

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Assess Build Chem works a lot in substrate improvement in terms of providing solutions for repair and rehabilitation, such as structural repair mortars, microconcretes and concrete cosmetic mortars. They also provide specialist solutions for heritage structures, whereby they can clean, maintain, repair, waterproof and protect them for the future heritage structures, whereby they can clean, maintain, repair, waterproof and protect them for the future. All in all, Assess Build Chem has a full range of solutions for the construction industry. They manufacture concrete and mortar additives, concreting and finishing aids, waterproofing systems, tile and stone fixing solutions, sealers and cleaners, industrial products like grouts, floor hardeners and polishing aids, anti-carbonation coatings and soil stabilisation systems. Assess Build Chem also provides injection grouting solutions for Sealing, Ground Consolidation and Soil

Stabilisation. These products are used in tunneling, Metro projects, building and industrial projects worldwide to solve challenging problems in water ingress or soil stabilisation. Their products are manufactured in a controlled environment, with the highest quality raw materials available. The product range is designed and enhanced for easier application and based on the knowledge of waterproofing materials and the application expertise of their applicators, Assess Build Chem can help design and recommend waterproofing solutions for any type of construction. They tailor-make solutions for unique projects and their motto is “Let us be your knowledge partners for the correct usage of construction chemicals”. The company believes and focusses on sustainability, environment, and innovation. Most of their product systems are developed, to minimise the use of high VOC ingredients in their formulations. Most of the bulk raw materials are sourced locally to minimise the impact of transportation on its carbon footprint. The materials are designed to have a long performance life and help the structure to be maintained with lowest resource requirements, making

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Preserving heritage structures by cleaning, maintaining, waterproofing and protecting them for the future

the structure sustainable. The products being environmentally friendly have the same impact as concrete, even when the structure is demolished, leading the structure to remain green through its service life. In addition, their innovations such as green concrete technology (concrete with low cement contents and ingredients from local sources (local crushed sand), temperature reducing

coatings, additives to use crushed sand / industrial waste for plastering and concrete products, mineral systems to resist acid attacks, curing compounds that save water and other similar systems do make an impact on structures to render them green, sustainable, and durable.Assess Build Chem products are manufactured in a well-equipped plant in Goa under strict quality

control using state-of-theart technology and quality assurance systems. They are also an accredited ISO 9001:2015 company, which helps maintain quality across the products and services. The company is comfortable in terms of capacity to meet the demand for materials in the coming years. They are expanding their Goa plant to a big and modern facility, which will be supported

by a state-of-the-art-training centre and laboratory for better interaction with customers. With their two facilities in Goa and one in Gujarat, Assess Build Chem is confident of providing customers for their needs in terms of both quality and quantity. As far as the product lines go, Assess Build Chem is continuously improving their product lines to meet the stringent market demands

JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 53

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

www.businessgoa.in

KAFMAR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES LLP

Eco-friendly solutions for waste water treatment Kafmar Environmental Services LLP elaborates on Kessel, a vertical of their company, which focuses on waste water solution products in an eco-friendly manner

Oil and Grease separator

By SYBIL RODRIGUES

afmar Environmental Services LLP is owned by Caesar Fernandes in partnership with his wife, Dizzy. Kafmar offers holistic, practical, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions to the challenges found in water bodies left untouched over decades. Kafmar moves towards complimenting the environment, adding to biodiversity, and improving water quality. They motivate and encourage the business community and government bodies to care for nature and ensure that it is sustainable for future generations. They are also involved in various activities to safeguard mother nature as a part of their social responsibility. Kafmar offers different products and services in three different segments. The Waste Water Management Segment includes bio digestors/biosewage treatment plants, kitchen waste water management, and fuel separators for car and bike service centres. The Amphibious Excavator and Amphibious Weed Harvester takes care of land clearing and remediation work at mining areas, plantations, and swampy land areas, deepening and widening of canals and river ways, building

Lifting station

bunds, flood prevention and land reclamation, building walls for fish and shrimp ponds as well as wastewater treatment ponds, digging trenches for oil and gas piping installation in water bogged and swampy environments, transporting and clearing obstacles at landslide and earthquake areas, building water irrigation bunds at paddy fields and plantations, wetland constructions, deweeding of ponds, lakes, rivers, tributaries, and nallahs. The Fuel Segment consists of mobile diesel deliveries at one’s door step and prefabricated diesel storage tanks. Apart from these three segments, Kafmar provides various amenities to the hospitality industry like prefabricated oil and grease separators, pre-fabricated and single-phase electricity operated bio-sewage treatment plants and bio-digesters with zero maintenance. Kessel, a German company which deals with waste water solution products from plumbing equipment to nonreturnable lifting stations for toilets and sewage, is another business vertical owned by Kafmar Environmental Services LLP. They have mini lifting stations for separate toilets and different kinds of equipment for kitchens. They

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“We have to address restaurants at large who face this problem. Many are not aware that this product exists in the market and use a cheaper option. The cheaper alternatives have baffle walls and are available in SS and fibre tank which are extremely inconvenient to use and do not give the required results”

Caesar Fernandes

Owner, Kafmar Environmental Services LLP

also have drain channels for showers, bathrooms and other sanitary purposes. One of the products that they are basically focusing on for Goa is oil-grease separators. These oil grease separators separate oil and grease from the waste water that goes out of the sink of the kitchen. As waste water is contaminating most of the small hotels in Goa, they leave it out directly in the soak pit. So what happens is, in the filtrate this oil blocks all the sides of the soak pit which then starts acting like a tank and starts storing water. This water is not soaked up, which leads to pollution and harms the

environment in the long run. In Goa, this process is not monitored properly because the only mandate you need is to have a grease trap. It does not show any measurement, and they do not have any regulatory idea of how it works. Kessel works under European standards which follows EN1825, regulations for an oil grease trap. This standard specifies requirements on selection of nominal sizes, installation, operation, and maintenance of grease separators. Unfortunately, India doesn’t have any such regulations so Continued On Page 65

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STARTING YOUNG

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GIRIJA DEMPO | NATHAN MENDES | GLENCY LEGRADA RODRIGUES

Young, Gifted and Going Places

As Business Goa turns 13 this month, we highlight youth from around Goa who are making a mark in society with their talent, intelligence and creativity By CASSANDRA CARVALHO

PRIORITIZING MENTAL HEALTH Girija Dempo

Co founder of mental health portal ‘Unorthodox Newsletters’

final year student pursuing her degree in B.Sc Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Girija Dempo enjoys exploring the science behind the human brain. Besides being a good listener, she also looks for opportunities in territories that are uncharted. The relation between the human brain and emotions coupled with the fact that the mind needs to have control over emotion, is something that hasn’t been researched and explored extensively. Around the start of the pandemic, in an attempt to be productive, Girija, along with four colleagues from her university, thought about creating ‘Unorthodox Newsletters’ as a platform that is built to guide the understanding of mental health in an informed and educated way. Girija started as an editor, went on to be the head of public relations and is currently one of the co-founders. They pride themselves on their researchbased approach to convey the nuances of mental health with research as evidence. Unorthodox Newsletters started with the idea that people find themselves feeling like birds caught in a cage within the confines of their own lives. Due to the daily hustle and bustle of their lives, daily routines and social environments, at the workplace, mental health takes a back seat, when it really deserves to ride shotgun. At Unorthodox Newsletters, they believe in prioritising mental health over the rush of everyone’s

Girija Dempo

daily routines, so they aim to develop an understanding of mental health with a research-based approach. An online newsletter, it is widely accessible to everyone around the world. They plan to get onboard professional mentors, who have more experience in the field, such as RCI registered counsellors from India and

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clinical psychologists from parts of the UK and India. The platform has already entered into collaborations with psychologists and mental health pages via IGTV. Unorthodox Newsletters aims to prioritise mental along with physical health. Girija explained with a relevant example, “When we are sick, our brain involuntarily

and instantaneously tells us that we need to go visit a doctor or a physician but when our emotions take a toll on us and our experiences get overwhelming, it doesn’t occur to us that we need to go see a therapist. So the aim is to spread awareness about how equally important creating a mental health routine is”

STARTING YOUNG MAKING MUSIC SPEAK

Nathan Mendes aka Tsumyoki

Goan artiste

athan Mendes, a 21-year old hailing from Margao, has been interested in making music since he was seventeen, but has loved music all his life. A Xaviers graduate, Nathan, better known by his stage name Tsumyoki, has a fanbase all over India, in London and other international locations. He has been featured on VH1 and performed at shows in Sikkim, Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai and Goa. With more than forty thousand subscribers on YouTube and one lakh monthly streamers on Spotify, Tsumyoki is a signed artist under rapper Divine’s Gully Gang roster. Music has been a therapeutic form of releasing his emotions; Tsumyoki channels all his emotions into music and states that he doesn’t feel the need for a therapist, since music has been there for him. If his mental health deteriorates, music is his outlet. He doesn’t categorise his music into genres, his content is diverse, ranging from pop and rap to ballads. Tsumyoki is a self-taught pianist, guitarist and ukulele artist. He begins by

laying down some chords, and will then hum a melody over those chords. Then come lyrics, after which he proceeds to work on the digital side of things with the chords, add drums, makes a beat, and completes the chorus, hooks and bridges. The founder of Goa Trap Culture, a four-person collective that makes music, Tsumyoki’s lyrics reflect the lifestyle he grew up in, and the many aspects of his Goan heritage. He goes on to elucidate, “I talk about chai because I love chai, and it’s a beautiful part of my life.” Tsumyoki used to compete in singing competitions till 5th grade, but stopped singing for a while. He struggled gaining support in the early days, as people’s egos got in the way; they simply didn’t want to believe in a kid. Tsumyoki was initially discouraged by the immense amount of hate he received, but then went on to realise “why look at the bad stuff, when there’s so much good coming your way?”. With support from his mother and sister right from the start, when money and fans started coming in, he gradually gained support from the rest of his family. Speaking on the music industry in Glency Legrada Rodrigues

the state, Tsumyoki says that Goa has always had immense potential in this sector. It is just that the people of Goa are not empowered enough to think that they can achieve the world. With no original shows happening in Goa, there is no audience to see original music grow in the state. Clubs and fests only stream tracks on the Top 10 charts. Original artists don’t have a platform or organisers. It isn’t the job of the artists to organise their own show. They make beautiful music, and it is the organisers’ duty to book them and promote them, after which

INTELLIGENCE MADE VISIBLE

Glency Legrada Rodrigues Graphic designer and digital illustrator

lency Legrada Rodrigues is a 26 year old self taught illustrator and a graphic designer hailing from Chicalim. A BBA graduate, Glency is that person you’d find busy doodling things on her notebook or any material if found with a pen. Things that interest her are doodling, animating, learning new ways of illustrating and the sky (clouds). Anime and manga aroused her interest in digital illustrations. Out of the numerous things that she considers inspirational, people, music and stories stir her pot of creativity. Well adept

Nathan Mendes aka Tsumyoki

they can make a living. Luckily for Nathan, his parents’ mentality gave him the impetus to make him a hard worker, who doesn’t stop until he achieves something. He has broken the wall for Goan artistes, but doesn’t know when we will see Goan artists truly thriving. Nevertheless, he will continue to pave the way for other Goan artistes, who will proceed to become even bigger than him. Tsumyoki believes that his contribution to the Goan music industry will leave a lasting legacy for future artistes and fans in Procreate and the Adobe suite, her passion for digital design began back in 2020, the first lockdown when everyone was at home. It kind of gave her more time to concentrate on illustrations and animation. This led to deciding on making her own Instagram page and exhibiting it to the world. Doing that has given her a lot of opportunities like working with different clients and numerous commissions. This was something to look forward to, as it became a real stress buster from staying home. Glency’s future plans include continuing to learn more about this field like motion graphics, various ways and styles of illustrations, and maybe create merchandise from her original designs. She also intends to try out the NFT market

58 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

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INTERVIEW

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JOSHUA SILVEIRA DIRECTOR, INDIA OPERATIONS, FRONTLINE MANAGED SERVICES

“WE WANT GOAN YOUTH TO GET GREAT JOBS IN GOA”

Frontline Managed Services, one of the world’s largest providers of managed services, has commenced operations in Goa after growing to over 200 employees in the last 3 years and increasing recruitment in the state. Business Goa catches up with Joshua Silveira, Director, India Operations who speaks on their core philosophy, recruitment process and the future of managed services in India

What is Frontline Managed Services all about? Frontline Managed Services® is a global provider of administrative, financial and IT managed services for legal and professional services firms. Driven by specialised technology, we innovate the service delivery model and offer scalable solutions that improve revenue, profitability and firm wide efficiencies for firms of all sizes.

with our growth. How is Frontline Managed Services addressing the changing legal landscape? The drastic change in the legal landscape, especially in the US, has actually helped us use the innovation which is promoted by our leaders. Over the pandemic and with the growth in security and technology, legal firms have also moved to hybrid model. Our company has adapted with them to ensure that we provide the best-inclass service to help each of our clients catapult their business. A lot of questions raised by legal firms are that they do not have the bandwidth to adapt, and so Frontline has jumped in to help their entire organisation adapt to the changing landscape by providing virtual IT, security and financial services to clients.

What is the core philosophy of Frontline Managed Services? With state-of-the-art technology platforms, years of expertise development and offices around the world, we share ownership of our clients’ legal operations, helping them achieve above market profitability and performance. This positions firms for financial growth, including increased profitability and decrease of capital expenditures. What are the various services offered by you? We provide services to legal firms in the US on the financial and IT side. eBillers, eBilling Accounts Specialists, Bill Reviewers, NOC Engineers, Project Engineers, SQL DBAs, and a number of IT specialists. You have branches in USA and the UK. What made the company set up an office in Goa? USA, UK and Canada are great to help us handle and manage our clients as it gives our clients a feeling of proximity, but the idea to setup an office in Goa came about when our CEO, Seelin Naidoo met up with an associate of his who ran a company in Goa, and asked him about the synergy and possibility of opening an

Joshua Silveira

arm here in Goa. It seemed lucrative, but was still an early concept to adopt, so we started out as a joint venture and then realised it was something we could grow. Goa is primed with talent and communication skills that are at par with the clients in the US. That is when we ventured to setting up an independent company here and it has proved to be nothing but growth since then. Elaborate on your employee profile We look for smart individuals in accounting and IT. We hire various levels of experience ranging from recent graduates to senior level. Our main focus is to ensure that these individuals are trainable, even

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if they are freshers, and have grasping power with a positive attitude. What can you tell us about your strategic partners? In India, as mentioned, we do not have a sales team, as this is handled by our Western branches, but we have strategic partnerships with legal and recruiting firms that have helped us expand and grow our base here in India. Our recruiting agencies have been our most strategic partners as without them we would not have been where we are. For us it was only a process of trial and error to find the perfect combination of recruiters in different cities to help us out

Your company has been voted as ‘a great place to work’ at by your employees. What sets you apart from other organisations? I believe that a lot of companies are adopting an employee centric approach to their company cultures, and we have taken a similar approach. The nuance here is understanding the generation that we have as employees. This plays a major role. Leadership, in most cases, are looked on as older more experienced individuals who think of the concept of motivating employees either only through financial benefits, or vouchers. We tried to take into consideration the perspectives of Gen Z and Gen Y, to ensure that they have fun as well, even if this meant investing in a game room or recreational space. If they are looking to get married, their families as well are taken care off through

INTERVIEW

business-goa Launch of Frontline’s Porvorim facility

David Buergle (COO)

insurance and benefits, and if they aren’t then at least they have a feeling of independence that in case anything does happen, the company has taken care of them. This entails a lot of research on new products in the insurance industry and frequent touch points with employees to ensure that they have an area not only to work, but also an area to come and socialize in the way that they feel comfortable. Productivity is obviously a byproduct of these engagements. Who are on the executive team of Frontline Managed Services and what strengths do they bring to the table? Our executive team in the US comprises of the Seelin Naidoo (CEO), David Buergler (COO), Frank Ziller (CIO), Craig Friedl (President), Gulam Zade (CLO), Mike Ferdman (SVP, Managed Financial Services) and Matt Bares (SVP, Operations). This team comes with a plethora of experiences and direction without whom the company would not be where it is today. Their combined perspective and guidance with setting up multiple types of businesses in multiple countries has helped the team in India to build a global experience for our employees. The vision to have the global company under a single cultural umbrella is what drives and motivates the employees here to grow exponentially. Frontline has won many awards since 2018 onwards. Elaborate on

Seelin Naidoo (CEO)

the same. We have won multiple awards pre 2018 as well, but yes, the most recent ones are Channel Futures MSP 501 and 500 respectively in 2018, 2021 and 2022, awarded to high performing Managed Services Providers in the US. We made it to the top 100 vertical market MSPs. In 2019, we won the ‘Legal Times’ best, followed by ILTA’s distinguished peer awards. Seelin Naidoo made it to the top 10 ‘most inspiring CEOs to watch out for’ in 2020 and ‘Best CEO’ in the managed services space in India in 2022. We were named Arctic Wolf partner of the year 2021 and LegalWeek year for leaders in tech law. Not to mention our biggest accolade this year which is our GPTW certification. What can you tell us about your community outreach programmes? Being three years in the market, our largest community outreach program has been targeted towards the youth of Goa to ensure that they have a place in Goa and do not have to go outside the State to find a great job. We have written to multiple colleges and have delivered talks and sessions for students in this regard. Sponsoring events to support entrepreneurship in Goa has also been something that we are aim to do. Interestingly, we have also primarily targeted Goan firms to help setup business or handle recruiting or smaller architectural firms to build our

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physical infrastructure so that we can grow in Goa and help others grow as well. What is the interview process like at Frontline Managed Services? How long does it take to get hired from start to the finish? It depends on the role that we are hiring for. Just like every leader in the company, our hiring process adapts and changes to what the market provides. Hiring pre, during and post pandemic there have been massive shifts in processes on how we hire candidates. Currently, the financial side hiring can take from five days (candidate intro to rolling out the offer) to 20 days. On the IT side it takes a little longer which can go up to even 30 days. The process involves the HR round, a technical round that can be a test or virtual interview and a final manager round which ends with an offer or rejection. What training does Frontline Managed Services offer its employees? On the financial side we don’t really expect someone to know about the financial processes followed in the US, so every employee goes through extensive training before hitting the floor for production. On the IT side as well there are a number of documentations and videos that are presented to individuals to complete their training. Not to mention that the company has a Frontline

Managed Services University program for all employees where they can take certification courses that are sponsored by the company. This doesn’t just help them with their current job but helps them to move upwards by upgrading their skill sets. We do pride ourselves on moving employees internally to management positions, rather than hiring from outside. This helps build their careers and long term job satisfaction. What according to you is the future of managed services in India? It seems like we have just started. Crossing our 3 year operational mark in May, we are now concentrating on scaling the business and streamlining our processes and have come a long way. We are hiring specialists in roles to ensure smooth operations and build our departments. We are experimenting on opening up departments depending on the type of skills available in India. Our Hyderabad arm is also beginning to pick up steam and expand, which helps us to hire for more IT related jobs. What are your future plans? I have always been about building companies and I plan on continuing to assist Frontline Managed Services-India in its growth and to ensure that the company functions smoothly and efficiently. Building this company up from scratch has been a pleasure and I intend to see it grow and provide more vacancies in Goa

TECHNOLOGY

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TOURISM TECH

Incubating Ideas and Propelling Growth

Forum for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship (FiiRE) speaks on providing support to startups which will reshape the tourism industry while providing value to travellers and suppliers

ourism is one of the world’s largest industries, and the economies of many countries are driven by their tourism sector. It is also a wide-ranging industry, including hospitality, transportation, travel facilitation and information (e.g., tour operators, travel agents, tourist information centres), and attractions and entertainment like heritage sites and theme, national, and wildlife parks. Many tourism businesses struggled to keep pace with changing consumer expectations post the pandemic. In particular, many tourism SMEs were not able to integrate new digital capabilities in the way that larger businesses have, mainly due to low levels of digitisation. As tourism-related businesses reopen and recalibrate their offerings, it is equally important to innovate, with technology offerings that provide value to travellers and efficiencies to suppliers. As an incubation centre, FiiRE (Forum for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship) has been providing support to startups with innovations that will reshape tourism for travellers as well as the environment. FiiRE aims to contribute to the global objective of making tourism a

thriving, flourishing industry once again. “Having accelerated 14 TourismTech startups, our role is to make these startups investable in the future. One such startup, that was a part of FiiRE’s first Goa Tourism Accelerator Cohort, have, has recently raised $400,000. havLife is a fitness app which encourages the walking behaviour by counting the steps and rewarding people with gift vouchers. Currently the app is available in India and Indonesia. It encourages people to live healthy lifestyles through a gamified wellness model that includes a rewardbased system, thus promoting wellness”, says Thejus Joseph, COO, FiiRE. FiiRE Goa has also forged new partnership deals to

further strengthen the brand, widen its reach and make an impact in new markets. QuestionPro is one such collaboration. QuestionPro is a prominent supplier of online survey software that enables users to produce the insights they need to make better business decisions. QuestionPro has more than 2.5 million users in 40 countries. By bridging the gap between gathering data and reviewing information, this strategic research partnership (FiiREQuestionPro) would give FiiRE Goa the chance to comprehend the tourism business on a very precise basis and make strategic decisions based on the survey results. Social Entrepreneurship Competition (S.E.C.) in tourism, where FiiRE is a

competition partner. This is the first worldwide competition focusing on social innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality. By giving social entrepreneurs from around the world access to expertise and international visibility, the competition aims to empower entrepreneurs and communities in travel destinations, accelerate their growth and give them market access. FiiRE (Forum for Innovation Incubation Research and Entrepreneurship), has partnered up with the Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism to hold the fourth edition of the competition in 2022. The competition hopes to generate innovative ideas for the worldwide travel and tourism sector. The partnership between FiiRE and the Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism aims to strengthen the objectives established to boost tourism in Goa and around the world. With many new businesses bringing cutting-edge concepts to promote sustainable tourism in their area, the primary focus of this competition will be on sustainable tourism. “It is of prime importance for FiiRE to be visible on a global stage – thus helping us

Santosh Kumar J, founder of Li Circle and Fr. Kinley D'Cruz, Director of Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda; Sudhanshu Shekar, Founder of Aumnatic Systems Pvt. Ltd

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impact the tourism industry in a big way. The Social Entrepreneurship Competition in Tourism will raise FiiRE Goa’s global visibility, enticing entrepreneurs from around the world to be take advantage of the knowledge, market access, mentorship and funding opportunities under the TourismTech acceleration programs at FiiREGoa” adds Thejus Joseph. Likewise, FiiRE has partnered with HiG Sports, a Mumbai-based B2B consultancy firm that promotes innovation in the sports, fitness, leisure, and recreation industries. The goal of HiG sports is to serve as a bridge to encourage the exchange of new ideas and methods between India and the rest of the world. The collaboration between FiiRE and HiG Sports will support and unite recent developments for startups in the fields of sports media, Continued From Page 54

Eco-friendly solutions for waste water treatment people tend to go with low quality grease traps which do not function for extended periods. Kessel oil grease separators are made from polyethylene material hence they are not sticky, easy to clean and works on the principle of gravity. There are only two companies in the world that have a single chamber oil grease trap, one is Arco, and the other is Kessel. All the other brands or all the other grease traps have something called ‘Baffle Walls’; it is a system of many different chambers. Kessel works on the gravity principle and being a single unit, there is no partition in it, which traps the oil grease on top, and then the waste water continues to flow out. Therefore the water that goes out of the soak pit is only the water without any impurities and oil. This oil can be skimmed out later and disposed separately so the ground is not polluted.

“It is of prime importance for FiiRE to be visible on a global stage – thus helping us impact the tourism industry in a big way”

Thejus Joseph COO, FiiRE, Goa

fan engagement, sports infrastructure, human performance (fitness and wellness), gaming – esports, and leisure and recreation. As FiiRE prepares for the second State Tourism Cohort, what remains at the forefront, while selecting startups for acceleration, is their ability to revolutionise the way the world experiences tourism. While FiiRE continues its strategic focus on TourismTech acceleration and support, they

are also extensively enabling the overall startup ecosystem. As an approved incubator for disbursement of the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, in its most recent run of disbursals, FiiRE has funded three companies: Trishulavel Eshan (Li-Circle) Pvt. Ltd., Aumnatic Systems Pvt. Ltd., and A2WedTech Pvt. Ltd. - with a total funding of `10 million. Trishulavel Eshan (Li-Circle) Pvt. Ltd. focuses on recycling Lithium-ion batteries that have

reached the end of their useful lives. Their model aims to strengthen the global advanced battery storage raw material supply chain, develop the circular economy around scrap batteries, and ultimately extract metals that can be used in the Li-ion cell manufacturing process. Aumnatic Systems Pvt. Ltd. is focused on designing and manufacturing electronics for toys in India, in order to make India more self-reliant towards electronic toys. A2WedTech Pvt. Ltd. on the other hand provides a platform for customers to view their favourite destinations, plan venues, set their budget and to ultimately plan their destination wedding online. All three startups, having fulfilled the eligibility criteria, received their Start Up India Seed Fund Scheme funding in June-July, 2022, setting them on a path of growth and expansion

This explains the principle or the working of the oil-grease separator. Caesar Fernandes says, “We have to address restaurants at large who face this problem. Many are not aware that this product exists in the market and use a cheaper option. The cheaper alternatives have baffle walls and are available in SS and fibre tank which are extremely inconvenient to use and does not give the required results.” Further, they mention that the Pollution Control Board is doing a great job in creating awareness amongst the hospitality industry about these separators, but much seriousness is needed from restaurant owners in the state. At Kafmar, the team comprises of Caesar, his wife Dizzy and Saurabh Kumar. Regarding their future plans, Kafmar intends to spread awareness on water contamination, work towards pollution free water bodies, commence river/sea dredging services, and offer varied types of amphibious machinery and facilities in Goa JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 65

ALCOBEV

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BIG BANYAN WINE

A Sip of Delight

our. Swirl. Sniff. Savour the wonderful notes that your glass of Big Banyan wine has to hum to you. Enjoy the tale of our terroir, the ‘land’ of our origin. Catch whispers of the ‘lore’ of our grand old neighbour, the 100 year old Big

Big Banyan offers the rare experience of witnessing the magical creation of exotic fine wines

Banyan tree and how it inspired the birth of our vineyard. Feel our ‘love’ for creating a versatile selection of wines. Big Banyan is more than just wine. It is an immersive experience into our land, lore, and love for winemaking. The

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wines are crafted from the plumpest grapes handpicked from their vineyards in Bengaluru, or sourced from select Indian vineyards. These grapes are then brought over to their winery in Bengaluru. The Big Banyan Italian vintner,

Lucio Matricardi, oversees the process every step of the way, including extracting the wine from the grapes. As a testament to their skill and passion, Big Banyan has a selection of exquisite Indian wines specially made for the local palette

ISO cerrﬁed by 9001:2015, 14001:2015, 45001:2018

1st to Introduce Portable Sanitation in Goa since 2005 Types of Portable Toilet Cabins

Pioneers in: Providing Deluxe Portable Restrooms (Bio-Toilets), Urinals, Washbasins, Dustbins, Indoor & Outdoor Housekeeping Services, Waste Management Services, Owns & Operates Material Recovery Facility (MRF), Zero Waste Management Services & Waste Disposal Solutions.

0832 2231882 sales@cam-goa.com www.cam-goa.com

CAMPUS

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Workshop on ‘Cell Culture Techniques’ held at BITS BIRAC BioNEST Innovation Lab BITS Goa Innovation Incubation Entrepreneurship Society (BGIIES) at BITS BIRAC BioNEST Innovation Lab located at BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, recently organised a three-day workshop on Cell Culture Techniques. Fifteen participants from Goa University, Dhempe College of Arts & Science, Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology (Davangere), Colorcon Asia Pvt Ltd, and BITS Pilani attended the workshop. The workshop was convened by Prof. Anasuya Ganguly, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, and Co-founder Tissue Engineered Pvt Ltd., a startup incubated with the BITS BIRAC BioNEST and

was supported by a doctoral scholar Prajakta Bhende. The workshop focused on theoretical sessions with emphasis on hands-on training through experimentation in Animal Cell Culturing using Laminar flow, CO2 incubator, Biosafety cabinet BSL II and Deep freezer. Addressing the participants,

President of the Society and Director of BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus, Prof. Suman Kundu stated that “the current pandemic has established that there is great responsibility for biologists to help humanity”. He encouraged participants to be persistent and work hard to create socially impactful innovations in the future.

The BGIIES supports startups in the ideation stage/ pre-seed stage with the preincubation program and the startups in the MVP/seed stage with its incubation program. The Society also provides funding to deep tech startups under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme www.businessgoa.in

GOA GOVERNMENT AND CONVEGENIUS SIGN MoU TO DRIVE EDUCATION REFORMS THROUGH VIDHYA SAMIKSHA KENDRA ConveGenius, India’s leading social enterprise, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Goa Government to drive education reforms across all the government schools in Goa. After the Prime Minister's recommendation to establish Vidhya Samiksha Kendras across India, Goa is the first state to take the initiative. This recent strategic alliance will bolster the project. With this strategic association, the Goa Education Department will implement the SwiftChat platform powered by ConveGenius to improve education quality across the state. As part of the association, the Goa education department will launch academic, administrative, and registry management chatbots on the SwiftChat conversational AI platform by ConveGenius. The chatbots will use Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology to understand

Goa Government and ConveGenius signing MoU to drive schooling reforms via Vidhya Samiksha Kendra

what users want and assist them in following evidencebased teaching, learning, and governance practices at scale. Aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes through data-driven reforms in every school as proposed by the Prime Minister, the Goa government is planning to set up Vidhya Samiksha Kendra at SCERT, Goa. The recent partnership with ConveGenius, forged under the leadership of the Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, is a step forward in

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employing conversational AI chatbots to collect meaningful data points from government schools to monitor, assess, and enhance learning. The education department of Goa will deploy SwiftChat’s omnichannel chatbots to record attendance, NEP-aligned assessment progress, NIPUN Bharat KPIs, and facilitate digital home learning. The chatbot data pipelines will be leveraged to build actionable impact dashboards at Vidhya Samiksha Kendra and thus fill

the void of quick, legitimate, trustworthy, and interoperable data for better decision-making and resource allocation at all hierarchical levels. Additionally, the chatbots will maintain two-way communication with key stakeholders from teachers to administrative staff without having to log on to any complex online system or needing a computer. Commenting on the partnership, ConveGenius’s Co-founder and Director, Shashank Pandey, said, “India is undergoing a massive educational transformation thanks to the National Education Policy 2020 and data-driven model like Vidhya Samiksha Kendra. It is a lighthouse guiding the transformation. But time is of the essence. SwiftChat has been built to enable states to set up their monitoring systems within days and not years without investing in heavy infrastructure”

BOOKSHELF AUTHOR: BHARAT WAKHLU, MUKUND RAJAN, SONU BHASIN PUBLISHER: HARPERCOLLINS

Tata’s Leadership Experiment T

he Tata Administrative Service was founded by the celebrated industrialist and entrepreneur, JRD Tata, in 1956 as a means to attract and encourage the best managerial talent and incorporate them in the Tata Group. He envisioned building a space that would produce strong executives

Bharat Wakhlu

Mukund Rajan

who would be able to guide businesses and increase their effectiveness. Developing future leaders who will uphold the Tata Group’s core principles of responsibility, excellence, unity, and honesty, the goal of nationbuilding was at the heart of JRD’s endeavours. He was essentially looking for leaders who would not only be prepared for jobs across Tata Organisations but also understand that leadership development is a dynamic phenomena and changes over time. In Tata’s Leadership Experiment, Mukund Rajan, Sonu Bhasin, and Bharat Wakhlu, come together to answer certain questions that arise when one wonders about the TAS. For example, why did candidates choose the TAS as their first option rather than the Indian Administrative Service. How effective was the mission in its leadership development goals? Who were some of the most talented leaders it produced? A captivating narrative of JRD Tata’s leadership experiment based on indepth research and interviews with former and current TAS officers, the book explores the

Sonu Bhasin

past, present, and future of the Tata Administrative Service. With a twenty-threeyear career with the Tata Group, Dr Mukund Rajan currently chairs a pioneering investment firm focused on catalysing environment, social and governance (ESG) improvements. He has previously authored Global Environmental Politics (1996) and The Brand Custodian: My Years with the Tatas (2019). A family business historian, a business author, as well as the editor-in-chief of Families & Business magazine, Sonu Bhasin is one of the earliest female professionals in the corporate world. Over the course of her career, she has led various businesses in senior leadership positions, including organizations like the TAS, ING Barings, Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Tata Capital Limited. Bharat Wakhlu is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, and bestselling author. One of the founding members of the nonprofit organisation, Foundation for Peace and Compassionate Leadership, he is dedicated to advancing a new exemplar in leadership

JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 69

LADY POWER

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SAMANTHA DA CUNHA

Capturing Love, Laughter, and Everything in Between! An ace photographer, Samantha da Cunha encapsulates transitory memories and immortalises them with the aid of breathtaking photography

By SWETA SHARMA

enri Cartier-Bresson was a French street photographer who went on to become a master of candid photography. His humane approach to his subjects and the spontaneous photographs that he captured helped establish photojournalism as an art form while also influencing the photography world in numerous ways. In The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers, he writes, “Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes forever the precise and transitory instant. We photographers deal in things that are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished, there is no contrivance on earth that can make them come back again…for photographers, what has gone is gone forever.” Espousing the ideas of Cartier-Bresson, Samantha da Cunha seeks to capture the transient moments in her subjects’ lives and provide them a sense of permanence. Hailing from Panjim, Samantha began showing interest in photography while she was a student at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa. In 2007, she was amongst the first few individuals who enrolled in the first batch for professional photography training at Prasad Pankar’s CMYK Academy of Photography. The institution provided the correct mixture of training and inspiration to its budding young photographers including Samantha. After learning the preliminary tricks of the trade, Samantha went on to do her Masters in Photography at Shari Academy of Professional Photography under the guidance of the famed photographer, Girish Mistry in Mumbai. At Shari Academy, she was exposed to the science and technology that was applied to different kinds of photography and graduated with the top

Samantha da Cunha

scorer of the year award in 2010. Subsequently, Samantha went on to work as a staff photographer at a publishing house for a few years. Samantha admired photography as a young girl. She reminisces, “When I was young, I always admired advertisement campaigns – whether in the magazines or on the hoardings. I frequently wondered: how does one achieve such results? My curiosity gave me a sense of direction as to the kind of career path I must follow. By 2007, I had already purchased my first camera, did a small course in Goa, and started assisting photographers post college hours to gain experience.” Consequently, she launched her very own photography studio, Studio Grey, in 2011. Although Samantha has an experience in most genres of photography, she was

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inherently drawn towards wedding photography, one of the prime focuses of Studio Grey. She explains, “I believe that it is the raw emotions and stolen glances, which couples share on their special day that drew me in that direction. The idea of creating a romantic story with little or no background of the couple entices me.” In keeping with Samantha’s words, wedding photography is the creation of memories that couples can relive forever. Initially specialising in wedding photography, Studio Grey has expanded its work portfolio to include architecture, commercial, corporate, food, individual, landscape, maternity, newborn, and product photography. The photographers use a combination of techniques and focus on capturing emotions. When it comes to weddings, their approach is

candid and intimate with a flair for romance. Maternity and new born photography is all about capturing the gentleness of motherhood and the innocence of newborns. With food, landscape, product, and architectural photography, their focus lies on creativity, composition, and attention to the finest of details while preserving the essence of each element. With an assortment of clients, her photography studio has undertaken several notable projects that have become a marvelous part of their work portfolio. With offices in Mumbai and Panaji, the team has covered the weddings of various Indian celebrities like the Hindi television actress, Drashti Dhami; an actress in the Marathi entertainment industry, Anuja Sathe Gokhale; and Binay Pradhan, assistant director of the movie Devdas. Many mouthwatering culinary displays have been filmed by Samantha for a number of wellknown restaurants, including Bademiya, Salt Water Café, and Yauatcha (a Michelin star rated restaurant). Besides this, they have also captured commercial projects for Orra Jewellers, Podar Group of Schools, and ITC Hotels. Taking up a career in photography as she believed that it was a platform which would aptly express her art, Samantha affirms that she has never found herself to be in a disadvantaged position due to her identity as a female photographer. She feels that a photographer’s identity and background only strengthens and adds on to their voice. Being unique – whether in terms of gender, race, or experience – further enriches and diversifies their photographs. Conclusively, Samantha mentions, “I see the world the way I see it, not because I am a woman, but because I am my own unique individual”

PROFESSIONAL DOSSIER

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DR LENNY DA COSTA

Reversing the aging process

As a specialist in geriatric medicine, preventive cardiology and functional medicine, Dr Lenny Da Costa speaks on his journey and future plans of combining modern and functional medicine to help people lead a better life

By SYBIL RODRIGUES

r. Lenny Da Costa was born and brought up in Goa, did his schooling at Loyola High School in Margao, and followed it up with a higher secondary school certificate from Chowgule College. He did his first year of M.B.B.S from Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore and then came back to Goa to complete his degree from Goa Medical College. Dr. Lenny went on to do his Post graduation in geriatrics from M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore. Being a geriatric physician, he knew there was nothing that could be done as far as aging disorders were concerned and hence shifted to reversing chronic degenerative diseases including diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders and the like. This took him to a new journey where he learnt about metal detoxification and how one gets toxic overload from metals which in turn leads to chronic disease like heart disease, diabetes, neuro-degeneration etc. Then Dr. Lenny learnt about how one could balance their hormones if one wants to slow down the process of aging, and later completed his fellowships in metal toxicology, nutrition and functional medicine. Over the last 20 years, he has treated around 30,000 patients where he and his teams have reversed heart diseases and diabetes in most of his patients. Dr. Lenny’s father – late Dr. Lanfredo Da Costa, was a renowned pediatrician and Dr. Lenny, since his childhood was intrigued with knowing how people got better which set him on his path to becoming a doctor and somebody who helps people. His father was his biggest motivation and is the number one reason why Dr. Lenny chose to get into the medical field. Having specialised in

Dr. Lenny Da Costa

geriatric medicine after completing his MBBS, Dr Lenny saw that there were a lot of elderly patients coming to him who were prescribed one anti diabetic medicine or hypertensive medicine, leading to a vicious circle of being on those medicines which never resulted in them getting better. It made him curious on how he could reduce this medication as well get them to feel better in order to lead a quality life. He went back to college and earned a post graduation degree in geriatrics which helped him learn that as far as degenerative diseases of the body goes; modern medicine does not have most of the answers. Thus, he began looking into functional medicine which is basically using a lot of modern medicine techniques to treat

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Dr. Lenny’s clinic in Pune, even today specializes in reversal of heart failure, and Ischemic Heart Disease. These are two conditions which he has worked on and the third one he is working on is reversing diabetes just by undergoing lifestyle changes the cause of the disease rather than just the symptoms. This is what Dr. Lenny commenced and continues doing till date. In the early years as a doctor, Dr. Lenny’s idea of functional medicine was not accepted well amongst his peers. In a few years, when he began showing results, other doctors began accepting it and motivated Dr. Lenny to treat a large number

of patients. In the early part of his career, he would travel to different cities and as the crowds began getting larger; Dr. Lenny decided to stick to his practice in Goa, Mumbai and Pune. Over the years, Dr. Lenny and his team have undertaken various interventions and procedures. They have worked on patients who have had cardiology procedures done and reversed a lot of their problems which helped them lead a healthier life. His clinic in Pune, even today specialises in reversal of heart failure, and Ischemic Heart Disease. These are two conditions which he has worked on and the third one he is working on is reversing diabetes just by undergoing lifestyle changes. Fasting/diet modification and exercise are the main modalities used by him, coupled with the right nutrition and they have been successful in many cases. Currently, his team is working on those cases where they are not getting the kind of results they want so that they can find solutions to these health issues, as well. Dr. Lenny has undergone training in anti-aging and preventive cardiology. When he did his geriatric medicine, he wanted to understand how he could reverse any kind of heart disease. One way of reversing this was by getting into preventive medicine, where one had to figure out what was causing the disease and then prevent it. He did a course at that time using detoxification methodologies and completed a full fellowship from International Board for Clinical Metal Toxicity (IBCMT). Here he was taught how to prevent heart disease, and reverse those cases wherein a patient had symptoms due to advanced stage of the disease. In anti-aging, Dr. Lenny states

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that if one can balance their hormones, they can slow down the ageing process. Today, he says that women enter menopause at an early age and this can be delayed if one manages their hormones well, which is what Dr. Lenny and his team do on a regular basis. True anti-aging can be achieved if you remove the toxicities in your body, balance your hormones, ensure good nutrition, keep your body strong and active and keep your mind calm, he says. The most challenging thing about his profession Dr Lenny says is that he comes from modern medicine. Having learnt it, along the way he had to unlearn a few things and then re-learn it to reach his mission of trying to help people become healthier and happier rather than just treating them for a particular disease. With time, Dr Lenny has learnt that if one can understand

how their body functions, what the body was made for and understand how one can maintain the body, a lot of diseases can be reversed. It took Dr. Lenny these last twenty years of practice to understand that and it is what is helping him today to understand how to reverse certain illnesses. Having to meet and get to know different people every day is what keeps Dr. Lenny excited. Each person brings a fresh batch of challenges. He handles a lot of degenerative cases in the geriatric field. Giving people the best quality of life is what keeps him going and he sees everyday as a new day with a new challenge. Having a positive mindset is a big plus for Dr. Lenny which keeps him motivated and allows him to handle each case with the kind of care and sensitivity that it requires. His biggest anchor is his wife who has been supporting

Over the years, Dr Lenny and his team have undertaken various interventions and procedures. They have worked on patients who have had cardiology procedures done and reversed a lot of their problems, which has helped them lead a healthier life him from the start and whatever he went through in the early years of his profession. His son too, he says, is his biggest inspiration and has stood by him through thick and thin. As far as his future plans go, Dr. Lenny wants to touch a million lives with the kind of work he does and feels that this can be done by sharing his knowledge and experience with others interested in the similar outcomes for their patients. At the moment he is setting up a training program across

the globe in association with various experts and colleagues to help as many doctors as possible to understand the concept of functional medicine where one can actually help people reverse chronic diseases and lead a better life. He plans to get modern and functional medicine to work together so that people are healed completely and that is something Dr. Lenny is looking forward to, something he wants to achieve and leave for posterity. Dr Lenny is currently the President of Society for Regenerative, Aesthetic and Ant-Aging Medicine, India (SRAAMI) and also the President of Indian Society for the Study of Metal Toxicology and Chelation Therapy (ISSMTCT) and has been speaking at various anti-aging and functional medicine meets and conferences both in India and overseas regularly

JULY 2022 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | 73

BIZ BYTES

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IHCL, Goa enhances service standards at GTDC Residencies In an effort to achieve benchmark service standards for tourism in Goa, Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) conducted a full day training programme for the staff of Goa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (GTDC) Residencies at Taj Resort & Convention Centre in Dona Paula. The training involved a thorough showcase of IHCL’s signature hospitality and an interactive session with the learning and development team of IHCL, Goa, on the current trends and potential learnings of this rapidly evolving industry. The attendees were chosen on the basis of seniority in ranking and experience. The session involved a detailed study of heart of the house departments including housekeeping, food and beverage service, food and beverage production, front office, engineering and

Gavin Dias, General Manager, GTDC; Nikhil Dessai, IAS, Director Tourism and Managing Director, GTDC and Dr. Ganesh Gaonkar, Chairman, GTDC felicitating Vincent Ramos, Senior Vice President - Goa for his contribution towards enhancing service standards of tourism in Goa

horticulture. Each head of department demonstrated the various techniques and skills used in daily hotel operations and correct use of state-ofthe-art equipment for effective time management with bulk requirements. Additionally, each department discussed about the common challenges faced and the various methods practiced to address them. Speaking on the initiative, Vincent Ramos, Senior Vice President – Goa for IHCL said, “Unlike other states in

the country, tourism is the backbone of Goa’s economy with 40% of the population directly or indirectly dependent on it. Hence, it is imperative that we adapt to the changing tourism landscape and match the service expectations of today’s traveller. Goa has immense potential to position itself as the world’s best travel and leisure destination. With a combined and unified effort of all the partners and stakeholders in the industry, I am certain that Goa can achieve exemplary

standards in tourism.” On completing the training, participants were rewarded with certificates and mementos by GTDC’s senior leadership team. At the closing ceremony, Dr. Ganesh Gaonkar, Chairman – GTDC said, “We are immensely grateful to the IHCL team for extending their resources and support towards enhancing the service standards at GTDC Residencies. IHCL is the hallmark of Indian hospitality with a service culture that has been nourished over 118 years and practised across 50 global destinations. This synergy will help Goa to be a model state as per the vision of our Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant.” GTDC has over 500 keys spread across the length and breadth of the state in prime locations. These properties are mainly used to cater to travellers visiting Goa from across the country

GCCI TAXATION COMMITTEE MARKS FIVE YEARS OF GST REGIME

(L-R): Goutam Raj, CA Sanjeev Kamat, Lalit Saraswat, CA Parimal Kulkarni, Marcus Rodrigues and CA Yatish Pai Vernekar

Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry celebrated successful completion and implementation of five years of GST with the Industry and SGST department. The Chief Guest for the function was Ruchika Katyal, IAS, SGST Commissioner. GCCI President Ralph de Sousa, CA Rohan Bhandare, Chairman Taxation Committee, CA Parimal Kulkarni, CA Sanjeev Kamat, Goutam Raj, Lalit Saraswat, Marcos Rodrigues and CA Yatish Pai Vernekar were also present. The Commissioner has offered all the support from her Department for matters which the industry would like to deliberate upon. The Commissioner complimented GCCI for being at the forefront

and recommending suggestions on refining GST as well as representing the challenges. de Sousa mentioned that 5 years ago the Government brought in the most revolutionary tax system in the form of Goods and Services Tax, which subsumed most of the erstwhile taxes such as VAT, Central Excise, Service Tax, and Luxury Tax. CA Bhandare said that GST has been very successful in achieving its primary objectives of simplifying India’s indirect tax regime, eliminating tax cascading, and curbing tax evasion. GST has decreased the number of taxes, compliance burden, and overall tax burden on the common man while significantly increasing

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transparency, compliance, and overall collection. The success of GST is in its numbers, wherein the GST collections have surpassed `1 lakh crore for the past eleven months, the highest in April 22 at `1.68 lakh crores. A panel discussion was held which helped bring out the following highlights: Goutam Raj complimented the E-invoicing and E-way bill systems that eased the traditional complex system and said that the industry had to deal with multiple taxes and multiple registrations under the erstwhile regime. Lalit Saraswat mentioned that the GST law and policy have been evolving and improving constantly over the past five

years and added that the GST has also helped all businesses go digital and embrace technology in filing return, payment, and other compliances. Marcus Rodrigues mentioned that the process of exports and refunds are seamless and that the pharma industry, which has a global presence, has kept India’s GST at the forefront. CA Parimal Kulkarni expressed his concerns for the next 5 years which may include many litigations as an outcome of auditing of the past 5 year assessments and also act as a stepping stone towards a transformational change. He coined GST to stand for G-Growth, S-Systems and T-Transformation. CA Sanjeev Kamat mentioned that the handholding of the industry for tax assessments in the initial teething years of GST by the state department was admirable and that he expects concessional treatment for many challenges coming in future

BIZ BYTES

@businessgoamagazine

CII Goa’s recommendations to Government on boosting Renewable Energy

CII Goa office bearers met Sudin Dhavalikar, Power Minister, and submitted CII’s recommendations on boosting renewable energy in Goa. The recommendations focused on residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. CII Goa listed a few ways in which capital costs can be reduced for the residential sector, through capital subsidies where through the Phase 2 Grid connected solar rooftop programme, Electricity Department in conjunction with Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) have begun disbursing subsidies to empanelled vendors. CII Goa suggested that if the government can arrange

CII Goa Vice Chair Anirudh Agrawal along with team, meets Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar

lower cost financing directly to the customer (G2C) the government will be able to increase the adoption of renewable energy without any impact to the exchequer. CII Goa further suggested ways to boost the adoption of renewable energy amongst Goa’s major energy consumers

ICAI- Goa celebrates CA Day

Goa Branch of WIRC of ICAI celebrated CA Day on 1st July with a series of events. On this occasion, multiple health camps were organised for CA members. A blood check up camp in association with Thyrocare Goa was organised wherein members could check their blood for any deficiencies or abnormalities. Dr Paresh Lotlekar of Studio32 organised a comprehensive dental checkup camp for CAs. A special breast cancer awareness camp was organised in association with cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s YouWeCan Foundation. Avi’s opticians also conducted a thorough eye check up for all the CAs present “All year round we CAs take care of the financial health of our clients, sometimes taking tremendous stress, especially in days nearing the deadline. We

felt that at least on CA Day, we must look inwards and focus on our own health. We hope that these awareness camps will spur our members to stay fit,” said Chairman of Goa Branch, CA Gaurav Kenkre. Regional Director of RBI Smita Kumar was the Chief Guest for the event. She spoke at length on how RBI and CAs have contributed to the nation. She appreciated the efforts of ICAI towards ensuring greater financial literacy and transparency. On this occasion senior CAs who had crossed 70 years of age, were felicitated for their untiring dedication to the profession. Newly qualified CAs were also felicitated and welcomed to the profession by ICAI. Not only ICAI, but Saraswat Bank also played its role in acknowledging the recently qualified CAs in Goa

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and suggested that the government let market forces operate freely so that industries have the choice of OPEX or CAPEX business models as they deem fit. CII Goa also suggested businesses that maximise their available roof space or offset 100% of their consumption

(whichever is lower) using renewable energy should be incentivised with preferential tariff rates of a 10% rebate on the remaining billed units. The industry organisation also suggested that the Goa Government should initiate yearly sustainability awards recognising the industry/ business that has installed the highest renewable energy plant at their premises, thereby contributing to the state’s renewable energy obligation. CII Goa stated that it is ready to partner with the Government of Goa to setup the Sustainability Awards on similar lines as CIIITC Sustainability Awards by taking inputs for CII Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD)

NITIN KUNKOLIENKER APPOINTED PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (MAIT)

L to R: Sanjay Lodha, Rajkumar Rishi, Nitin Kunkolienker and Amrit Jiwan

MAIT is India’s apex industry body empowering IT, Telecom and Electronics hardware industry. MAIT’s members include large and MSME companies and industries from the domain of OEMs, ODMs, EMS, Design Houses, and Recyclers, PROs, Testing Laboratories, and sub-sectoral associations. MAIT held its 39th AGM which was attended by CXOs from the electronics, IT and telecom industry. Speaking on the occasion Nitin Kunkolienker, outgoing President MAIT thanked the Government of India for their progressive policies in support of electronics, IT and telecom hardware manufacturing. He wished the new MAIT Governing Council for the period 2022-2024 the very best. Raj Kumar Rishi, VP

and MD, CSB, India of Dell International Services India Pvt Ltd has been elected as the 28th President of MAIT, Amrit Jiwan, General Counsel and Director, Company Secretary, Legal and Regulatory Division, Canon India Pvt Ltd; and Sanjay Lodha, MD, Netweb Technologies India Pvt Ltd have been elected as Vice Presidents of MAIT. Further, Nitin Kunkolienker, Director, and Board Member, Synegra EMS Ltd has been appointed as President Emeritus of MAIT. MAIT is the apex body representing the ICT and electronics manufacturing sector for India. MAIT is recognized by both the Government, as well as the industry for its role in the growth and development of the IT hardware industry

ECONOMIC PERISCOPE / SATYENDRA NAYAK

Uncertainty Around with Higher Inflation and Lower Growth Rate The writer speaks about the factors and effects of high inflation and low growth rates on the world economy

he global economy entered 2022 with an air of uncertainty. A smart recovery in the growth momentum in 2021 due to the decline of the covid after effects has been blunted again. Many economic and geopolitical factors have contributed to this uncertain environment surrounding growth prospects. The rise in the demand for oil and energy over the last two years has brought a sharp and unprecedented increase in crude oil and other energy prices. While crude oil prices have increased by 39% over the year and reached $100 a barrel, the natural gas and coal prices have gone up by 55% and 183%, respectively. The world is going through a phase of high energy cost. Added to this is the negative effect of the Russia-Ukraine war leading to the economic sanctions from NATO on Russia. Not only is the war costing Russia and Ukraine economically, the sanctions have also caused energy supply disruptions in Europe which depends on Russian oil and gas. In order to counter these sanctions, there has been a boost in ruble trade instead of payments in dollars. China has begun paying for Russian oil in rubles leading to 1000% rise in the monthly volume of rubleyuan trade to $4 billion. India has also begun engaging in bilateral trade with Russia with payments in rupees. With the rising ruble trade and payments, the demand for dollars in the foreign exchange market has come down. The economic effects of covid were not as bad as the ones from the Financial Crisis and the Great Depression. Although covid’s effects were short-lived, it still did cause a sharp dent in the global economic growth. The global economy that declined by 3.6% in 2020 recovered in 2021 with a smart growth of 6.1%. But growth is expected to slow down to 3.6% in 2022 and 2023. After the Financial Crisis, the economies were managed by larger deficit financing by the governments and a policy of monetary expansion with low-interest rates to the level of zero or sub-zero by the central banks. Now that the economy is in a situation of a large increase in oil prices and energy costs, and supply bottlenecks in essential commodities, price inflation has reached record levels. The interest rates are on the rise again and may reach the precrisis levels. Added to the global economic slowdown is the inflationary environment of unprecedented proportion. The

situation is truly described as Stagflation that was experienced in the 1970s and 80s. Stagnation in economic growth is accompanied by intractable inflation in prices, a pernicious economic cocktail that can damage propitious sentiments and trends in the economy. Retail price inflation in the US has reached a record of 9.1%, the highest since November 1981 when it was 8.6%. It is a massive challenge to the Federal Reserve (Fed), which pegged the inflation rate at 2%, to contain inflation now. The Fed has already raised the interest rate by 0.75% to the 1.5-1.75% range in June. By the end of 2022, the Fed Funds rate is expected to be 3.25% to 3.5% and 4% in 2023. The time the Fed now has to fight inflation and the lowinterest rate phase is over. Rising interest rates and tightening monetary policy aimed at lower money supply growth to combat inflation will have an effect on reducing the growth rate. Under the covid effect, the US economy declined by 3.5% in 2020. The growth rate recovered in 2021 to 5.6%, but is expected to be 1.7% in 2022 and lower at 0.5% in 2023. Yet the unemployment rate remains lower at 3.8% due to the fiscal spending by the government. Indian economy which now ranks as the fifth largest globally has higher growth momentum. In the global economic environment of lower growth, India is emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. China’s growth rate has slumped down due to the recent covid lockdown while India’s GDP declined by 8% in 2020 under the impact of the corona virus. The economy grew by 9.2% in 2021-22. The growth will slow down to 7.5% this year; however, the biggest worry is the raging inflation. The wholesale price

The writer is an economist and former banker. Email: ss_nayak@hotmail.com 78 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

index has gone up by 15% over a year and retail price inflation has reached 8%. In its attempt to curb inflation, the Reserve Bank has raised the repo rate, the rate at which the banks borrow from RBI, by 90 basis points to 4.9%. A further increase of 25-35 basis points is expected next month and by year-end, and the repo rate would go up to 5.5-5.75%. Apart from the negative impact of the oil crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war, the growth momentum of the economy remains intact. Normal monsoons keep the agro and agro-based sectors buoyant. Covid did not have any adverse effect on food grains output which was 308 mn tonnes in 2020-21 and 310 mn tonnes in 2021-22. On the back of good rainfalls and its spread, a bumper harvest of 328 mn tonnes is expected this year. On the industrial front, the growth rate has risen to 7%. India’s service sector is large and accounts for 50% of India’s GDP. It comprises trade, banking, finance, insurance, hotels, restaurants, transport, storage, communication, housing, real estate, construction, business services, and software services. This sector, which is also more employment oriented, would generate higher growth this year than the 8.2% achieved in 2020-21. India’s exports have shown buoyancy in 2022 with both goods and services exports growing by 22-23%. However, the hefty increase in imports primarily caused by rising oil prices has impacted the trade deficit. The rupee has declined by more than 6% in the forex market with the dollar rate going up from `74.76 a year ago to now touching a high of `80. Rising crude oil import bill and FII sale of equities of $26 billion have contributed to this fall

BEYOND CLASSROOM / DR. PRADEEP SALGAONKAR

Creating a ‘Pull’ for your Product, organically

The columnist illustrates the benefits and feasibility of pull marketing

ecently, I witnessed the struggle and experience of a close colleague involved in marketing a service product. This hassled me enough to think about a critical question in marketing – if I was in his place, marketing the same product. ‘How would I create a pull for my product?’ wherein I don’t have to do hard selling, literally pushing my product onto customers, or do anything whereby I feel that a relationship is getting strained, or I am getting stressed owing to no sales. Moreover, the ROTI (Return On Time Invested) is under question. So, the puzzle is how to create a natural pull and demand for the product in order for the efforts to pay off? It is a well-known fact that intensively pushing the products onto the customers by marketers often causes irritation amongst the former and the push strategy, at times, boomerangs. On the flip side, creating a strong pull and demand for a product is not easy, and may require large promotional budgets and a longer time period. Push and pull are the two most widely used marketing strategies for promotion of products by businesses globally. Some businesses exclusively use push strategy while others use pull strategy. However, a majority of these businesses use a mix of the two to attain set goals.

promotional strategy, refers to a strategy in which marketers aim to increase the demand for their products and ‘pull’ the customers to the product. It revolves around getting consumers to want a particular product. The idea is to establish a loyal following and draw consumers to the products, creating a strong demand. Common sales tactics used for pull marketing include mass media promotions, advertising, word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals, and advertised sales promotions. From a business perspective, pull marketing attempts to create strong brands, build brand loyalty and keep customers coming back and spreading positive WOM.

Push Marketing A push strategy is one where marketers attempt to ‘push’ their products onto the customers. The marketers involved in push marketing strategy continually push their products trying to persuade customers to take purchase action. The main objective of push marketing is to create quick awareness and generate immediate sales i.e. to reduce to as minimum as possible the time that elapses between the customer seeing a product and making a purchase decision to buy the product. It relies mainly upon traditional marketing techniques, such as direct marketing, direct mail, telephonic calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages, video messages, social media, print ads, television ads, hoardings, etc. The main goal is to generate quick sales with no concern for long term relationship building. At times, over pushing of products on customers causes irritation and thus, many may develop natural hatred towards these products.

How to create a Pull Creating a pull for a product is an arduous task and needs huge budgets, a unique differentiated product with strong marketing communication, a strong desire, and sustained efforts of brand building. Strong brands will create a strong pull, irrespective of the offerings and temptations from competition.

Pull Marketing Pull marketing strategy, also called a pull

Push v/s Pull The push strategy is generally used in case of new products and when a product claims to fulfil an unstated need of a customer or when the marketer is only concerned about sales and achieving set sales target by doing anything possible. Whereas, pull marketing is generally used when the customer knows what s/he wants or what problem needs to be solved but still needs to be pulled towards your product and the solution it offers, as against the solution offered by your competitors.

Here are a few cost effective ways of creating pull for a product: a. Identify and communicate a unique ‘job to be done’ by your product – customers buy products for resolving a particular problem and fulfilling a specific need. Thus, it is prudent for marketers to identify why the customers will use your product, the problem it would solve, and accordingly promote the product for that purpose. b. Talk aloud about your product wherever possible – use all possible free platforms and media to talk about your product. There has to be a presence and reminders of the product at all possible places and any opportunities that may come up to be used effectively. These talks need not be directed

at any particular customer/s, but in general, the purpose being to remind them of the presence of your product. c. Continuity and Sustainability in communication with customers – one needs to have a strong desire and make sustained efforts to positively communicate with the customers about the product benefits and value addition that it will give to them. The product advantages should be categorically spelt out and emphasised in order for the customers to take a notice of the same. Reminding them often about their unfulfilled need and what your product offers will help in making the customers think about the product and subtly engage with it. d. Get and use customer generated content and inputs – encourage customers to generate content and inputs that could be used for the betterment of the product offerings. Simple reviews and feedback about the product features and use may not be sufficient. It makes more sense to encourage customers to give inputs on how their experience with the product could be enriched, how the value addition could happen, and how the customers would actually like to use the product. e. Relationship building with individual customers – one of the best remedies for all human related problems lies in relationship management; pull marketing is no different. A pull for a product will come from a strong bond with customers and excellent personal relationships. Personal rapport and strong one-to-one relationships with customers, contribute far more to business marketing than incentivising customers. Though time consuming, relationship building is by far one of the best strategies in the hands of marketers for creating a pull of their product. A push strategy when used singly may work for a short period; however, long term success in marketing using push is not sure. A combination of the two, push and pull may work well, provided a proper balance is struck between the two with appropriate timings for each strategy. Keeping in mind the long term sustainability and success of any product, it makes a better marketing sense if the pull strategy is used. No doubt, it is time consuming and costly too, but the returns are equally rewarding. Gear up to create a pull for your product, the benefits will definitely be high

The writer is Founder Director, Saldots Academy, corporate trainer and facilitator. He is former Chairman, Goa Management Association. Email: pradeepsalgaonkar@gmail.com 80 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

CABBAGES AND QUEEN / NANDINI VAIDYANATHAN

Corporate lessons from a mountain trek!

The writer uses the analogy of a mountain trek to draw comparisons with the corporate world

e just did a very arduous 15 km day trek in Uttarakhand. Every trek teaches you unbelievable lessons. So did this one. What surprises me is that each trek teaches you new lessons along with reiterating old ones. We have been hiking since December last year in this region with a company called Trailhikers, founded by a young entrepreneur called Raman. This is our third trek with this company in the last six months and we have had Manish as our guide all the time. We started our trek at 8.30 am from Char Dukan in Landour which is at 3000 meters. It was called Kolti Village trek. The idea was to trek down to Kolti Village for 9 kms to climb down to 1000 meters and then trek up to Jabarkhet for another 6 kms to 2000 meters, where the trek would end. We were told it was about 10-12 km in total and that it was easy to moderate in difficulty, and it would take about 7 hours to complete. I have been hiking since 2011. And one thing I have realised is, most distances, difficulty levels and time taken on mountain trails are highly suspect. By and large, it is only a guesstimation. The fact also is 10 kms on a mountain trail is a far cry from an urban road and everything is amplified to make the journey sigma challenging. What made this a murderous trail? Imagine this. • The first 9 kms going downhill to Village Kolti was acutely steep and it was on a scree slope. This is a trek term to indicate a trail covered with small loose gravel stones which have been pried out of their mud because of rain, wind, and vegetation. This is extremely dangerous because even with the best hiking shoes, it is very easy to lose your foothold and get tossed into the valley below. • The next 6 kms going up to Jabarkhet was narrow, slushy and steep and maintaining grip on the decaying leaves exhausted us. • Add to this incessant rain throughout the hike, making the slopes even more slippery. • The decaying vegetation bred millions of leeches. Every step we took was an open invitation to them to invade our bodies and suck our blood. • Because of the leeches, we could not stop anywhere on the trail even to catch our breaths! So much so, we wore ourselves out and took longer to complete the trek.

The biggest challenge of a corporate leader is to overcome both personal and professional bias and make a decision about people and situations objectively • And then, because we took longer, we were seriously worried about how we were going to complete the trek as it became nightfall! So what were our lessons from this trek? And how can we migrate them to the corporate world? 1. Understand implication: We all knew we were trekking during monsoons. We even went prepared for the rains by carrying raincoats. What none of us factored and no one flagged was, that, during monsoons, firstly, we should also expect leeches, and secondly that this region is known as ‘leech country’! We learned of both in hindsight after we were covered with over a hundred leeches and were a bloody mess! Had we known this, we would have carried suitable gear to protect our limbs from becoming leech-fodder! Corporate leaders are smart enough to read the portent signs but it is not enough unless they deduce the significance of all the implications of these signs, especially looking for all things that could derail the organisation! 2. Ask, ask, ask: We should have asked for facts about what made this trail treacherous before we started the trek. If we had known all the challenges that we were likely to face beforehand, we would have been physically, gear-wise and emotionally better prepared. Corporate leaders are excellent in planning for googlies based on available information from experts. It all happens at a 30,000 ft worldview. Minute details at the ground level are neither given nor asked for! It therefore turns expensive for the organisation when decisions are based on such worldviews. Use the famed Socratean

method to prepare yourself! 3. Pray the guy is carrying salt: What saved the day for us, notwithstanding the murderous trail, rain, and leeches was that our guide Manish, carried in his backpack, both salt and Dettol. The salt was necessary to remove the leeches embedded in your skin. Dettol was needed to douse the leeches after removing to kill them. For Manish, his SoPs were clear. Trek in monsoon means leech, leech means salt and Dettol in backpack! Your guys on the street, like Manish, should be process oriented. Corporate leaders should focus on not only hiring smart feet-on-street but on making them internalise that not only following SoPs is their only ticket to success, but breaching them is not an option at all! Most teams on the ground have such low self-esteem that they don’t consider their jobs significant enough to make or break an organisation. They need to be shown how invaluable they are. 4. Don’t let your past bias you: Most of us on the trek were South Indians and where we come from; the leeches are huge and look like overgrown caterpillars.The leeches here looked like earthworms. So till they had gotten into our blood stream none of us realised that we were covered with leeches! The biggest challenge of a corporate leader is to overcome both personal and professional bias and make a decision about people and situations objectively. The ability to shed bias of all kinds is what makes the difference between a good leader and bad. I started trekking in the December of my life. I feel bad at times that I missed out on these phenomenal lessons during my corporate career

The columnist is co-founder of bakery and restaurant business (www.concoctions.fr) with her French Michelin-star chef life partner. Email: nandini@carmaconnect.in 82 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

INVEST RIGHT / MAHESH PAI

Problems faced by senior citizens and retired people The writer explains various problems faced by senior citizens in the country and the importance of financial planning before one’s retirement

he beauty of life is that every person’s life is the same from a broader perspective – infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Even though it all looks the same for all but as you narrow down the perception, every life is different to its core. The elderly population in India is one of the fastest-growing in the world. At present, India is a country with the second-largest global population of ageing citizens. Living longer means having a longer retirement period. The elderly also face a lot of financial discomfort during their retirement, as their retirement fund cannot cope up with inflation. So what are the problems faced by these people? 1. Lack of Income When you have money coming from a job or business, you have a sense of security. The survey found that the financial impact on the elderly were mainly due to loss of family income, loss of business / professional income, heavy medical expenses and inflation. Senior citizens who had rentals coming in were also in a bad state as taking care of the property and remembering every single aspect which need to be taken care of became difficult with old age. 2. Asset Rich, Cash Poor Senior citizens have created a lot of fixed assets over a period of time. Real estate was a very popular form of investment back then but then what do they do with it now? Most of the time, the elderly population don’t have enough liquid cash and won’t even be ready to sell off these properties due to the emotional attachment that they have with it. Old age is supposed to be stress free and living out all life’s earnings while not preserving them until death. Of course, a part of it can be passed on to the next generation but how would all of that be possible without an effective financial plan? 3. Variable Income In a country like India only a few people have planned for retirement from the start and have a perfect balance between fixed assets and income generating assets. This gives them the freedom to live a decent life but these income generating assets give variable income. This income is not guaranteed nor has a consistency of being the same amount every month. During covid, a lot of people

when a life partner passes away, particularly if the spouse was responsible for handling all of the household’s financial matters, hence these people should always have a financial advisor. Also, developing a strong bond with older parents and involving them in your life could be quite beneficial for all.

The elderly population in India is one of the fastestgrowing in the world. At present, India is a country with the second-largest global population of ageing citizens. Living longer means having a longer retirement period. The elderly also face a lot of financial discomfort during their retirement, as their retirement fund cannot cope up with inflation suffered because of this as they didn’t get their rent, and received lesser dividends because the equity market crashed. So when you have a definite goal you should also have a definite source of income. Make sure your investments are in a place where you have safety and growth at the same time. 4. Rising Healthcare Costs The rising costs of medical insurance and medical care can easily affect a senior’s finances. With lack of medical insurance or expensive premiums for senior citizens, health care costs have gotten expensive in the country. Unlike other countries, India doesn’t provide free healthcare due to its massive population but an effective and early financial planning can help to cut down these future risks with right methods and strategies. 5. Lack of Companionship Most senior citizens who probably live alone suffer due to lack of companionship. Older adults may find themselves at a loss

The writer is an investment consultant and business coach. Email: mahesh@maheshpai.in 84 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

6. Increase in daily living expenses Statistics indicate that up to 91 percent of older adults don’t have a pension or savings to use as resources. Most of them rely on their children to take care of them in their old age without considering that their children may not be in the best financial position or have other responsibilities that need immediate attention. Some seniors have never given retirement planning much thought, while others may have made poor investment choices that didn’t yield as expected. With current inflation rate, the daily expense for any individual has shot up. 7. Increasing Scams Many older adults are a target for these scams are they believe a lot in people and aren’t aware much of technology and how it could be used to steal from them. To reduce these risks it is always better to have a financial advisor handy incase of any suspicious activity and safeguard them and their finances. Retirement is supposed to be a period of joy and relaxation for senior citizens or even for those who opt for early retirement, but financial challenges are spoiling that dream for many. Based on a study, more than a third of the working population haven’t yet started saving for retirement, the concept of YOLO (you live only once) has severely impacted today’s generation. The ones above 50s have invested heavily in fixed assets which is giving them a cash crunch in many ways. Get the right advice and find better investment options which will give liquidity options and safeguard your future. Saving for retirement at an early age has a lot of benefits especially in a country like India. You can take a loan for any financial goal in your life but not for retirement, take financially smart decisions today. It is never too late to start planning, even if you are already a senior citizen, get in touch a trustworthy consultant who will help you to plan your finances in the right manner

SPEAKING TREE / KISHORE SHAH

CSR: The perfect game-changer for New Education Policy 2020 The author explains the New Education Policy and how CSR support can make a difference to the education sector

he Indian education sector is an extremely large and complex system. It is the second largest education system in the world with 15 lakh schools, 89 lakh teachers and almost 25 crore students; AISHE reports 3.74 crore students in higher education, 1000 universities, 39931 colleges, and 10,000 stand-alone institutes. The government has made commendable efforts to promote quality education for all over the last decade. For example, to focus on quality education, the 2010 rules for the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 were amended in 2017 to mention class-wise, subject-wise learning outcomes. These central rules serve as a guideline and template for states and union territories to pass their own rules to implement the RTE Act. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act was also passed in January 2019. The Amendment empowers appropriate governments to make decisions on whether to hold back children in class 5 and class 8. The central government has launched an integrated scheme for school education called Samagra Shiksha, w.e.f. 2018-19 which consolidated three previous centrally sponsored schemes for school education. A special mention must go to the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). It contains a host of measures that many have been long called for and represents a paradigm shift in the sector will come into force with effect from the current academic year. The central government has spelled out its priority by renaming MHRD as MoE (Ministry of Education) and by hosting a 10 day conclave ‘Shiksha Parva’ which was attended by the Prime Minister – the intention was loud and bold. However, for the NEP 2020 to take its roots, grow, and develop; we need to also understand the challenges in its transition from paper to practice. Challenges The key challenge that India and Goa is facing is that we have a huge pool of young population that will need jobs and a good education system will be a critical component of providing them with one. It is hard to describe how difficult it will be to make this a reality factoring that the education system in each state is influenced by a multitude of factors and stakeholders,

and each state is different. Within each state we have diverse pedagogy and resource bench strength required for NEP transition. Education is also a concurrent subject. On another level, the education system needs to respond to changing requirements and circumstances in society. The most obvious one is covid-19, which required a drastic pivot to relatively unfamiliar technologies. We may need to brace ourselves for such disruptors either natural or manmade. During the pandemic, the worst affected were students of Std X- XII, these years being the crossroads in career exploration and a launch pad into the real world where they were deprived of learning opportunities. The other end of the spectrum were the Nursery/KG tiny tots, a stage where cognitive, emotive foundation takes place in a social setting but they had to confine to their homes and had no option but to experience premature exposure to the virtual world with an unreliable network bandwidth. Then there is the question of updating curriculums to provide skills that students will need in the 21st century. These include critical thinking and information processing skills as well as broader life skills like stress management and professional etiquette. Reforming the education sector is always going to require a collective effort from all stakeholders. As such, initiatives that strengthen these stakeholders will make the entire system more resilient and more adaptable to new policies. Initiatives will be needed to build the capacity of these critical stakeholders from across the

The writer is the Managing Trustee, GDP Foundation www.gdpideaz.org Email: managingtrustee@gdpideaz.org 86 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

state and provide them with a platform for collaboration and innovation. The best way to achieve this transition is by providing critical knowledge and guidance support to key stakeholders; and the will to create ‘education leaders.’ The NEP is a good step in taking Indian education in this direction. However, the full benefits of the NEP will require all stakeholders, including governments, schools, education leaders, and parents/ children to work together. NEP is a visionary transformation which will need a clear customised strategy, strategy managers, execution blue print, execution experts from diverse fields. This all will need sustainable funding and professional expertise of green field project management. Industries by default mode follow principles of change management either because of intrinsic or extrinsic drive or pressures. They also need to carry out purposeful programs to park their CSR funds. This makes them obvious partners for NEP, as the biggest beneficiary in the long run will be industries. In my experience and study, creating a public-private partnership (PPP) model at every taluka in Goa through CSR support will be the real game changer. This will supplement the government, education department by facilitating local solutions, accountability, and ownership and manage transition effectively and efficiently. Here are three critical inputs to create PPPs at the taluka level. 1) Building the capacities at Taluka level Education leaders need leadership development and collaboration Continued On Page 88

WOMEN AND HEALTH / DR EMANUEL GRACIAS

Why Foetal Heart Monitoring is Crucial during the Labour Process The writer explains the workings of the foetal heart monitoring device and its advantages

n the field of obstetrics and gynaecology there are quite a few new inventions that have made the whole pregnancy and birthing process much safer than it used to be. One such device is the foetal heart monitoring device. Foetal Heart Rate Monitor or foetal Doppler machine ultrasound monitor is used to hear an embryo’s heartbeat during pregnancy and that of a foetus during labour. The procedure of foetal heart rate monitoring allows your doctor to gauge how fast or slow your baby’s heart is beating. If you are expecting a child, your doctor will want to check to make sure your baby is healthy and developing normally. Checking the rate and rhythm of your baby’s heartbeat is one of the ways to do this. The vitals of a woman can be easily monitored during labour, but what about the baby? How do we know whether it is all safe and sound? The foetal monitor comes to aid during active labour. The average fetal heart rate is between 110 and 160 beats per minute. It can vary by 5 to 25 beats per minute. The fetal heart rate may change as your baby responds to conditions in your uterus. An abnormal fetal heart rate may mean that your baby is not getting enough oxygen or that there are other problems. The doctor is able to make an emergency decision and perform an emergency c-section if they get to know that the baby’s heartbeat is dropping or increasing. In medicine we term this as ‘foetal distress’.

Foetal Heart Rate Monitor or foetal Doppler machine ultrasound monitor is used to hear an embryo’s heartbeat during pregnancy and that of a foetus during labour. The procedure of foetal heart rate monitoring allows your doctor to gauge how fast or slow your baby’s heart is beating. If you are expecting a child, your doctor will want to check to make sure your baby is healthy and developing normally The traditional foetal monitor device that is commonly used by most hospitals uses Ultrasound Doppler technology that is used to hear an embryo’s heartbeat. This device does not allow the mother to be mobile as there are wires attached to the mother which makes it cumbersome to move anywhere. She would need help from the nurses or her partner every time she wanted to visit the washroom or move about. The newer version of the foetal heart monitor is cordless and comes in a stickon format where it can be attached to the mother with a disposable patch. This device can be easily attached and leaves no room for error. We routinely use this device at our hospital because it allows the women in labour to be more at ease while I can

monitor the readings on an app which allows for quick decision making. It allows women in labour to have a little walk, visit the washroom, interact with family and even shoot a pregnancy reel to post on Instagram without lugging a heavy device and a set of wires with them. Fetal heart rate monitoring is especially helpful in the case of high-risk pregnancies. A pregnancy can be high risk if the woman has diabetes or high blood pressure or if your baby is not developing or growing as it should. In such cases the use of this device can be a life-saver. Every doctor wishes to offer their patients the absolute best birthing experience and that is only possible when a mother is allowed to be comfortable and enjoy her birthing experience

The writer is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Gracias Maternity Hospital Margao. Email: emanuelgraciasmd@gmail.com

Continued From Page 86 opportunities with speed, scale, and sustainability. Co-creation and collaboration through professional learning communities should be done at every Taluka. A hub and spoke arrangement will disperse it to every educational unit in that Taluka. 2) Integrated Digital Process Orchestration and Cloud schools at each Taluka We need to offer systemic responses, updates, and integration processes disseminated through multiple media like TV, radio and learning apps which integrates every educational unit in the Taluka and at next level integrates all 12 Talukas. So that while we operate at every Taluka level collectively the state moves to the next level. 3) Change levers through 2nd innings Goa has almost 200 single teacher schools. 88 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

Goa is also home to retired professionals/ bureaucrats who have both knowledge and wisdom. If they are roped in for their 2nd innings, providing them with purpose and pride will accelerate the transition process for NEP. These schools need teachers for their cognitive and emotive growth and development. The way forward Dr K Kasturirangan, Chairman of the committee that drafted the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, said “The vision of India’s new education system is to ensure that it touches each and every citizen’s life and creates a just and equitable society”. However, most of our educational institutions are underfunded, heavily bureaucratic and lack capacity for

innovation and scale up. They need to be revamped, rejuvenated, and recalibrated. The solution is obvious! Investing in teachers and channelising efforts towards building their capacity and capabilities, providing them the required infrastructure and resources is the need of the hour; so that each teacher emerges as a transformation coach. Goa is a small but progressive state; and has created its mark worldwide. Also, NEP sits very well with the Goan ethos. All it needs a well-crafted execution program, implementation strategies, and partners, backed by required financial outlays which are perfect investment for CSR. No policy is self-propelling, however great the intent. Reforming the education sector should be our top-most priority and it will require a collective effort. What better opportunity than this for CSR

MARKET KA SAMAY / SAMAY SHETTI

The Bull delivers a Massive Uppercut, The dazed Bear Staggers and Glares! The Markets bounce hard from its major support zone, examines the writer

icking up from where it left off, Nifty 50 made its bottom on the third expiry day of June on the 16th, the following day it maintained the same range and the next week onwards, that is on Monday of 20th July embarked on a new rally which it has been continuing till the third weekend closing of July, on the 22nd where the market closed at 16719. Through the second last week of June and the expiry week, the strong pullback retested the level of 17800 which was the previous support level and now resistance. The June series expired on the 30th of June which saw a huge intraday move of 170 points, where the sellers were in control for a while but soon the buyers became active towards the day end, and gave a close in a positive, just short of the 15800 mark. The July series started with a bang with a 260 points intraday opportunities for both the buyers and the sellers. The following week, that is 4th onwards saw a breakout with momentum over the 15800 mark, as Nifty started moving towards its next minor resistance at 16200 having crossed over its 20 MA and 20 EMA on the 6th of July and has been trading over it since. A minor reversal was seen after hitting the 16200 zone, for a week but a reversal was made too after touching the 15800 belt again. From there the markets have been seeing a rally which has again put it at another crucial resistance range of the 16800 zone. This level becomes crucial because this is the level from which the markets fell during which it made its bottom 15183. Currently positioned at 16719, over 1534 points above its 52-week low hit last month. Sectoral view: The current rally has breathed fresh life in all the sectors and most stocks, both largecaps and midcaps across various sectors have taken a bounce from their supports. But with Nifty 50 standing at a precarious position right now, new positions are best avoided until the levels are lower from this point, near an older support level or after a strong breakout with momentum from the current position. Let us do a quick review of the various sectors and the shares within them. Auto: Continuing its pullback from the 21st of June, Nifty Auto has taken a straight rally of over 1900 points in the last month, during which it broke its previous high of 12100 as it currently rests at 12600. The

coming expiry week will be crucial for the Auto sector as it will determine whether it's time to hold on to the stocks or book profits and wait for safer levels. In this space, Tata Motors has just reached a major resistance at 460 and has seen a selling move as it touched its 200 MA. Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motor, Hero Corp, too have come near its resistances with some selling pressure now visible. However, TVS Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are flying in the open blue sky, having crossed over their previous peak. New positions in this sector must be purchased very cautiously with strict stop losses and small targets for swing traders. For investors, new potions must be taken only when the index gives a breakout or a breakdown from this point. IT: The most ruthlessly bashed sector of them all on the decline had participated in the rally too in, where from its bottom, the Nifty IT index went up by 2130 points, that is 8.1% from its 52 week low of 26600. The rally has still not pushed the index enough to break its resistance at 28500. The Index is still above the 20 EMA and 20 MA, and it remains to be seen if the expiry week propels it over the range or not. The risk-reward ratio in most of the prominent stocks in this sector is conducive for long positions as of now for both investors and swing traders. The opportunities to buy can be explored in stocks like Mindtree, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Mphasis, Persistant, LTI, Tata Elexi, which have all moved from their support zones, the buying if at all done, must only be made so with a strict stop-loss on the support zones.

FMCG: This is another sector that has seen a massive surge with Nifty 50 since 20th June. pushed on by ITC. The sector has broken its range of 7% held since April and gave a massive breakout above its 200 MA on the 1st of July. this index has given a strong bounce from its previous support of 36213 and now breached its previous high. In this sector, Hindustan Uniliver, Britannia, Tata Consumer and Dabur have taken a bounce from their respective supports, and breached their 200 MA marks with strong momentum and have now entered their congestion zones while Emami approaches the 200 DEMA and ITC leads the pack having reached its pre-covid levels and breathing its psychological level of 300. New positions are not recommended in this sector as the risk-reward ratio is highly unfavourable. The possibility of long positions can only be explored after clearing of congestion zones of the stocks or at a correction.

Realty: Nifty Realty Index has seen a ride along with the Nifty 50 since 17th June and has seen a 20% rise from its bottom at its 52-week low, upto the 22nd of July. The

Sugar: The ever volatile sugar stocks did not participate much in the rally this month overall, but some stocks have seen a strong buying taking place.

The writer is a Technical Analyst and Investment Consultant. Email: samaysshetti@gmail.com 90 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

index currently has touched its 200 DEMA level and nears its 200 MA. in the event of a crossover, the realty sector stands to break its previous high. In this space, DLF, Sobha and Prestige have reached a congestion zone and new positions can be explored only in the event of a correction or a breakout over its immediate resistance, while Brigade, Godrej Properties and GMR Infra can be explored for long positions as they provide a good risk reward ratio at current levels, the positions; however, if bought, it must only be done so with a strict stop-loss on its support zone.

Continued On Page 92

EVENT

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Atul Pai Kane shares his entrepreneurial journey with GIM students GMA facilitates the industrialist for an inspirational talk aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs

L to R: Rusai Fernandes, Rohan Bhandare, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, Sanchita Banerjee, Atul Pai Kane, Amin Ladak, Venkatesh Naga and Pradeep Salgaonkar

Atul Pai Kane

Goa Management Association (GMA) and Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Sanquelim recently organised a talk by Atul Pai Kane, Chairman and Managing Director, Power Engineering (India) Pvt Ltd, Goa. The talk was held at the Multiple Purpose House, Goa Institute of Management, for young students admitted for a MBA Course. Dr. Ajit Parulekar, Director, Goa Institute of Management and Amin Ladak, Chairman, GMA, came up with this idea of inspirational talk to young management students. Pai Kane shared with the student participants his real life experience, how as a child he

accompanied his father in his business affairs, which helped him learn various business related lessons at a very young age. Pai Kane who has recently graduated from Harvard Business School also shared his experience of going back to school. The industrialist shared his insights on returning to academics after having run a three-decade course as a hands-on entrepreneur. Atul Pai Kane has a Diploma in Structural Engineering and has now completed an Owner/ President Management Program from Harvard Business School. Pai Kane founded Power Engineering India Pvt Ltd in

1989, currently owns and runs the Pai Kane Group having interests in engineering and contract manufacturing with five plants in India and one in the United Kingdom. The Pai Kane Group is engaged in manufacturing capital goods in the power and infrastructure sector. Atul Pai Kane’s responsibility include formulation of strategy and goal setting. He has been awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2005 by Goa Management Association; and ‘Businessman of the Year’ Award in 2019; while the Group was awarded ‘Industry of the Year’ in 2012 at the Business Goa Awards. Pai Kane’s talk was followed

by a question and answer session, which was attended by 450 students. Sanchita Banerjee Rodrigues, member of GMA Executive Committee introduced Pai Kane; Prof Venkatesh Naga, Dean (Academics) GIM, moderated the session; and CA Rohan Bhandare, Executive Committee Member, GMA, proposed the vote of thanks. Dr. Prita D Mallya, member of the Executive Committee of GMA and Principal, VVM’s Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics and Prof Venkatesh Naga, GIM had initiated this interactive session with Pai Kane

Continued From Page 90

Bank Nifty to move in tandem, through Bank Nifty shows more volatility. Like the bottom of Nifty was at 15183, Bank Nifty turned from the level of 32400. From this sector, both the private and public sector banks have seen a surge, while some are in good positions, others have hit their resistances and are seeing profit bookings. Among the stocks in this sector, the HDFC twins look to be in very good positions as they have both touched their 200 DEMA and are moving towards 200 MA. Axis Bank and Canara Bank too breached their 200 MA and have seen profit booking, Kotak bank is witnessing profit booking after touching its 200 MA, while ICICI Bank and SBI Bank are trading far above their

200 MA and are continuing their trend. Federal Bank has seen a massive rally and is now seeing a consolidation above its previous resistance. RBL Bank and IDFC First Bank did not participate much in the rally but have still given minor moves.

happen because of buying the resistances and selling the supports. So in this situation, one needs to be careful with their risk management strategies. The resistance once breached and sustained becomes the new support and similarly, support once breached and sustained becomes the new resistance. So to take any kind of positions, whether short or long, some patience is necessary to at least make sure whether the current level is a support or a resistance which can only be known in the case of a Breakout or a Break-Down. Moreover, in any situation whatsoever must any trades or positions taken especially when the markets give a movement, be taken without a calculated stop-loss

As of 22 July, Dhampur Sugar and Mawana Sugar have not moved much from their support levels, while from its recent bottom, stocks like Dalmia Sugar have surged by 27.64%, Dwarkesh Sugar by 32.5%, Balrampur Chini by 12% and EID Perry by 25.8% are continuing their rally. New positions in this sector must be taken cautiously and if they are in holding, a trailing stop-loss must be followed. Banks: The rally of Nifty was led ahead by Bank Nifty and since June 20 the index has seen a 15% surge during which it broke above its 200 DEMA and 200 MA and is currently trading above it. One can expect Nifty and

92 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

Ending note: Last month, the Markets were oversold, the stocks were on their strong support zones, and the rally was a good time to make and book profits as well as exit trapped shares at minimum or no losses. But now those dips have been bought and the Markets have attained a height. Any buying from these levels involves comparatively higher risk as the markets are poised on a resistance level. And most of the losses in the markets

BON APPETIT FORTUNE MIRAMAR

Shravan Stories

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The holy month of Shravan brings a number of dietary restrictions, but Fortune Miramar has found a way to celebrate this period

Goan Thali

Malabari Thali

By SYBIL RODRIGUES

hravan, the fifth month of the Hindu calendar, has a special religious and cultural significance among the Hindu community in Goa. Being the first month of the Chaturmas season it calls for fasting and the observation of additional vows. In Goa, there are several rituals and traditions followed during this period that culminates with chavath festivities. During the period of Shravan, which is considered the most auspicious by the Hindu community in Goa and the Konkan region, Hindus go on a vegetarian diet and engross themselves in religious and spiritual affairs. During Shravan, the Hindu community celebrates festivals like Nagpanchami, Gokulashtami, Narali Poornima, and Raksha Bandhan. Besides, each day of the week, with the exception of Wednesdays, is dedicated to deities. Most temples and shrines around the state, organise various fairs, bhajans and kirtans that attract a large number of followers. While Mondays in Shravan are marked with a complete fast for some, sticking only to certain foods, a sort of ‘partial fast’ is observed on other days of Shravan. During this time, non-vegetarians abstain from fish and meat, while vegetarians avoid consuming onion and garlic. Religious significance aside, Shravan

94 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

is a rather testing time for foodies and businesses related to food. Restaurants are believed to typically face a downturn in business during this time, but now that picture seems to be changing, thanks to the emergence of ‘Shravan Thali.’ A number of restaurants around Goa offer a special Shravan thali during the holy month, enabling customers to have ‘the best of both worlds’ by providing an opportunity to enjoy delicious restaurant style dishes while also maintaining religious observance. Fortune Miramar Goa, a contemporary hotel for the modern day traveller, features 45 beautifully-furnished rooms, a selection of dining outlets and banquet facilities for up to 150 guests. The dining options at Fortune Miramar include: Orchid – the 24-hour multi-cuisine restaurant, Neptune – Bar & Lounge, and Fortune Deli – a contemporary bakery outlet. The hotel is at an advantageous location, being not too far from the airport, local shopping district, casinos, beaches, and other areas of interest Indulge in the ultimate Shravan experience this festive season at Fortune Miramar. Shravan Delights feature a culinary journey across India with a unique thali each day. Each thali comprises of traditional dishes from a select region. Delight your taste buds with thalis hand crafted to perfection, 29th July onwards at

Maharashtrian Thali Gujarati Thali

their acclaimed restaurant, Orchid. However, even as restaurants are doing good business, many Goan people who are non-vegetarians are now finding ways to make food spicy and tasty without the usual flavours of fish and meat. Thus, the adage ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ seems to ring true during the month of Shravan, as businesses and homemakers faced with dietary restrictions continue to innovate and develop new ways of making food spicy and tasty

GOA BUZZ

GCCI’s 114th annual day & AGM held Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently held the General Session of its 114th AGM. V Shanta Kumar, Sr Advisor and CMO of 91 Springboard was the Keynote Speaker. Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant was the chief guest at the event and Minister for Industries, Mauvin Godinho and Minister for Tourism & IT, Rohan Khaunte were the Guests of Honour. President Ralph de Sousa while welcoming the gathering said that the Chamber has completed 114 years of its existence and service to the business and economy of Goa. V Shanta Kumar presented his vision of Goa as an ‘Inspirational Dream’ and said that Goa exists in the hearts of people. Dr Pramod Sawant said that it was indeed commendable that GCCI was celebrating a milestone of 114 years. Shrinivas Dempo, Vice-President, GCCI proposed the vote of thanks and Sanjay Amonkar, Director General compered the event

Dr Pramod Sawant

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NEWSMAKERS Siddha Sardessai installed as Silver Jubilee President of Rotary Club Panaji Mid-Town

Rtn Siddha Sardessai was installed as President of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Panaji Mid-Town for the Silver Jubilee year 2022-23. An architect by profession, Sardessai has significant expertise and experience in a number of projects including residential properties, corporate offices and educational facilities, entertainment, and hospitality facilities. President Rtn Sardessai expressed his honour to lead the Club in its Silver Jubilee year and stated, “I look forward to an exciting year of service, which will witness enhancement of our projects and with every member getting more involved. I am confident that we will continue to do even better in our endeavour to serve the community. Let us, with renewed energy, take forward the legacy and mantra of Service Above Self ”

Snehalata Bhatikar pens down two new Konkani books

Psychotherapist and author, Snehalata Bhatikar has written two books for children, both folktale collections. The first book titled Asia Khandantlyo Lokaankaannyo (Folktales from Asia) is a collection from 11 Asian countries which have translations published in English by cultural agencies of the United Nations. Keralchyo Lok Katha (Folktales from Kerala) is a selection of folktales from Kerala which have been translated into Konkani by Bhatikar, and reflect the intelligence and traditional lifestyle of the people from Kerala. In her 80s, Bhatikar is still actively pursuing her counseling work and is often on the move. Writing is her passion which she pursues on the sidelines. She has a post graduate degree in social work from the Christian Medical College, Vellore and is the author of Mothering and Smothering, a popular book originally published in Konkani on parenting

Salonee Kamat Jain shortlisted for the Documentary Family Photographers International Exhibition

Mumbai-based Goan photographer Salonee Kamat Jain will be exhibiting her photograph titled ‘Strength in Unity’ at the Documentary Family Photographers International Exhibition. The sole Indian photographer to make the list, Salonee will be one of the exhibition’s forty-one featured photographers originating from fourteen different nations. The exhibition's theme of ‘Community’ will be highlighted in each and every photograph. Normally, the event takes place in New York or Los Angeles, but this time it will be held online. Salonee started off as an amateur photographer in Mumbai, taking pictures of ‘Ganesh Visarjan’ and ‘Dahi Handi’. She recorded a variety of Goa festivities, including the vibrant traditional festival of Shigmo. After a corporate career of eleven years, Salonee chose to retire and devote her time to her passion for photography and founded Salonee Jain Photography. Her photographs, aiming to showcase Indian culture to the world, have received awards and been featured in numerous exhibits. She also works as an international teacher, instructing close to 500 students from all over the world

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Raghavendra Shetiye is President of Rotary Club of Panaji Riviera

Raghavendra (Raghu) Shetiye has been installed as President of Rotary Club of Panaji Riviera. An entrepreneur, Shetye earned a Diploma in automobile engineering from KHK Institute of Engineering, Dharwad. His drive for entrepreneurship compelled him to pick a life in the fast lane, whether it is property development or real estate. With TaxiGo, he has played a key role in planting the notion of app-based transportation in Goa. Constantly looking for fresh ideas, his position as director of the broadband service provider, DNA Goa, obligated him to articulate a vision to provide high speed internet facilities in every home in the state, especially benefitting students, during the pandemic. Shetiye’s goal is to forward the Club’s objective of organising projects to help youth, build stronger communities, and promote a sustainable environment. Passionate about women empowerment, Shetye hopes to make an impact in this area, as well

Amar Albuquerque elevated to Director of Operations at DoubleTree by Hilton Goa

Amar Albuquerque has been appointed as Director of Operations at DoubleTree by Hilton Goa. With a vast experience in leading teams with hands-on exposure, he has been successful in building strong operational functions. Amar will be responsible for various verticals related to food and beverage, safety and security, culinary operations, front office and guest relations. His association with the hotel began in 2019 as Director of Rooms. He has graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Goa with a B.Sc. degree in Hospitality and Hotel Administration. He has been associated with some of the biggest names in the hospitality industry, including Taj Hotels and Accor Group of Hotels 157 1. Which Indian management guru along with Gary Hamel is the originator of the concept of ‘core competencies’? 2. Which online e-learning platform’s brand name is derived from Sanskrit words for knowledge and network? 3. Which celebrated photographer was known for shooting the famed Kingfisher calendars? 4. Which newspaper was founded in 1888 as the London Financial Guide before rebranding a year later? 5. Who wrote the 2009 best-selling book, 10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea? 6. In 1991, who connected hypertext software to the Internet, thus developig the World Wide Web? 7. Which free software community was founded in 1998 by members of Netscape? 8. Which short-format video sharing app is known in China as Douyin? 9. Srikant Datar is the Dean of which famous B-School? 10. Identify the owner of an iconic fashion brand Answers to BG Quiz 156: 1.Reliance Industries 2.Nike 3.Volkswagen 4.Glenmark Pharmaceuticals 5.GAZPROM 6.Interwoven 7.Mamaearth 8.ANTONOV AN-225 9.InMobi 10.Corporation Bank Email your answers to businessgoa.media@gmail.com First all correct entry will get 1 year’s subscription to Business Goa

100 | BUSINESS GOA INDUSTRY DOSSIER | JULY 2022

POSTAL LICENSE No.: G-2/RNP/Monthly/Goa-19/2021-23 Date of Publication: 10th day of every month. Posted on or before 30th day of the month.

Business Goa July 2022

Articles inside

Goa Buzz 100 Newsmakers 100 BG Quiz

Editorial 08 Corpo Scan 14 Anniversary Special

Campus 69 BookShelf 74 Biz Bytes 92 Event

Entrepreneurship 64 Technology 66 AlcoBev