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f o u n t a i n h e a d o f e x c e l l e n c e BUSINESS MANDATE4 SEP 2022 CONTENTS MADRAS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION Management Center, New No 240 Pathari Road, ﴾Off Anna Salai﴿, Chennai 600 006 Ph:044 2829 1133 / Email:mma@mmachennai org | mandate@mmachennai org | www facebook com/mmachennai EDITOR Gp Capt R Vijayakumar ﴾Retd﴿, VSM READERSHIP OUTREACH Gp Capt Dr R Venkataraman ﴾Retd﴿ Sundar R Vakeeswari M DESIGN D Rajaram, Tayub Refai
I am pleased to inform you that MMA proud winner of the AIMA’s “Best LMA the year 2021 22 MMA has won this National AIMA Award for the “Best M Association” in India for the 13th time in undoubtedly a moment of immense pride This achievement would not have been poss the active support of the President, Office B Presidents, Managing Committee membe Members and my Winning Team in MMA We thank you for helping us reach the n position among the management associatio You made it possible! Marching with our head held high... The national flag is the most solemn sy It stands for the whole nation, our glory When it goes up the mast, the hea is empowering!
EDITORIAL ij k ( d) Winning
country.
Experts and industry leaders shared their perspectives with case studies for the benefit of a large number of
India’s Plastic Ban: A Good Start but Still a Long Way to Go The ban on plastic was introduced in July 2022. However, we just cannot envisage that India will become a plastic free nation anytime soon It is not going to be easy, as the responsibility is not limited to one stakeholder. In fact, all stakeholders involved from the production of raw materials and manufacturers, to governments and consumers have their share in making this ban a success Indeed, the national and state governments have a long road ahead to ensure the enforcement of the notified ban. Until then, this is going to be a work in progress for all of us In this context, MMA in association with Paperman and KAS organized a seminar on “Insight on Plastic Neutrality: Know how you can enable your EPR Compliance”
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I am delighted to present to you our cover story on the conversation led by Mr K Mahalingam with Dr Nalli Kuppusami Chetty. Please do read and watch the conversation. I hope you will find them as beneficial and kindles your interest Online to Offline—Are We Ready to Look Forward?
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We like the comfort of the virtual and the connection of the personal (I love meeting so many of you at MMA Management Centre!). The hybrid format has changed how we communicate, connect and create a new world Likewise, it’s critical to help employees build workplace connections if you wish to attract and retain talent. People with a sense of belonging and workplace friendships, are happier, healthier and more engaged The work experience in an organization should enrich peoples’ lives. The priority is connection: The connection between employees and management, and the connection between each other as peers and human beings Hence, it’s imperative that we go about building a strong workplace connection. In this context, MMA is organizing a seminar on “Unlocking the Potential of Employees Using Technology” on 15th September at MMA Management Centre Join us in discovering how to connect with your people!
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citizen fills with pride Our national flag is now over 75 years old, but it is surprising that not many are aware of its history. Nevertheless, Har Ghar Tiranga was a great initiative that enabled every citizen to host the national flag atop their homes People will now attempt to learn about our flag’s hoary past and give it the respect it deserves. The flag code contains detailed instructions about its correct use. As a special initiative, MMA in association with Skill Angels presented a video on our national flag, to acquaint viewers and deliver important aspects relating to the sacred symbol of the nation We are indeed amazed at the response: over 1 4 lakh viewers watched our video on YouTube! A big thank you to each one of them! If you missed it, click here to view… Learn from the Leaders: Pride of Tamilnadu! Leading in this complex world isn’t a task for the faint of heart, and effective leadership is essential for the well being of any organization In fact, every aspiring business leader must study the actions of other great leaders. Finding parallels between the past and the present has always been a successful learning tactic for many To fuel interest in such topics, MMA launched a series on The Pride of Tamilnadu Our first guest in this series was Dr Nalli Kuppusami Chetty, Chairman, Nalli Silk Sarees.
This Convention seeks to provide key perspectives and insights on emerging trends in AI, including the challenges and opportunities relevant to students who are about to enter the exciting world of business management.
The insights shared by the leaders were thought provoking. Do read the article on the discussion for its immense value.
in nearly every industry In fact, it has become an imperative strategy for success and ensuring a competitive edge. In this context, MMA is organizing the 21st All India Management Students Convention on the theme “AI Shaping Today and the Future” for the benefit of Management students who are the future of our country.
Empower yourself and pass on the message to others to protect our environment. We strongly believe that information is a powerful driver for a new tomorrow.
The world is on the edge of revolutionizing many sectors through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics With AI deployed in finance, security, healthcare, criminal justice, transportation, movie production, smart cities, there are substantial economic and social benefits AI has changed business processes
The Inflation and the Growth Challenge
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our members and invitees from the industry I am delighted to present to you an article on this important milestone to protect our environment.
21st All‐India Management Students Convention
Mr V Shankar, Convention Chairman, and other members of the Convention Committee have put in tremendous effort not only in conceptualizing the theme but also in identifying a galaxy of eminent speakers to address students at the convention I thank the Management students and their respective B Schools for the overwhelming response to our competitions, in particular “Chanakya The Mastermind”.
Predicting a global recession usually means standing out from the crowd. Therefore, it is not surprising that the government, financial sector, academia and most economists in the central banks failed to anticipate the sharp rise in inflation this year Despite the global gloom, India has a bright economic future; but we cannot assume that success will somehow descend upon us on its own We must not take growth for granted All major forecasters expect our economy to grow by over 7% this year. Yet to succeed as a country we must forge our own destiny by actively working for it without waiting for success to descend upon us. In this context, MMA organized a discussion on the theme “Fears of Global Recession and Impact on India” on 26th August
I wish good luck and success to all students participants at the Convention As always, we would be happy to hear your views, comments and suggestions. Happy reading!
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I was born in Kancheepuram, a town in Tamil Nadu, famous for silk weaving. My grandfather was a silk weaver and merchant in Kancheepuram, known for his high quality silk sarees Though weavers in the town were clustered in a few traditional areas only, my grandfather decided to move out his outlet from conventional places to a busy area of the town This was indeed a great turning point in our entire business Many people who came to the town from Chennai (by train, which was the only convenient mode of transport then), would visit him and place orders for silk sarees, as he was in a prime location Soon there was a regular demand from customers based in Chennai, especially Mylapore, and he decided to move his business to Chennai He took a house in T Nagar and started his business. T Nagar then was thinly populated and only residential. Till 1937, the schools were in English medium But when I went to school in 1945, the government introduced Tamil medium and removed Hindi and Sanskrit. So I studied in Tamil medium. I was not even aware that there were private schools that offered English medium Though I was a school topper and very fast in solving problems in Mathematics, I still regret that I could not be proficient in English and that I am not able to speak fluently in English The moral of it all My school Headmaster was Mr Anna Subramanian, a great scholar and author of many books on spirituality I have learnt more in the prayer hall of the school than in the classroom. We used to have moral MMA introduced a new series "Pride of Tamil Nadu: Success Stories How it was done!” for showcasing business leaders in the region. In the inaugural session of this series, we had Padmashree Dr Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty, Chairman, Nalli Silks, sharing his journey and success secrets in a free wheeling conversation with Mr K Mahalingam, Sr Vice President, MMA If a customer complained about a salesman, though I was 15 years then and the salesman at 40 plus age, in front of the customer, I had to address the issue with the salesman, so that the customer felt that she was heard.
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Industrialist Pollachi Mahalingam was my neighbour in T Nagar. He was a student of Loyola College He was very studious, and whenever I saw him, he was reading his college books. Though I wanted to talk to him and become friends, his focus on studies and my own inferiority complex prevented me from making that move BA (Bachelor of Arts) and BL (Bachelor of Law) were sought after courses then. I decided to take up BA (History). But my father’s death put paid to my educational aspirations
f o u n t a i n h e a d o f e x c e l l e n c e SEP 2022 BUSINESS MANDATE 11 classes every day for 45 minutes and Manjakudy Rajagopal Sastry and other eminent teachers taught us short stories, each ending with moral lessons, drawn from Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagavatham. They were all life lessons and had nothing to do with any religion One day, Sastry did not come for moral classes and we requested our Headmaster to handle that class. Though he was not prepared, he told a very interesting story and we were all mesmerised We, in fact, requested him to handle all moral classes. When I was studying fourth form (9th standard), my father at age 42 died There were no medical facilities that exist now My uncle took care of the shop I had to discontinue my studies after completing SSLC and entered the portals of our saree shop in 1956. I am still in the business for 66 long years and I must be one of the very few who are in this trade for so long
Customer is always right I was unfortunate not to learn business from my father, as he passed away at a young age One of my uncles taught me the basics, including handling customer complaints. He asked me to remember one basic principle: The customer is always right! If a customer complained about a salesman, though I was 15 years then and the salesman at 40 plus age, in front of the customer, I had to address the issue with the salesman, so that the customer felt that she was heard After she left, I would explain to the salesman politely
that I had to question him, as customer satisfaction was a very important for the growth of the business
When I entered the business, though I was from the owner’s family, I would report to the manager. The first job they gave me was to clean the floor every day. Two years later, we bought a car and went to TVS to collect the car. A young lad, looking very smart and dressed in khaki uniform, was cleaning and polishing our car and asked me if he can put a picture of a plane on the car When I asked one of the employees who the smart lad was, he replied, “He is T S Rajam Iyengar’s son Ratnam.”
I was taken aback at the son of a rich business empire cleaning our car That was the way youngsters in family owned businesses were groomed then Slowly, they made me in charge of cash section.
I took charge of the business in 1961. In the next year, we had 100% growth and we had exponential growth since then, thanks to God’s grace One of my relatives even cautioned me that my stars as per horoscope were not in favourable position and I could bring trouble to the business and asked me to consult an astrologer, if I could continue in the business. I met a good astrologer and he advised me that there was nothing wrong and predicted I would be successful. His words were proved right Nalli was the first shop in India to do one crore sales in silk sarees. Today we have 40 branches around the world and do a turnover of 750 crores Is it from Nalli? Once a senior army official from Nepal came to Chennai on a special chartered flight to attend a high level meeting in Chennai There was heavy police presence after he landed in Chennai. He visited our showroom, bought a saree and told me, “You know what! Before I left, my wife told me that I might even miss the official meeting but she would not tolerate if I missed buying her a saree from Nalli.”
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Justice P S Kailasam, who was a High Court judge in Chennai, was transferred to the Supreme Court And it was a courtesy that after joining, the judges would meet the Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi was the then the PM. Justice Kailasam had bought a saree without zari from Nalli and removed the packing While meeting the PM, he handed it over to her. Mrs Gandhi at once asked him, “Did you buy it from Nalli?” He was I took charge of the business in 1961. In the next year, we had 100% growth and we had exponential growth since then, thanks to God’s grace. The late Prime Minister visited Nalli in Chennai and showed her love for Kanchipuram Silks. (Image and text courtesy: Nalli)
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surprised and asked her how she knew about it. She said, “Some of the MPs who came from Chennai would gift me sarees and say they bought from Nalli That’s how I know of Nalli.” A customer once shared an anecdote with me. She was in Paris, wearing a Nalli silk saree and on top of that, an overcoat A French woman spotted her and asked, “Is this saree you’re wearing from Nalli?” She was so surprised and asked the woman how she found it out The other woman said that as part of an exchange programme, she studied for some time in Chennai and during her stay, the only shop she visited was Nalli. Growing beyond Chennai
It is my son who expanded the business beyond Chennai to overseas countries. In the early days, a silk saree costs Rs 12 or Rs 18 Now we have sarees costing even 2 5 lakhs We keep high value sarees also, not to disappoint some customers who specifically want top of the range sarees, exclusively from Nalli. We now use computer aided design and we can weave three sarees, each one in a different colour In manual weaving during earlier days, at one stretch, we can weave three sarees, only with the same design and colour. My granddaughter studied in Harvard, worked in McKensey in the US and later moved to India, joined Myntra and left after a few years to focus on online sales of our brand During Covid, she could do online sales for more than a crore of rupees Books that changed my life One of my Tamil teachers advised me to read books from the library to broaden my knowledge and improve my vocabulary. Two books that laid the foundation for my life are Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘My Experiments with Truth’ and a book containing the quotes of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa I derived Truth and Honesty to be my guiding principles in business based on Gandhi’s autobiography. Our business was already following these, when I took over When we recruit staff for our shop, we instruct them not to tell lies and to be honest. In our sarees, we clearly provide the details about the saree, if it is with pure zari, German zari and so on Based on this, the customer can take an informed Two books that laid the foundation for my life are Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘My Experiments with Truth’ and a book containing the quotes of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The store in T Nagar, Chennai, where the brand's growth story started.
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Dr R N Malhotra, when he was RBI Governor, visited us and bought a saree. At the cash counter, he asked me, “Shall I pay by cheque or in cash?” I replied, “On both cash and cheque, your signature is going to be there So it doesn’t really matter if you pay by cash or
f o u n t a i n h e a d o f e x c e l l e n c e BUSINESS MANDATE16 SEP 2022 decision Can you run a business without telling lies?
Some of the VIPs who visited our showroom are Dr Rajendra Prasad, when he was President of India, PM Dr Manmohan Singh, PM Chandrasekhar, the Shah of Iran, the Princess of Greece and Finland, Jacqueline Kennedy, former first lady of the US and Thomas G Bata, Chairman of Bata Shoe Company. We still have the image of the cheque signed by Dr Rajendra Prasad, neatly framed, as a display in our showroom
Dr. Nalli patronised music and arts T Nagar's Sri Krishna Gana Sabha renamed its auditorium as “Dr.Nalli Gana Vihar” in recognition of Dr. Nalli’s contributions
Prema Srinivasan of TVS family had brought a foreign lady with her to our showroom. I saw that lady walking outside casually Before leaving, Prema Srinivasan asked me if I knew who the foreign woman was. I said, “No Ma’am.” She said, “It’s Jacqueline Kennedy.” It was a surprise that nobody noticed her.
When Cash or Cheque didn’t matter
Another day, a foreigner who went past our shop in a car, came back walking He entered and visited our showroom. While he was leaving, I asked him who he was and he said, “I am the grandson of Bata, the founder of Bata Shoe Company ” When I asked him, why he went past us and came back, he said, “I was utlet in T.Nagar. On the way, I Two books that laid the foundation for my life are Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘My Experiments with Truth’ and a book containing the quotes of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
We are a standing example, running it for 94 years, right from my grandfather’s days. We do not believe in offering discounts. We ensure quality and stick to our fixed price policy, though other shops around us offer Aadi season discounts and such other things.
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When they wanted to shift the venue, the Secretary of the Sabha collected a loan from a few individuals. I loaned out Rs 3,000 Later when he came to repay the loan to me, I told him to keep the money with him as my donation, the reason being the solace that I derived from music. He thanked me profusely and made me Vice President of the Sabha This gave me an opportunity to attend music concerts of several popular singers like MS Subbulakshmi, ML Vasantha Kumari and so on. It was A.Natarajan, former Director of Doordharshan, who gave me some training in understanding the ragas and nuances of music.
He said, “Don’t worry I will send two people ” Writer Masilamani and Mr Natarajan, former DD Director, tape recorded my conversations in Woodlands Hotel, transcribed and edited them. I have since written books for sales people and on many other topics such as management and spirituality. One of my books won the best book award given by Tamil Nadu government in the management category
After completing high school, though I wanted to pursue college education and we were well off at that time, I could not continue my studies, due to my father’s untimely death and the need to step into the business. Till now, I feel sorry I could not do higher studies I desperately wanted my son to do well in studies and so when he applied for admission in Don Bosco School, every day I would go to the school and wait there to meet the concerned people. After a month, they called me after observing that I came to the school every day and admitted my son.
f o u n t a i n h e a d o f e x c e l l e n c e BUSINESS MANDATE18 SEP 2022 saw ‘Nalli’ board I knew it’s a global brand and so wanted to have a look at your showroom I asked my driver to stop. As it was one way, we stopped and I walked back.” Lost in music
Those days, T Nagar used to be very calm in the evening hours, especially after 7.30 PM. Krishna Gana Sabha was started in T Nagar and in the evening hours, soulful Carnatic music, sung by musicians from there would reach my ears and it would give me immense peace and bliss Thus I was drawn to the world of Carnatic music
Music lovers who organised a function to honour legendary singer MS Subbulakshmi wanted to present her a saree and they approached us We got a specially designed blue colour saree for her. After she wore that, the colour became very popular as ‘MS Blue.’ Writing books I have written 80 books. It all started in 1983 when Arunodhayam Publishers, who were near our showroom, approached me to write a book about the secret of my success I told him that I am very poor in writing
Once a life imprisonment convicted prisoner, named Madhan, after reading in Kalki magazine about my support for educational causes, wrote to me a letter requesting financial help for his daughter, to do engineering in College of Engineering, Guindy. I arranged funds for her education Later, when he got released from prison, he came with her daughter, met me and thanked me profusely. When I was in school, Sadagopan, one of our classmates was in a crisis. He could not pay Rs 5 which was then the school fees for SSLC even on the last date and was about to be expelled from the school. My friend and I pitched in and helped him pay the fees. We met after four decades. He recalled our help in his completing SSLC, which changed his entire life trajectory.
Role in education
To adhere to the evolving plastic compliance policies from CPCB also means to partner with the right organization that can dynamically adapt to the framework of EPR and help you fulfil your EPR targets Excerpts from distinguished speakers from an event held at MMA recently
Mathew Jose CEO, Paperman Foundation of India Enhanced Producer Responsibility or EPR is fundamentally a compliance rule that is put by the Ministry of Environment and enforced by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) / State Pollution Control Board (SPCB). In India, there was an existing environmental law; however, anything to do with recycling started only in 1998, when an actual document was prepared on what recycling should be and what the modus and protocol in which it should be done.
"We are in the reverse logistics space."
The CPCB and SPCBs across the country and various brands and some of the early movers, producer responsible organizations like ours, have all been working together in the last six years to frame the idea behind this, work out how this should be done and understand the nitty gritties involved. On a top level, we are talking about a responsibility mandate that is put on to brands or producers and importers We refer to this as PIBO (Producers, Importers and Brand Owners). They are obliged to take back the plastic that they put into the markets. In Feb 2022, amendment
Over the years, we had multiple additions to the recycling law In 2016, we took a lot of inputs from the European Union and that is where EPR came into place, through the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 What EPR says is that, as a company, if you are in the production of any packaging material using plastic, you have to offset that by retrieving programs That means you are responsible for the plastic that you send into the market. Many amendments have come over the last six years.
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Cycle 3: Importer > Market In Cycle 3, only the importer has to do EPR. Category of plastics
Cycle 2: Importer > Brand Owner > Market
rules came in, which are currently there in the market PIBO PIBO is the way in which CPCB has defined Producers, Importers and Brand Owners A producer is not somebody who makes plastic pellets Plastic products are made from a virgin material manufactured by companies like Reliance. The virgin material is taken and made into packaging material For instance, a producer can make a blow moulding bottle or anything that goes into consumer packaging. A producer is someone who makes that particular container or packaging He is in the packaging space
An importer is someone who brings the whole product into the market, like buying a product from Thailand, bringing it into India and selling it over here Or he brings a certain part of the packaging from outside our country to India, as a package and not as a pellet or in the virgin form. A brand owner is anyone who sells the brand or the product in the market Many times, many companies may be producers, importers and brand owners. PWPF is Plastic Waste Processing Facility. A Plastic Waste Processor is anybody who recycles plastic wastes or engages in the use of plastic wastes for energy.
Plastics in the packaging process are divided into three categories: Category 1 is rigid plastics, like pet bottle water bottle or shampoo bottle These are rigid plastics made mostly out of HDPE or PET. Category 2 is flexible plastic
EPR compliance is about registering yourself with the CPCB or SPCB, based on your eligibility. If you are a producer, importer or brand owner with operations in more than one State, you have to register with CPCB which is in Delhi. If you operate only in one particular State, you have to register with SPCB Who has the liability? The next stage is offsetting plastic liability in a compliant manner The third part is filing your annual returns Every company is required to file an annual return, just like we file an IT return with the help of a CA Who needs to do EPR? The below flow chart explains this.
In the Cycle 2, there is an importer, brand owner and market In this case, only the importer and brand owner are the ones who have to do EPR. Clearly, there is no duplicity that is needed. That means, if you are a brand and you're buying the material from a producer, who is doing EPR offsetting, you don't have to do EPR That is, if a producer is already doing it on behalf of you, then you don't have to do it. For example, the producer is doing 100 tons He sells that to 5 brands If your brand is registered, then you can offset against what your producer has done in EPR. That's how it works.
Cycle 1: Virgin plastic supplier > Producer > Brand Owner > Market Owner. In the above Cycle 1, a virgin plastic supplier does not have to do EPR The ones that are highlighted the producer and brand owner have to do EPR. A company like IOCL or Reliance sells virgin plastic into the market Then you have a producer who takes that product and makes a packaging layer out of it. You have a brand owner to whom the producer sells this to
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From 2024 25, recycling is mandatory You can't just end use by sending it to a cement company or do conversion of waste to energy alone. A part of it needs to be recycled From 24 25 onwards, 50% of the category 1 needs to be recycled. You must do 100% offset but 50% of that needs to be recycled. No more end use where it is going for oil or end life solution is permitted It has to be recycled into the same form of the same material. That is a technological challenge which is going to come in. 30% of flexible plastics (Category 2) and 30% in Category 3 have to be recycled
From 2024 25 onwards, all the way till about 2028 29, you have to reach a point where you have to do 80, 60 and 60. That is, if you are in Category 1 (Rigid plastics), you have to do 100% offset, of which, you have to do 80% recycling. If you are in Category 2 (Flexible plastics), you have to do 60% recycling and similarly, if you're doing Category 3 (multi layered plastics), you have to do 60 percent recycling. From 2025 26 onwards, if you put out any bottle that is 0 9 litres and above capacity, those bottles need to be reused This is an industrial challenge. Think about all the commodities going into the market The rule says that 10% of that from 2025 26
which can be single layer or multiple layers of plastics alone, like the milk pouch and LDPE covers Category 3 is multi layered plastic packaging, like tetra packs There is another item other than plastic that is involved, like an aluminium film layer or coating. There is a fourth category as well But let's restrict our discussions to these three mainstream ones What is the liability? What is the obligation in offsetting this? How's that going to work out over a period of time? Offset means that whatever you put directly into the market, you have to take it back. You have to make sure that it is going into some sort of recycling or end use, which means it can also go into a cement company as a core processing. It can be used in waste to energy. It can be used for oil generation Currently the market is in the offset stage In 2021 22, companies have been asked to do 25% offset. In 2023 24, it should be 70% and in 2024 25, 100% offset. That means for 100% of the material that you're putting into the market, you are responsible to offset it. That's where the market is today. (See the table of obligations) A lot of brands have gone into something beyond compliance and they have become plastic neutral where they are offsetting 100% percent. Dabur and ITC are typical case studies in achieving plastic neutrality
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Once you meet your obligations, how do you get into best practice as a company? What are the best practices in managing your entire supply chain? You must maintain records of activities that happen in reverse logistics. Most companies are designed in a linear format They make a product, find some distributors or online platforms and push the product into the market. The compliance rules are no more the 'good to have' kind. It is no more about leadership or doing good It's about compliance and it is a mandate that changes everything Like if you don't file your taxes, what happens? There are so many stakeholders around this ecosystem. We have the ULB Urban Local Bodies Industrial plastic recycling does not figure here.
needs to be reused It is very tricky how to do this Companies have set their supply chain in a certain way If you buy a shampoo bottle, will you go into the shop and ask them to refill the bottle? That is what fundamentally reuse of the packaging refers to How many times can you do it? A lot of other things also have to come around it. This rule applies for Category 1 Then there is another category where there must be recycled content in the packaging. One is, you have to create an end use for your plastic. You have to make sure that in the end use, your product is coming back into the same type of product through recycling You can't just change the form of the product. Then, there is a third category where you have to reuse.
From 2025 26, you have to ensure that in the main packaging product, you should have recycled content as well like recycled pellets. Or in combination with virgin, you have to use 30% recycled content in your rigid packaging This will pose challenges for a lot of companies because their entire production and packaging was not built this way These rules will change the industry dynamics and the industry itself There are a lot of opportunities here, for people in different sectors, including the job seekers. Best practices
The extended producer responsibility (EPR) came in because the plastic waste was getting accumulated and it was reaching our waterways, rivers and finally oceans. We are told that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish These were all the challenges the government and the environment was facing We are also aware of the climate change which is taking place.
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At Paperman, we have worked with more than one lakh tons of plastic in the last four years through this channel We work with 86+ ULBs across South India in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Sanjeev Goyal Manager (Centralised Procurement), ITC Ltd
Covid 19, for example, tried to put fear into us that if we don't care about the environment, there can be disasters like this It was an awakening ITC’s WOW Moment Well ahead of time, ITC in 2012, as part of CSR, started an initiative called WOW Well being Out of Waste, even when people did not hear about waste management. We knew that one day this problem was going to become immense Just to give a perspective, 74 lakh tons of hazardous waste is generated in India
"Partnership is the new leadership."
Role of companies like Paperman Many organisations work with companies like Paperman or other organizations who are in this space. We are in the reverse logistics space Technically, we are a Waste Management Company since 2010 Generally, production companies are in the business of putting things into the market. We are in the business of taking things from the market and creating value Producing companies work with companies like us, tap into our capacity of collection of waste and create a traceable record for their plastic neutrality They have to prove that so many tons of plastics have taken back That is where the chain of documentation comes in. It is not that if you are a particular brand, you have to take back your own brand's plastic It is impossible to go and collect your own bottles back in a 1.5 Bn people market. So, Coke can collect Pepsi's bottles and Pepsi can collect Coke's bottles for a change It is possible Every transaction has to be acknowledged by the CPCB or SPCB, as the case may be. You have to get an endorsement from the recycler / plastic waste processor There are multiple checks and balances over here Also, auditing around this whole industry itself is coming up. Big companies have already put in their auditing practices. This is a great thing for the community as well To get started, the companies must register in the CPCB online portal You can see the companies who have registered there. The entire monitoring process is controlled around the CPCB site. The portal is still in the development process But as of today, all the PWPs (Plastic Waste Processors) have to be registered in that site. All the brands, producers and importers have to be registered It's mandated based on your eligibility So, if you are operating in one particular state, you register with the SPCBs. If you're doing in more than one state, you can register through CPCB Every year, as a brand, you can file your returns through the portal as well.
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At ITC, we take the active participation of the urban local bodies (ULB), municipalities and panchayats We work on the behavioural change of citizens towards source segregation. If it happens, the wet waste can get composted at home or in the community The dry waste will get collected by the waste pickers This will not just improve the environment but also reduce the cost of taking the waste to the dumping site and result in enhanced income for the various cleaning people who come around to collect the waste. We provide training to various households, driving the reason for and importance of source segregation at the house level We distribute bags to the people to keep the dry waste and also the bin for keeping the wet waste. Then we train the waste collection workers who come to collect the waste If the people give the waste in mixed condition, they should not take it The dry waste collected will reach a dry waste collection centre where there will be entrepreneurs, who would be segregating the dry waste into various categories like plastic, paper, glass or metal and so on. The plastic waste, which is the real pain will not go to our rivers and oceans and will go to the cement industry or get recycled into some product At the dry waste collection centres, mostly self help group and women work. They are trained by ITC to segregate the waste into various categories like Category 1, 2 and 3, so that each category can go to a certain recycler ITC has established such centres in various cities. Then from the various centres, the plastic gets to a place called a central hub which is nothing but an aggregating point There the plastic bottles like that of Pepsi and Coca Cola are baled and are ready for despatch to the recycler. We have created the infrastructure to facilitate recycling We have provided the conveyor belts on which people can segregate dry waste into various categories. We have provided baling presses to convert
Single use plastic is a major bane It was a boon when it came in but now it has become a pain, because people use plastic left, right and centre and it is reaching to the all parts of the environment and causing a lot of issues Then there has been collection and segregation failure. The municipal solid waste which we generate does not get collected or treated properly It reaches the landfills and emits a gas called methane, which is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. The greenhouse gases do not escape into the outer space and remain in the atmosphere This results in climate change or increase in the earth's temperature That's how they temperatures all across the globe have been going up. It is the responsibility of all to limit this increase by 1.5 degree centigrade because if the earth's temperature increases by more than 1.5 degree, many of the countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Maldives or even some portions of Kerala will get submerged It is therefore imperative on us to minimize, reduce and eliminate the waste.
ITC's Well being out of Waste program promotes awareness of the importance of source segregation and recycling If at our homes (at source) we segregate the dry waste and the wet waste, then we are solving 90% of the problem. Because if the dry waste is separate, it can go to some facility where it can get converted or recycled or used But almost 90% of our population does not segregate the waste at source. Awareness and behavioural change First of all, awareness has to be created to segregate waste. Then the ability has to be there. You should be provided separate bins for keeping dry waste, wet waste and hazardous waste There has to be participation by the people, failing which the bins will remain unused after two or three days.
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the load into economical load and to send it directly to the recycler The various collected plastic categories are converted into granules, which people can reuse.
The final products made out of these are non food grade As these are recycled plastics, they cannot go for direct food application. Collaboration opportunities Partnership is the new leadership Let's collaborate: • for implementation of WOW in your areas • for digitisation of waste management • for implementation of exchange programs in specific locations for promoting paper recycling • for any start up, for mentoring in this space • as an operator or franchisee
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"We make wealth from plastic bottles"
Tusar Ranjan Corp Head, EHS Dabur Ltd Reduce, Recycle and Reuse are the three methods to reduce the plastics. When we reduce plastics, the environmental pollution will be minimized. But remember, we cannot remove plastic from everywhere. From electronic items to every vehicle we use, there is plastic To manage the problem, we have to follow the sustainable approach. At Dabur, for the year 2021 22, we declared our company as a Plastic Waste Neutral company India is a country with people of different cultures, celebrating different festivals and practising different kinds of rituals throughout the year We celebrate and enjoy the festivals but what is left behind after the festivities are over are heaps of plastic bottles and plates. Left unchecked, these impact the environment, especially the water bodies and the underground At Dabur, we make wealth from plastic bottles. We started this journey from 2016. We make T shirts, carpets and many other things from waste plastics Thanks to the EPR, in the next one to two years, there will be lots of changes and opportunities and employment. At Dabur, which is a 135 year old Ayurveda company, we team up with different waste management agencies In 2018, we started the collection of the plastic waste material of 3800 metric ton. Last year, 2021 22, we completed 26,950 MT of plastic waste and were declared as the first FMCG plastic waste neutral company We are not just working in one state. We cover the entire union territories and 34 states. In the last four years more, we have collected more than 65,000 MT of plastics and sent to the recyclers and co processors. We are also doing awareness programs in various cities. In Delhi region, we have started with one of our partners a campaign called, 'My 10 kg Plastic.' We have covered more than 250 societies. From the societies, we collect the waste using our partner agencies The segregated waste go to a All these steps help us in reducing the carbon footprint in atmosphere. The future roadmap is about converting the challenges to opportunities, reduction of virgin plastics and focussing on recyclable plastics.
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If we implement this program across various states, the awareness and the source segregation issues can be greatly resolved. Some of our campaigns over the last 4 years include health campaigns, Swachh Bharat abhiyan and Marine Drive Plastic Cleaning in Mumbai City. This year, in Madhya Pradesh, we invited more than 250 to 300 children and tied up with an NGO for creating awareness amongst the household At Dabur, the commitment of our top management is to go beyond the compliance requirements. In 2018, Dabur worked with three waste management agencies. Today we are working with ten 36,000 rag pickers are associated with our waste management agencies. Our ecosystem comprises waste management agencies, rag pickers, ULBs, co processors and recyclers We have mechanisms to ensure transparency and traceability in transactions. We have appointed BDO a world class agency to audit the entire system, including carrying out on site verifications They check if the rag pickers are provided with proper PPEs, whether they get proper remuneration and so on. All these steps help us in reducing the carbon footprint in atmosphere The future roadmap is about converting the challenges to opportunities, reduction of virgin plastics and focussing on recyclable plastics. A lot of opportunities will be created in the recycling sector and more investment will come to India
Because of the pandemic, we have seen that a new future is being created across everything that we do Today, the way how people prioritise, shop, decide and respond is undergoing significant shifts. Covid 19 was not just a disease or a pandemic. It was seen by people in three different ways Firstly, of course, as an external threat There was a huge disruption and fear for one's health. Our self preservation instincts kicked in. There was a heightened paranoia for not wanting or not getting the disease. We all ran indoors like mice, shut our doors and windows and blocked the outside world from accessing us
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The Panic Mind: We were in a constant state of panic As soon as we interacted with someone from the outside, we'd come home and wash our hands with sanitizers all over. One was masking and double masking. The panic mind was clearly in focus because we have a basic survival instinct and we needed to survive.
Any crisis impacts women and children more.
The Distancing Mind: We all witnessed this, if not in our own neighbourhoods, in the news. We started to ‘other’ anyone who was not like us If someone was not from our family or community, that person was deemed unsafe. We saw how doctors, people belonging to some Covid has changed the dynamics for many. Women were hard pressed to respond despite the prevailing sense of helplessness and despair An interesting talk by Ms Anju Joseph, Partner, India Business Head, Quantum Consumer Solutions
The second was the fact that even those who were not affected by Covid had their lives hugely disrupted. There was helplessness and pressure, and that impacted their attitude and feeling The third, it led to a shift in their perspective It made people question, reassess, reprioritize, prepare and adapt. New mental models Our mind was split and many mental models emerged during the pandemic.
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The Infantalised Mind: This was, “Tell me what to do. I don't know what to do.” When Prime Minister Modi said, “Light diyas,” we all lit diyas When he said ‘bang,’ we all did that. We did everything that somebody was telling us to do. There were so many videos and posts on social media asking us to drink all kinds of concoctions At that time, we all wanted to be led The Imprisoned Mind: There was a sense of imprisonment, because it was groundhog day. Every day was the same Weekdays melted into weekends Days melted into nights and there was a sense of stagnation and monotony
religions and north easterners bore the brunt of faith. Anybody who was not familiar was the ‘other’ and our mind, as a survival strategy, said, “Let me distance, because I need to protect myself from the external threat.”
The Victim Mind: People started asking, “Why poor me? What have I done to deserve this and how can it be me?” We heard a lot of that during the pandemic.
The Deprived Mind: There was a sense of deprivation. We got deprived of our fundamental senses. Only visual and auditory senses were in play and mostly, the other senses were dormant After the first lockdown, we saw serpentine queues outside alcohol stores because one was completely deprived of things that were taken for granted before the pandemic One response is to look at change as an opportunity: ‘A new world has been presented to me and let me see how I can make the most of it.’ Such a response makes people upskill, change jobs, move cities or go to a bigger home.
The third is that change is danger. They look for things that help them to maintain status quo For instance, during the pandemic, we ourselves saw or heard of people watching old serials, mythology series and all that, because when things are changing, we need
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The Introspective Mind: There was also a lot of introspection and re prioritization People started asking, “What am I running behind? What am I working for? Why is it that I'm not paying attention to things that matter?”
Crisis of Health: The pandemic showed us how frail we are or how much of threat the human body is under. Health consciousness has become important Crisis of Spontaneity: Even though we step out of home and go to shops, every now and then our mind stops and says, ‘Hey, should I be doing this?’ Earlier, we felt we could just walk into a neighbour's house Human memory is short and we forget, but all of us went through these mindsets at some point or the other.
There is another mindset that says, ‘Oh my God! This is such a huge challenge But I need to cope with it because I need to stay relevant.
Human memory is short and we forget, but all of us went through these mindsets at some point or the other. Depending on the situation, we were either worrying or panicking or feeling a sense of stagnation It is true that the pandemic is far from over. But it has already run its dangerous course. Three responses to change Each time there is a change, we find different kinds of responses across all categories. One response is to look at change as an opportunity: ‘A new world has been presented to me and let me see how I can make the most of it.’ Such a response makes people upskill, change jobs, move cities or go to a bigger home.
a sense of anchoring. Seeking status quo is a response to change. In India, we witnessed all these three mindsets
The Worrying Mind: The pandemic led to job losses and insecure futures One did not know what was going to happen. So there was a lot of worry.
The Self Sufficient Mind: People felt that nothing can be trusted and therefore, they needed to take control into their own hands. Lot of upskilling, learning and equipping oneself for unforeseen things happened
There is a section that said, ‘Let me grab the opportunity.’ Another section said, ‘I need to catch up and stay relevant. It is onerous, but I need to do it.’
Then the third set of people said, ‘What if I just don't look at it! Maybe things will not change as dramatically.’ Far reaching consequences The consequences of the pandemic are going to be far reaching and we have many crises on hand which will continue for a while Crisis of Security: We see this across men and women. Everything that one took for granted was questioned during the pandemic. It didn’t matter even if you had money or you were a doctor or you lived near a hospital There was nothing that was for sure
But nowadays, we may be making a phone call before going there Spontaneity is not safe, yet Crisis of polarisation: This is also the larger political narrative. Because of the pandemic, the ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ narratives are becoming much stronger.
Crisis of Now vs Future: Should I live in the now because I don't know about the future? Or should I make sure that I plan so well that no matter what happens my future is secure? In every category, we see two kinds of responses ‘Let me just live today, buy the most expensive jewellery and indulge in luxury brands. What am I saving for? I don't know if tomorrow is going to happen or not ’ There is another set that says, ‘Listen, I need to get my act together What I have is not enough. To ensure that my future is secure, I need to live prudently today. I need to save, work on my health and do morally right things ’ Seven shifts in a woman ’ s life How have all these crises impacted our women?
We did some research in a small town of Maharashtra. We asked a woman to introduce herself. She said, “I’m a businesswoman I make Puran poli which is famous from Aurangabad to Shamli ” That was her introduction. She has discovered during the pandemic that she can do this. In social media, women have been posting their success stories and celebrate themselves Their skill is their identity and it is a key to their success. They have recognized that they have a lot of skills and potential, just waiting to be unleashed There is a shift from an identity that was linked to a role to an identity where she has come into her own. Lots of women have converted their little hobbies into professions and have been quite successful at that.
Women always want to be super heroes The pandemic has shown her superhero side as well There have been shifts in all walks of our life. The new woman is emerging out of the pandemic and seven major shifts have happened in her life There could be more but I think these are significant and interesting shifts. From an ‘identity subsumed’ to a ‘self-crafted identity’: The pandemic has made her grow in her own eyes and in the eyes of others as well Most importantly, she has re evaluated herself. There is an amplified and renewed quest to reclaim herself and craft her own identity She has faced so many battles like the husband losing his job or the husband’s business not doing well, her children, husband and everybody being at home usually in cramped spaces, increased workload because maids are not arriving, schedules going awry, the demands not getting reduced, the need to prepare more food, wash clothes and keep the house clean She has had to rise above all these. What she discovered about herself has been extremely eye opening She has taken over the financial load along with other chores Home premiership has come up in a big way. Lots of women have converted their little hobbies into professions and have been quite successful at that She has upskilled We've heard of many women who know about crypto and learn about investments and finances. They are getting into it running businesses and are upgrading in terms of tech, as they do their business online
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From Tech Intimidation to Tech Partnership:
Women have generally been quite low on the pecking order of tech. Most mobile phone access is with men. Women often have to share a mobile phone or they don’t have a smartphone Fundamentally, for women, tech was intimidating. Now we find that she has moved to a relationship of partnership with tech. It has enabled her to transcend time and space and become a force of knowledge Ambulatory restrictions have always been there on women but because of technology, she doesn't need to go anywhere to figure out things She is sitting there with this little mobile device in her hands and exploring the world. She's exploring how to make decisions, how to purchase and how to choose. She no longer relies on her neighbour or husband, but on Google reviews and ratings to make decisions Retailers tell us that window shopping has come down because women have done their research. They know exactly what they want to buy and from which store They do not go from one shop to the other As a result, in a lot of high value purchase stores, the footfalls have reduced. When women come to the store, they are serious buyers The way consumers purchase and decide has all changed. So for marketers and for people who attempt to talk to this woman, the important question is, ‘Where do you find her?’ Today, she is not necessarily relying on traditional media and traditional influencers like neighbours or mother in law. She has found her own way. She has the rocket in her pocket On social media, women are proud to talk about themselves as the tech support in their homes. They are upskilling themselves so they can have better video call experience. Paytm, Google Pay, Big Basket, Swiggy have all become household words The woman is using them quite effortlessly.
From Self Sacrifice to Self Love: This is a big shift. It is now okay to seek ‘me time’ and this significant socio cultural shift has happened thanks to the pandemic Earlier, ‘time for myself’ was completely mired in guilt. If you sought time for yourself, it meant that you were not a good homemaker or you were not doing your role well Every time you pitched the idea of convenience, it was always judged and looked at as something that is negative. The ideal woman was somebody who sacrificed herself at the altar of the collective Now, she has learned that it not necessary to be perfect. It's okay if things are not perfect. It is a journey that is not complete, but she's been able to embrace her flaws and follies She has been able to create windows of opportunity, where she has given permission to herself. For instance, we find today that women bathe for longer The time in the bath is so important for her because that's a time where she's communing with herself. She is buying premium products or has become more open. Our clients tell us that alcohol consumption amongst women has indeed gone up during the pandemic. It has eased the pressure on her. There is a new woman in the making. If this is a woman who is journeying towards the idea of self love, how do you pitch products to her? Earlier, it was about being a good Retailers tell us that window shopping has come down because women have done their research. They know exactly what they want to buy and from which store.
From Pester Power to Generous Authority: This shift is focused on mothers. When the child wields influence, she's way more firm in her negotiations today So nutrition is undergoing a sea change The turn of the century after liberalization saw a dramatic shift in parenting, because parents as well as children were exposed to the new world of chips and soft drinks and chocolates Therefore, many 'no's had become ‘yes’es and kids were exerting their influence in a very clear way. But during the pandemic, the focus is back on health and immunity. If you're immune or you don’t have co morbidities or you haven't got covid or recovered quickly from Covid, it's a status marker. There has been a birth of new status markers, all of which are linked to resilience, impregnability and infallibility Therefore the mother has felt the need to take control back in her hands. Good practices have thus been dialled up like eating of fruits and not eating junk food If the child requests a pizza, the mother is ready to make it at home with home made ingredients, to protect the family from Covid. The woman has gone back to taking charge of nutrition We see lots of conversation online about eating healthy If you're immune or you don’t have co morbidities or you haven't got covid or recovered quickly from Covid, it's a status marker. There has been a birth of new status markers, all of which are linked to resilience, impregnability and infallibility.
What is it that you say to her today will be significant for marketers
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homemaker
We find a lot of conversation online about ‘me time,’ and ‘rewarding myself with things that I like to do ’ So be it photography, spending time with nature, spending time in a salon, getting your hair done or getting a lovely pedicure, ‘me time’ has become important for her.
Women showcase their journeys of doing well in businesses and at work or learning a new skill They believe in showcasing that to a larger world. For marketers, particularly the question is, ‘Is innovation a necessity today? How do you make her interested in your product?’ Innovation becomes significant in that aspect. During survey, women told us things like, “Oh, earlier I used to just sew so that I can repair clothes of my husband or my children But during the pandemic, I learned how to tailor through YouTube and now I have opened a boutique.” That is so revealing as well as amazing There was a need but also, she could do that
From 'Comfort in the Familiar' to 'Conquering the New': The woman wants to upgrade and wants to move to the next level of success. She is into entrepreneurship as well as experimenting new goals. You were probably part of or at least privy to Dalgona coffee trend or people making all kinds of new foods or trying out new cuisines. Like that, women are now becoming entrepreneurs, sometimes because of ‘me’ factor or because of interest They are forced to move out of their comfort zones. Loss of jobs, insecurity and lack of income have made her go on a new quest. A lot of hobbies have got translated into amazing opportunities for her The pandemic gave birth to a lot of entrepreneurs, business women and part time workers.
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From 'Work Hard' to 'Work Smart': Time became the biggest currency we witnessed during the pandemic We've seen that woman has been pressed for time. So her mantra has shifted from working hard to working smart She is seeking hyper convenience She doesn't want to do steps that are unnecessary. One more extra step means wasting precious time. Her lens has shifted from money saving to looking at the opportunity cost ‘In that time that I save, what else can I do?’ The world of convenience thanks to technology is at her footstep and doorstep and she's making the most of it, saving time and ensuring her time is spent in the best way possible and in the most productive manner What some women told us was, “'I'm a working woman. Therefore, I need to get my priorities right. I have made sure that I have a maid and a tuition teacher for my child I need to spend my time taking care of myself, my family and my home as well as pay attention to my work.” This is smart work and being able to divide smartly and to choose wisely in terms of what is it that she needs to do and avoid doing.
From 'Togetherness of Space' to 'Togetherness with Purpose': The last one is the idea of quality time. Earlier, a family was together just because all were in the same space. Now when people are together, they must be working towards some purpose. The idea of quality time has become significant today It's not about the amount of time you're spending, but what you are doing with that time that you're all together.
The woman is actively designing experiences of joy, of love and of tangible affection The pandemic has shed light on the unpredictability of life So there is a growing emphasis on quality time, be it playing tambola or the whole family cooking a meal together. Many events are getting created so that the bond gets strengthened within the family and the idea of the family gets reinforced constantly There are lots of posts online about how people are designing family time. The question is, if she is living her life like this and designing for experiences, does the idea of products even exist? Does everything need to be imagined as a service and as a result of that, do we have to think of not just what we are selling but also the ecosystem? Not just the point of sale or how she's going to use it is important but also what else she is doing? These are significant things to think of from a marketing point of view
These are seven fundamental shifts that we are picking up in the work that we are doing. The woman post the pandemic is armed with new skills. She is armed with new confidence She is someone who has taken charge of herself and people around her as well as her community. She is someone who has got heightened awareness now and is questioning the fundamentals She is questioning things that were probably part of her conditioning She is on a journey of identity crafting and above all, she is shaping a new world, one more time. The world of convenience thanks to technology is at her footstep and doorstep and she's making the most of it, saving time and ensuring her time is spent in the best way possible and in the most productive manner.
I worked with the Murugappa group for about six years. I got married in between. I had a kid and took a break It was not a thing that you did 30 years ago If you took a break, it meant it was going to be the end of your career. But now, if you take a break, people pat you on the back, because you try to understand
Babita Baruah: Gangapriya, you have been a huge inspiration to all of us in how to run a huge office, how to get a very motivated team, how to sustain the motivation and many more. Can we start off with a little bit of your own journey and some important milestones in that journey?
Ms Gangapriya Chakraverti, Managing Director, Ford Business Solutions India, in conversation with Ms Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, GTB India, a WPP Unit
Gangapriya Chakraverti: Sure I would consider myself so much a Chennai person. I've spent most of my life in Chennai. I was academically quite good. I went to a co educational school and then went to Women's Christian College It was an entirely new and different world. It was when I realized who I was as an individual woman and the capabilities that women have Then I went to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Bombay, where I did my masters in Human Resources. Being in Bombay and getting exposed to the corporate world as part of our curriculum gave me very strong work ethics Bombay is a place where you need to work if you want to know what it is like to be a good professional. That's my belief. So that was a great opportunity But in Tata Institute, I was perhaps the last one to be placed It was quite heart breaking in many ways I got a job with Murugappa group in Chennai. They were very bold in those days to put somebody like me a woman in particular in an industrial relations role I was sent to their factory in Ranipet and I worked there for the initial part of my career. Then they moved me to the head office and I spent a good amount of time there, working with the staff categories and unionized workmen They gave me great exposure to people working in organizations at a grassroots level and understanding who they are, what they do and what their aspirations are That was really the grounding that I got in my professional life
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My parents have been my biggest allies In fact, they were bold in sending me from Chennai to Bombay The second thing is, for a person who constantly topped the class, the hard knock of not getting a job was a very important lesson because you can't have everything coming your way And sometimes, you need to take that break to just pause and reflect where you're going and take a course correction, if required. We would love to hear your views on women and women leaders, what they contribute and the value they bring to the table. More than anything else, if we have a team where people are all alike, how would that team really think and work on solutions? How unified would be their thought? Contrast that to what different kinds of people bring to the table when they form part of the team. It is in that lens, I would look at women as well. Each individual brings something unique and different, and women as a group, perhaps bring something very different. I am quite hesitant to generalize but there is a sort of softness that women bring. They are able to
yourself or search for meaning It’s a totally different paradigm I realized somewhere along the line that staying at home was just not for me. I needed to be in the workplace. So I got back into an organization Mercer Consulting I stayed there for the next 13 years Then I felt that though it was giving me the identity, it was also taking away a lot from me, as to who I was as an individual. So I again took a break and that was also the time my son was going to class ten Then I got an opportunity at Ford and I've been at Ford now for over 10 years. I must say that every part of my professional journey has been very special. I have learnt a lot and it has added to my personality and my being I feel ever grateful for the kind of opportunities that I have had. I live in Chennai now. My husband is a consultant and academician and I have a 26 year old son, who I think is the person I learned the most from How beautiful is that! You were really bold in moving to Bombay. Then you shared a fascinating story of being a topper and still ending with disappointment at not getting a job.
You must have the ecosystem at home to support. Women also hesitate to use it and both are realities. The expectation is that the woman does most of the heavy lifting, as far as the house and family are concerned. Times are changing. I see a lot of men playing a more significant role in parenting and running the house We are moving in the right direction but the burden of running a home and working, definitely adds a level of stress. It also creates hesitation in women to take on more responsibilities. They begin to doubt themselves Their family and children become top priority and career always takes a second seat. How do you think men can also contribute or support women in the workplace?
The best way for men to support is to give space for the women by encouraging them to speak up and to share their points of view and opinions They must make them participate actively in the organization process. The second thing is, men can also provide visibility of women to the larger organization by giving them opportunities to present, by presenting them to leaders and showcasing their work. Many women hesitate to talk about the work they do. Several of my colleagues say, “I don't need to advertise I don't need to talk about my work; my work will speak for itself.” That may not always be the case. You need that little projection within the organization, because if you take a backseat, there will be hundreds of others who will want to present themselves and can show up much better. The third, they must consider women equally when it comes to opportunities I'll give you an example When you have jobs where people have to travel, most of the time people decide that a woman won't be able to travel. It may not be the case Women can also make their own arrangements and take on travel Therefore, it's very important to ask the woman before any decision is made. These are three simple ways in which men can really help women at the workplace You need that little projection within the organization, because if you take a backseat, there will be hundreds of others who will want to present themselves and can show up much better.
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look at aspects that may not necessarily be conventional corporate kind They bring a point of view that can be more underlying than what is obvious and on your face. Many of them are good listeners. They bring huge skill sets In fact, one of the things I love telling a woman is that if you can manage a home, you can manage a job. When you manage a home and a family, you have to deal with individual expectations, conflicting priorities and multiple stakeholders who may not necessarily be aligned on anything. You work with limited resources. These are all the things that you expect out of any person in a workplace Women do things with tact, great resilience and huge patience, though they tend to underestimate their capabilities. Having said that, everybody brings something very unique and that is something we should not lose track of. Do you think that work experience adds additional stress or does it help us gear better?
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Yes. That was indeed a turning point in my professional life when I had to stand up and say, “Count me in ” When I was in the consulting firm, they were looking for somebody to head my practice. I don't know what got into me. One day, I went up to my supervisor who was from Australia and told him I would like to be considered for that role I really didn't know what their goal was about and why I thought I would be good in that role. It was an office in Chennai and mine was not even a convincing request We were walking out of the office and I casually told him, “Would you think that I would be also a candidate for this role?” And, you know what! He told me, “I was thinking that maybe you wouldn't be interested ” So when there are opportunities, you need to put up your hand because most of the time, at least for most of my professional life, the default was ‘No, she wouldn’t be interested ’ Things are changing quite rapidly That doesn't mean that I have put up my hand every time. In fact, when my boss asked me, if I can take on the role of the head of the organization, I said, “Why me?" It took some convincing from my boss to make me realise that perhaps they saw something in me. When you think back, the first reaction is perhaps not the best reaction many times I love what you said about ‘Count me in.’ I feel it should be a slogan that we must wear. After 26 years, I'm not even sure if I say it as many times that I perhaps could say. We ask to be counted in when we are almost 80% or 90% sure that we would get ‘yes’ for an answer. It is also very important to ask why you wouldn't count me in, even if I don't feel that I'm ready for the job It's a
great way to reflect on what my capabilities are, where I need to improve, the skills I need to develop and what I should do to show up differently It is a good opportunity to get feedback about you as a person.
How do you think we can encourage women to overcome this hesitation to ask for things or feedback?
I think women like to come across as super women We need to overcompensate for a lot of things for our place in the organization. The second thing is that, when we ask for help, we feel it's almost like a failure for us On the contrary, it's really to say that there is so much I can manage, but I definitely could do more with some help. Women should definitely do more of asking, whether it is help from the organization or parents or kids Shamelessly ask for help People are waiting to help. Fortunately, we are in a culture where we can make use of all this. Do you have a problem in sourcing women for jobs that are in Tech and perhaps Automobiles. Do we slot ourselves still in skills that we are comfortable in? Or are we moving out of our comfort zones as women? It took some convincing from my boss to make me realise that perhaps they saw something in me. When you think back, the first reaction is perhaps not the best reaction many times.
Have there been some moments or experiences where you felt you had to convince your colleagues that you are in for it- for the job and the performance?
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Even companies like us struggle We have a good culture that enables a change in mindset, but many times we are trying to erase generations of thinking. In companies like Ford, we are in many ways privileged. For us, following a rule or policy is non negotiable If we have a code of conduct, the consequences of not complying are very severe. So everybody learns to follow that and it makes it a little easier for us to create D&I But your mindset is mindset It's not something that can be just turned on and off. We all missed role models when we came into the workplace, but with the younger generation, the possibilities are showing up...
There are different aspects to DI. The simplest one is policies that encourage women; provide more opportunities to women; make it much more equal workplace. The second one is not just to have policies but practices Are you recruiting more women and providing opportunities for their development? The most difficult part as far as DI is concerned is mindset and the culture. Organizations are just microcosms of the world around them So whatever the attitudes we have outside, will be the attitudes that you'll find inside. Changing mindset to bring a much more inclusive approach is the hardest thing to do.
Getting women into the workplace is a difficult proposition, even at an entry level As we grow in the hierarchy, you will find that the numbers are dwindling. It’s like being on a treadmill. As much as you recruit, you're also losing people The second thing is, I find that women tend to specialize in certain areas I've great experiences of women who want to specialize in automobile engineering. They are truly driven by passion and are top class But they are so few and if you don't give them the kind of jobs that excite them, you will lose them. They are academically strong. They like to work in teams and are innovative The other point that I have noticed is that a lot of time, there is pressure from the family for their girls to work in comfortable jobs in an AC office environment rather than a factory Those are all realities Ford was amongst the first companies in India in 1998 to recruit women on the shop floor. They went and picked up students, who had completed Class 12 to come and work as employees on the shop floor Many of them have grown to become managers in the company and it has really changed their entire lives and their social standing. Bringing women into the workplace is also about social change They become role models and inspiration. They encourage other women.
How do you think corporates can initiate Diversity and Inclusion (DI) initiatives?
We all missed role models when we came into the workplace, but with the younger generation, the possibilities are showing up because they've seen people before them who have done it and proven that it's possible to manage a career and family and grow within the organization. There is the personal accomplishment There are also other benefits Financially, you become a lot more secure, you are able to look after your larger family and there are so many other things that come with it
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More importantly, you need to know why you want somebody as a mentor and what kind of a person you believe would be the best mentor for you That is not something that you define yourself It is important to speak to people who know you, who understand you and who can tell you that this is the kind of person that you need to reach out to So first, try and figure out what makes for a good mentor for you and who those people might be and then reach out to them.
These days, people are quite accessible I find so many people sending me messages on LinkedIn and asking if they can connect. Of course, we sometimes become wary of connecting with people on social media, but the fact is you can reach out to people easily.
The third is that when you network, you get access to people There's a good chance that somebody could become your mentor or put you in touch with a good mentor. What is the one thing that interests you outside of work?
If you had to live your life a little differently, would there be anything that you would do differently?
Perhaps not. I have been quite fortunate and privileged in many ways I would pretty much keep it that way From the professional thing, is there anything you would have liked to change? I wish I had a mentor, a little early on in my career. It would have really made a difference to me I had colleagues who were very well meaning but not somebody who I could call a mentor. I also felt the need for a female mentor in particular because the mindset a female mentor brings can be very different Even the experiences can be very different. For instance, I'm very hesitant to ask for things like, ‘I need this support. I need this benefit ’ I wish I had asked more and made my life a lot easier! If you seek a mentor, what is the right way to go about it?
The younger generation are much more open to the idea of inclusion and experiences They question some of the things that they have been taught as children. I am quite hopeful that the generational shift will accelerate the mindset change in organizations
Many times, mentors maybe somebody in our own circle, either in the organization or in a friend’s circle or in our extended families We draw imaginary boundaries and say that we can't talk certain things with some kinds of people. That again comes in the way You don't have to look for a CEO or a head of an organization to mentor you Somebody who has been there, who is slightly senior to you and accessible, can sometimes be a very good mentor. Your requirements may be just about the three things that you need to do next. Aiming too high to get a mentor may not necessarily get you what you want. We don't have to look for some esoteric person The more complicated we make it, the further it gets away from us That is the second thing.
Many things. I like to keep a good home. I like being with nature. I like so many things. I like cooking and being in my home What is the one habit which you feel is very annoying about you?
It is important to bring women to the shop floor. You must have the right policies and create an enabling environment, which means that the infrastructure needs to be there. Many times, factories don't have even toilets for women We must have enablers like day care centres and transportation We also find that when we have women in the workplace on the shop floor, the behaviour of men improves They become a lot more respectful and mindful about how they conduct themselves It is a great win win for everyone. I don't think there will be a dearth of girls who may want to come in and work, though I don't know how long they will stick on But it's a great solution
What is your idea of that perfect weekend?
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I like to socialize a little I like to meet friends I'd like to get things in order so that my week ahead is under control. I also like some time to just laze around, doing nothing, though it is very difficult
It is a very important question and one that corporates should think about, on an urgent basis. The pandemic to a great extent has made people think about why they are here, what their purpose is and what kinds of jobs would really suit them. They want to find their purpose through the work they do and have the balance between work and life If organizations don't redesign jobs that will enable people to find larger purpose and meet their aspirations, then they will not catch the imagination of young people Their expectations are sky high Work is mundane for them. That is the reality. It is important, especially for older organizations like Ford, to reimagine work, so it's appealing for young people
You said that Ford was one of the first companies that brought women into the shop floor. I'm a big advocate of skill-based work because that's the solution to employment problems. That is still an area which is not explored carefully. What would be your recommendation to change the scenario and get more young women into the skill sector for employment?
I'm more a ‘today’ person. I don't really think too much about tomorrow but I'm not somebody who's always present also I'm a little scattered in that sense but more in the here and now. What would you choose between dreaming and doing? Very much doing. I'm so much of a doer. Sometimes, you also need to dream. You need to prioritize tomorrow over today I think it just played by the year, which means that opportunities will just go by. You don't look at possibilities and may lose out on many things.
If you had to choose between today and tomorrow, what would you choose?
(laughs) There are many You can ask my family I like things to be done my way The manager in me shows up at home. I don't think it serves me well.
Mythili Chandrasekar: I particularly liked what you said about ‘asking.’ Babita and I had a boss who would always tell us that asking is free What you said that having women in workplace would bring out the better in men hasn't been highlighted so far or discussed.
Lata Rajagopalan: Today's generation is different. They work from home and on their own terms. In this scenario, do you foresee that in the near future, in the corporate world, you might find it difficult to have people who will commit to a career, like the way you have done?
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Building awareness in MSMEs M Rajaram Trustee, Swatantra Foundation Swatantra Foundation is a think tank involved in policy research and advocacy. The idea for the defence expo originated from our research, where we felt the need to bring to the attention of the various user groups in the army, navy and airforce and the defence sector about the capabilities of our MSMEs We also wanted to build awareness in MSMEs about the opportunities available in the defence sector and the ways to tap those opportunities.
With the support of Ministry of Defence, we organised the first ever MSME focussed Defence Expo It was spread over three days and was a roaring success There were more than 40 seminars and more than 800 delegates attended. It had more than 500 B2B meetings. Laghu Udyog Bharati, the main co organizer, which is an MSME organising body with a Pan India presence and TIDCO supported us in this initiative "We would like to initiate a process which will make changes happen." Lt Gen A Arun, YSM, SM, VSM GOC, Dakshin Bharat Area Education and skills have no meaning unless they are put to use. For a country to become a strong and robust nation, we need to make our defence procurement processes easier, more transparent and MMA in association with the Swatantra Foundation organised an interaction of MSMEs with Army Design Bureau and Regional Tech Node, Southern Command This was facilitated by Dakshin Bharat Area
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more competitive. In the US armed forces, their think tank seeds an idea and that feeds the DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) It gets built into the university curriculum. The university develops an idea and it gets transmitted to the industry that develops a product Then we buy it, paying for the life of the product That is what we intend to replace We should be able to design the product and we should own the IP of the product and process. It is not enough if we just make in India In the journey from idea to deployment, there can be many heartbreaks and failures. There can be financial losses and the system may not be able to support everybody’s aspirations and needs The purpose of our interaction is to minimise those heartbreaks We would like to initiate a process which will make changes happen. The Army Design Bureau (ADB) is headed by a Major General. There are many Colonels attached to it One Colonel takes care of DRDO projects; the second one is completely linked to academia. The third is related to industry. We normally reach out to the industry through forums such as CII or FICCI Defence procurement policy and the amendments to it have a close connection with ADB’s office. As we have scattered manufacturing units all over India, we decided to create Technical Nodes to be a subset of ADB from Delhi So in all our seven commands, we created technical nodes. The Southern Command office is in Pune. We will discuss the current policies and schemes that exist and the areas that interest defence sector. Everybody need not make a gigantic product. Boeing has probably got thousands of small vendors who provide various components to the Boeing Even if you make elastic or velcro, it will find its use somewhere. We want to facilitate the correct linkages from where we can have a conversation We should be able to design the product and we should own the IP of the product and process. It is not enough if we just make in India.
If you want to discover new oceans, you must leave the comfort of the shore This conveys the ethos on which the ADB functions. In technology terms, you must leave the comfort of predictable outcomes Our focus must be on the soldier and to make his job easier on the battlefield. ADB was formed in 2016 with the sole purpose of being the facilitator for the industrial technology ecosystem within as well as outside the borders and connecting them with the Indian Army as the user. We have two sections: one is a technology and weapons section which is more like a think tank It scans what is available globally The second section is the Technology Resource Centre. It is the central repository of technology and knowhow for the Indian Army It is a single point of contact for interactions with industry, academia, DRDO and field formations. It provides no cost, no commitment demos for developers ADB considers suppliers not as vendors but as partners We start with the problem definition statement. The inputs come from the Line Directorates and Field Formations We also have an internal assessment of our needs that come from strategic planning directorate and others. Our R&D projects come under the Head of Army Technology Board. It is headed by the Deputy Chief of the Army Staff The research requirements may evolve from users or academia. Through these projects, we engage with IITs, IISC Bangalore and others who are interested in doing R&D for defence projects. The projects have to be somewhere or the other aligned to the problem definition statement. Deputy Chief of the Army Staff has financial powers to the tune of Rs 12.5 crores for every project handled by government entities like IITs
• Make 1 70% is funded by GOI and 30% by the industry that handles the project These projects, by and large, will not have a dual case commercial, economic usage in the end.
"ADB considers suppliers not as vendors but as partners."
Brig Ravi Yadav DDG, Army Design Bureau (ADB)
If it is a non government organisation, then the powers are up to Rs 7.5 crores. We have established an Indian Army cell in IIT Delhi to facilitate the transfer of capability of the academia to the armed forces We are planning to establish similar cells in all the IITs and IISC Bangalore. Design & Development Projects These can be carried out one on one with industry representatives for big industries or through consortia like FICCI and SIDM. These projects are undertaken under the 'Make (in India)’ head We have three categories under this:
• Make 2 100% is funded by the industry By the 3rd or 4th milestone, there is a minimum order quantity promised by the government. These are dual use technology which can have We have two sections: one is a technology and weapons section which is more like a think tank. It scans what is available globally.
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business/commercial use, beyond the defence usage • Make 3- These are primarily aimed at components for maintenance of the infrastructure for existing or future projects
Funding is done by the industry This also permits some amount of TOTs (transfer of technology) from the foreign vendors as well as joint ventures established with foreign firms.
For the last two years, the ADB has been an interface between the army, industry, academia and DRDO However, this was felt to be too central. There was a requirement for Regional Technology Nodes (RTN) in various locations, so as to be able to locally interact with the industry and academia. The first node was established in Pune, which houses the Southern Command More importantly, Pune The IDEX Cell is a Section 8 company so that it can facilitate carrying out businesses with startups and MSMEs.
DISC‐The Challenge
Smaller businesses are handled by IDEX (Innovation for Defence Excellence) of the Defence Innovation Organisation under ministry of defence. The IDEX Cell is a Section 8 company so that it can facilitate carrying out businesses with startups and MSMEs It periodically announces launch of Defence Innovation Startup Challenge (DISC), based on the user defined technology needs. These could be processes, components or end use case technologies Startups respond to the challenges and give their own proposals The startups whose proposals are selected are invited to give presentation. There is a high powered selection committee chaired by the ADG, which selects the winners. The project is given to the startups and they are assisted with handshake with the partner incubators like the IITs or the industry These projects run between 24 to 36 months duration These are partly funded by the Government of India and partly by the startup which is selected. The normal IDEX challenge projects are Rs 3 crore worth There is also something called as Open Challenge System where suo moto proposals are received from startups. These are examined by subject matter experts within the army, academia and startups Accepted proposals are taken up for execution through IDEX. The ministry has now come up with up IDEX Prime and which can sanction up to 10 crores worth projects. DRDO is under the Technology Development Fund (TDF). Funding for these projects is done by DRDO up to 90% and the balance 10% is to be funded by the startup. There is a signing of MOU. Tangible milestones are defined. If the milestones are achieved, the payments are released If you are stuck with a project given to you, we are here to guide you. We also provide certain facilities for testing and internal evaluation. "Most of our requirements have pan India im plications." Brig AB Sibal, VSM Director, RTN, HQ SC
Similar to the ADB, RTN is also an interface between Army HQ, Industry, Academia and Field Army.
The ADB puts in its website various problem definition statements, which they have compiled In 2020, 120 such statements were listed, which were subsequently reduced to 46 by merging and other exercises. Most of our requirements have pan India implications For example, if you are able to develop the spare part for L70 gun which is an old type and for which we don't get spares, you will address a pan India requirement.
Remember, all these are made for the soldier and we should not lose sight of this fact. We are also planning to establish technology hubs and labs These are in the areas of electronics AI and robotics, combat engineering, indigenisation of space and skill development for cyber security. We are also working on alternate fuels and conversion of conventional vehicles to EVs. We are now working on conversion of three Gypsy vehicles to EVs.
RTN has a Chairman, Director and Officer in Charge. It has also co opted members from other branches of the army, who are domain experts by themselves. Whenever any proposal is received, it is sent to the concerned Line Directorates for evaluation. We also have nodal officers who cover most of the states They assist the RTN to evaluate various products, carry out NCNC trials, interact with the industry, facilitate various trials going on and make available ranges and ammunition for trials Similar to the ADB, RTN is also an interface between Army HQ, Industry, Academia and Field Army. We don't directly deal with DRDO. We derive the problem statements from the field army We assist them in carrying out NCNC demos. Ideas and innovations are generated. If they are found interesting, we take it forward with the industry In the last six months, we have created a database of industries and academia and who can be approached for a particular type of problem statement.
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Focus Areas What are the focus areas that the Southern Command is looking for interaction with the industry?
BUSINESS is central to many States including the southern states which have a large number of educational institutions and DRDO labs. RTN was formally raised on 2 Nov 2021. We may establish nodes soon in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore with full fledged staff, so that we can take these initiatives forward.
The first step is to ensure that the product that is developed, will meet the quality assurance norms
With the world in turmoil, how will India look at the future? What are our options? What is dragging us down and what is helping the country to move ahead? These and a lot more questions were answered in this engaging event by eminent speakers That's a disruption not just because of the war...
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The Rhine and Danube are dry Temperatures are going over the roof. With the Russia Ukraine war, there is not enough energy available there. Globally, LNG is hugely in short supply, so much so that Bangladesh and Pakistan have shut down their LNG power plants. We are also scrambling for LNG Normally we get it from Qatar But Mr Doval had to go to Russia to try and get some LNG for us because we have a great LNG demand, which has developed over the last 15 to 20 years.
It is always interesting to talk about Indian economy because there are always lots of both good things and bad things to say about it. Let me start with the bad things: Globally, there's a problem. In Europe, most of the rivers are dry BASF is a huge chemical plant south of Frankfurt and it moves all its raw materials by barge. They have cut down production by 30%. Because the river is dry, they are not able to move the raw materials
The global disruption
Plight of the US US inflation is about 7 or 8%, which is the highest in about 40 years. Because of the increase in interest rates, etc , there's a slowing down of US economy
Dr S Narayan, IAS ﴾Retd﴿ Former Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister
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Housing prices have risen by 20%. Purchasing has dropped. At the same time, people are not turning up for work School bus drivers are offered 30 to 40K$ incentive just to sign on to be a school bus driver They are paid $22 an hour whereas the minimum wage rate is about $15 an hour. That's a disruption not just because of the war The Russia Ukraine war has certainly disturbed a lot of things like energy, food, wheat, sunflower oil, to name a few. There's sharp increase in commodity prices. Last year, it came down because of a certain amount of deflation. China is also not going well at all because of their policies like zero covid. Shipping costs have doubled Containers are stuck Unloading at ports is not happening Even at the height of the pandemic, things were better off economically than what it is today. Britain is in a free fall. Whoever wins, will have a tough time to bring the economy together Effect on India What is the effect of this on India? Our costs of imports coal and oil being 10% of our imports are going up. Exports are dropping. In the entire Tirupur Coimbatore Erode textile belt, order bookings for the winter season is 30 to 40% lower than last year, which was a boom year and people made lots of money. IT and Services including Google and others are laying off employees We have heard of 150 basis point increase in interest rates We are also running a 6 to 7% inflation We have run down on wheat stocks because we exported a lot. The wheat prices internationally got high, so we did not procure as much wheat Because of delayed rains, wheat sowing is about 10% less We are going to have a sharp increase in wheat prices and by this time next year, our chapattis and rotis will cost more A different picture inside If we look inside, we get a different picture altogether Though international IT orders are dropping, local digitalization is moving very fast. In fact, the IT sector is short of qualified and skilled
personnel Today, you cannot get a good developer or AI guy in Chennai as it has become a backwater for IT IT skilled people have moved to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune or Indore. But overall, domestic IT is growing quite rapidly We see TCS and others recalibrating their employee salaries and perks. They know their international business is coming down but local business is going up So they manage their costs differently
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After the opening up of economy post Covid, there has been a huge pent up demand on all fronts. Hotels are full, though hotel prices have gone up by double Restaurants are full As there is a lot of travel, there is demand for taxis. Everybody is spending, driving consumption in many ways. Even the sale of white goods is up Capacity utilization in Indian manufactured goods, which is usually based on domestic demand, had come down to about 55% during the pandemic. It has already gone up to 62%. More importantly, we rely heavily on the SMEs In Tamil Nadu, which is one of the biggest SME centres, capacity utilization in SMEs has gone up at least by 10%. It means that production has gone up enormously There is request for finance to expand and to invest in capital goods. Sales of two wheelers and four wheelers have gone up. EV sales are up. Though July has been a poor month, the PMI index is more than 53% The equity market is bouncing back and foreign investment is coming back into the market substantially. Startups in manufacturing
The time for the startups is gone You will not see much of new IPO issues. We will see a movement from startups in the services sector to startups in the manufacturing sector in the next couple of years Chennai is one of the major startup centres. There are hundreds of startups in the IIT campus, which make very innovative things like sensors and 3D manufacturing equipment. In agriculture, though wheat is going down, this year we got good rainfall in the southern parts of the country So rice production will go up, and farmers will be more benefited They will buy tractors, pumps, agriculture equipment and fertilizer. Increased farm income will also drive consumption So definitely, we are growing very comfortably Our economic growth, considering a nominal growth of about 13 to 13.5% and inflation, real growth will be 7 to 7 5% Tamil Nadu is extremely fortunate because of the large dispersion of industries and a good agricultural season. Telengana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat will be the star performers this year and they will outperform national average by 30 to 40%. Telengana is better off than Tamil Nadu in many spheres. We are affected because we import oil and coal We are dependent on China as well Our China imports have gone up enormously and we need to do something about it. We continue to nibble at the edges and we have not got the solutions to the core of the problem However, infrastructure investments are happening in defence, roads, ports and ships. That also will create opportunities in steel, cement and other sectors. So, this year, we are comfortable But we always skate on the edge, sometimes because of our own mistakes and The time for the startups is gone. You will not see much of new IPO issues. We will see a movement from startups in the services sector to startups in the manufacturing sector in the next couple of years.
Mr Raghuvir Srinivasan
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The Hindu BL Recession or the ‘R’ word is being used very freely. Textbooks define recession as two successive quarters of contraction The impact of recession on economy, nation and people is very severe. So the word should be used very carefully. People call every slowdown a recession either because of lack of understanding or to create a fear psychosis or for other reasons. Are we on the throes of a recession? Is the globe on the throes of a recession or is it going to stare at recession? I would say no, though there are lots of factors to be worried about. There are tremendous headwinds. The two engines that run the global economy US and China are in trouble Europe is in equal, if not greater, trouble than the other two That leaves only India as a big major economy, which is looking at a positive growth this year. The global scene The US is looking at a deep slow down, if not a recession. The first quarter was negative growth i.e. contraction The second quarter was also a contraction but less than 1% and it has since improved We will soon get an indication of the Fed’s thinking on the economy, inflation and interest rates. The US is in a spot of bother There's no question about that There are a lot of positives that are happening. Consumer sentiment in the last one month apparently has picked up and jobless claims are coming down in the US. Europe is in a deep hole of its own making. You have 10% inflation in the UK and predictions are that it will go up to 17 18 percent over the next year and a half. There is a runaway inflation in other countries in the European market. Energy costs are primarily driving this inflation, thanks to the Russia Ukraine war We are not even looking at the worst part yet, which is going to be the winter with gas supplies dwindling and gas prices going up LNG is now at 55 per MBTU The normal price is around 10 to 15$. The UK is messing itself up in more ways than one politically and economically. That's the second factor The China factor One country which is escaping the radar is China, which is in an even greater trouble than the United States, thanks its zero covid policy or whatever The second quarter growth in China was 0.4 percent. The IMF has said that the growth for 2022 for China will be 3 3%, which is unimaginable It's a 40 year low There's political uncertainty as well with the party Congress likely to happen in October and President Xi Jinping is setting himself up for a third term. There are some political backroom manoeuvres going on There is the Taiwan crisis and eternal tension with India. The The two engines that run the global economy–US and China–are in trouble.
BUSINESS MANDATE54 SEP 2022 sometimes because of global mistakes Hopefully, we will remain on the right side of the edge all of this year. Like it or not, we are dependent on China...
An intelligent budget
What are the things which are working? We have a stable, macroeconomic environment Even with the fiscal deficit at very high levels, it is still under control Government revenues and tax revenues are galloping. Direct tax and GST revenues are on the higher side There may be worries for the government on the expenditure side but not the revenue side. This year’s budget was crafted very intelligently. There are enough buffers built into it for the fiscal deficit and it is a very conservative budget The estimates for revenues are pegged quite low. Disinvestment is not going to happen this year, the markets being what they are. To compensate for that, the government got 1 5 lakh crores from 'spectrum' sales The government is very Our inflation in the last six months has been above the comfort levels of the monetary policy committee’s limits...
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BUSINESS MANDATE 55 factories are locked Shenzhen, which is the electronics manufacturing hub, went through shutdown a couple of months ago and there are dire predictions for the world's electronics and automobile manufacturing. We are more dependent on China than what we realise China property’s market is in trouble Loans are not being repaid. Mortgages are not being respected by borrowers. Three weeks ago, in the city of Hainan, the Chinese government had to bring tanks onto the streets to drive away depositors who were standing and protesting outside banks because they are not able to withdraw their money. That is a serious situation.
Across the whole world, when central banks are tightening their monetary policy and increasing interest rates, China alone dropped interest rates. Therefore, China is a greater worry than the United States at this point in time What about the other big worries? The crude prices went past comfortable levels. They are now at a manageable level, though they are still very high Crude oil, along with China, will be major determinants of what's going to happen to the global economy in the next one year. If energy prices continue to shoot up, it's going to cause mayhem in Europe and United States as well There are already moves to resurrect the Iran nuclear deal, so that Iran's oil can be brought back. But even that may not have much of an impact This is the broad global scenario which we are up against Does this mean that India's prospects are also bleak? Not a recession I would stick my neck out and say, ‘no!’ There is enough to worry about in India. Not everything is hunky dory, but I would still be cautiously optimistic about India's prospects in the next year We're not looking at recession, for sure That is not going to happen. It's a question of growing at 7 or 6 or 5%. Even at 6%, India will be the fastest growing major economy in the world. Even multilateral agencies like the IMF and World Bank say this. Our inflation in the last six months has been above the comfort levels of the monetary policy committee’s limits, which is 4% plus or minus 2%. We went past seven and dropped to 6.7. The good news is the trajectory is going down The RBI Governor went on record to say that the inflation may have peaked in April. It is certainly something that we need to keep an eye on, considering our problems with the energy prices
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The worry to my mind is not fiscal deficit but the current account deficit, because exports are in trouble, largely because of the slowdown in the west and India's major markets. Two months ago, the government imposed export duty on petroleum products They had their reasons but it has lowered our exports of petroleum products. With exports falling and imports rising, especially because of crude oil and gold, our trade deficit is ballooning It was $150Bn in the first quarter of this year Last year, it was $40Bn a 2 5 times increase in one year. We are looking at a CAD of over 3% for this year which is quite on the borderline of what should set alarm bells ringing Last year's current account deficit was 1.2%. So this is a problem, especially in a situation where capital flows are under threat. When RBI rushed in... We saw what happened between March and July, and even now it's happening in some measure as capital started going out of this country when foreign investors started selling in the stock market and pulling out the money. About 13 or 14 billion dollars were pulled out between April and August first week from the Indian markets and the impact was immediately seen The rupee started going on a cartwheel and the RBI had to step in. Of course, it has a huge arsenal $650Bn of reserves. They spent 20 to 30 billion dollars to support the rupee and yet it went down from 75 to almost 80 Today, it is a shade below 80. This is a risk we need to be mindful of, due to its impact on the larger economy. But the good thing going for India today is that our financial system is quite robust Banks, which were reeling under NPS four years ago have cleaned up their balance sheets. They are strong now and in a position to lend The latest data released by RBI shows that bank credit growth went to 14% in the April to June period, compared to 5% last year. In 2016 17, India was hit by sick banks and sick corporate sector. Both are now cleaned up Thanks to Covid, the corporate sector has slimmed down and they are now in a much better position than what they were 4 to 5 years ago. Consumer sentiment Consumer sentiment has picked up, thanks to the pent up demand in the last few years during Covid. People are out buying everything they can lay their hands on People are travelling and spending on luxury goods and gold The next three months marking our festive season, beginning with Onam soon in Kerala and ending with Diwali in October November are going to be crucial There is a heavy booking of passenger cars, and companies are not able to handle the demand. The constraint comes on the supply side, for various reasons, like the chip shortage for automobiles To sum up, the positives are a strong financial system or stable macro environment as of now. We need to watch some variables like CAD, inflation, and interest rates Consumer sentiment will depend on how interest rates move from here We have already seen a 1.4% point rise in interest rates by the RBI in the last three months. We will begin to feel the full impact by With exports falling and imports rising, especially because of crude oil and gold, our trade deficit is ballooning.
confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target, if not overachieve CAD: The real worry
There are more rises in store, I think Take care of the Delta
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When you get capital flows, asset prices rise and you make money Everybody is happy The sensex goes to 60,000 and people celebrate. When the opposite happens, we should be prepared for that. That's the risk I would like to flag Despite challenges opportunities galore...
Mr P Ravichandran Danfoss Industries I believe the moment has arrived for India and Indian economy. Post pandemic, there are two important challenges the world is facing: one, of course, is climate change, the cost of which has been quite devastating on every country and there has been a general consensus on decarbonisation of economies This is opening up new frontiers for industry The second biggest challenge is the 6 month old war between Ukraine and Russia. It has disrupted three areas: a) The food challenge; Ukraine has been a very prosperous agricultural part of Europe b) Supply chain of raw materials for future technologies; Ukraine has raw materials for future technologies on mobility and hybrid solutions for a lot more c) Supply of defence equipment, Ukraine being a large exporter of defence equipments. The PLI scheme The Centre’s efforts to push the PLI schemes has attracted investment in many sectors. The PLI schemes were launched for many reasons one, to de risk India by reducing imports Manufacturing has picked up, and there has been a positive growth in the export of automotive components in the last two months from India to the rest of the world The government’s impetus on the ease of doing business has helped both new and existing businesses. Many new industries are coming into India, especially the semiconductor sector About 3 to 4 years back, our mobile industry was more The government’s impetus on the ease of doing business has helped both new and existing businesses.
The Western central banks are now in a coordinated operation, raising interest rates and making capital scarce. Assuming that inflation goes down in India and that India is in a comfortable position where it need not increase the interest rates, will it be able to do? That is the question mark. Because if we don't maintain the delta between interest rates in India and the West, there are chances of capital outflows and the rupee will be in trouble The central bank is brave, but they raised rates one fine morning. The next night, the Federal Reserve was all set to raise rates by 75 basis points. If RBI had not increased rates on May 4th by 50 basis points in India, the rupee would have been in trouble the next morning in the markets. This is a risk we are running. Now, this is a part of the globalized world.
ONDC: The game changer We have a great opportunity to build a lot of India centric digital platforms. The initiative by Mr Nandan Nilekani on the ONDC (Open Network Data Commerce) would be a game changer for India because this is a platform which will enable someone sitting in a village corner sell to someone sitting in Delhi. India is a country of 30 + states. Lot of innovation is happening everywhere The people from bottom of the pyramid are moving up and creating many opportunities.
The third area of opportunity for India is decarbonisation of heavy industries. Some of the cement manufacturers have said they want to be carbon neutral by 2028. By 2025 or 2026, carbon tax will likely come in Europe and so, some of the textile companies are looking at decarbonisation as well Demographics and the digital capabilities are two great advantages for India.
The renewable opportunities The second area that we see is the cost of electricity. India produces about 500 GW of power and still about 60% to 65% comes from coal Indian coal is not as efficient as imported coal, say for example, coal from Australia. In this backdrop, there has been a big push by the government on the renewables and on energy efficiency The energy efficiency act has been enacted and government has started energy labelling program. It has made many SMEs to use energy efficient products. Many have cut down on energy bill in lighting by introducing technologies like LED We have close to 20 billion dollars equivalent of LED manufacturing footprint in India. Indian automotive industry has a great potential to deliver to the rest of the world India is already there in many of the world markets Indian IT companies can partner with a lot of automotive companies to really play this game very differently in the future.
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Today, there is more of local production of PCBs, air conditioners, electronic sub assemblies and consumer durables. In 10 years’ time, we will be as big as China in some of those industries. Though there has been a push back on the agricultural reforms, but in the last 3 to 4 years, value addition in agriculture has gone up. We also see the seafood industry moving from just producing seafood to seafood cultivation as well as offering value added branded products The food and food processing industry is today the biggest employer, putting more employment than the IT industry. It is the real sunrise industry, and India has a great opportunity to become the food basket of the world in the next 10 years The biggest challenge the industry is facing is managing the supply chain. It has become a nightmare because we have a lot of dependence on components that comes from rest of the world, especially the electronics components.
Focus on ESG Many companies see ESG as a vehicle to survive the future. We see a lot of investment happening in India on the water side. In agriculture, government is nudging to use less water by changing crops Telangana and MP have done remarkable work on water It is attracting a lot of investment. There is no other country in the world which is growing as fast as we can in electric mobility What really stops us is the availability of raw materials and the right pricing, because the supply chain is still not ready to absorb all the price increases but the technologies are already there. The charging infrastructure needs to be built and there's a lot of work going on. This will open up a lot of opportunities.
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