Ms. Mukta Shah

nowing the importance of fervently smooth and time-stipulated logistics, Shree Hatkeshwara Group has stood out as a pioneer in providing logistics and transportation solutions to various sectors of India’s economy. Incepted in 1991, Shree Hatkeshwara Group has been in the league of delivering confidence, trust, and delight to some of the colossal business houses, government public service organizations, and small business units of the country. With its immaculate experience, knowledge, and impact scale, the brand has built an indomitable rapport in the transportation of cement, GGBS, fly ash, bauxite, steel, and chemicals like LPG & Propane gas amongst others.

The brand offers a diverse range of services like rail rake management, inbound and outbound freight handling at the surface, primary and secondary warehousing/redistribution, thirdparty logistics, and surface transportation. Cost-effectiveness is their USP and the team comprises energetic professionals from diverse backgrounds. Having a dedicated and resilient workforce has made it possible for the brand to follow standardized systems and processes. Following these processes has also made it possible for the team to become flexible enough and curate eminent services to all its esteemed clients.

To dive much deeper into Shree Hatkeshwara Group’s years-long journey of excellence, we invited the second-generation owner of the company, Ms. Mukta Shah. With a strong entrepreneurial persona, she has been entrusted the responsibility to take the group to new levels of success. During the conversation, she walked us through every minute aspect of her company’s zeal for simplifying logistics with diligence. Join us as we feature Ms. Mukta Shah’s inspiring entrepreneurial aura under the exciting segment of “The 20 Most Inspiring CEOs to Watch in 2023.”

Inception Tale

Shree Hatkeshwara group is the brainchild of Ms. Mukta’s father, Adityaraj Shah, who started it off with a single milk tanker driven by him and a vision way ahead of its time. With this very humble beginning, Shree Hatkeshwara group has today grown into one of India’s leading Transport and Logistics companies. The brand has always stood with punctuality, sincerity, integrity, hard work, top-notch service standards, and time-definite delivery. The workforce fulfills its responsibilities with a sense of responsibility, determination, dedication, and honesty.

Balance of Professional and Personal Fronts

Ms. Mukta Shah shares that being an entrepreneur comes with oodles of additional responsibilities on the shoulders. She adds, “It is a real struggle to juggle between professional life and personal life because one is my passion and the other is my life. As Stephen Covey said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on the schedule but to schedule your priorities”. That is what keeps me aligned on the correct path and I try to strike the balance between both professional and personal life.”

Struggles Behind Magnificent Leadership

Being a second-generation entrepreneur, Ms. Mukta Shah talks about facing a different set of challenges as compared to earlier generations. Having been backed by a legacy of the business, everyone expects her to have experience worth 25+ years. The main challenge faced was maintaining and managing the business and simultaneously growing it. After joining the business in 2015, she fulfilled the tasks of implementing various changes in the business, right from introducing the latest technology to opening a branch in the USA.

Echoes of Perseverance Amidst the Evolving Market Trends

“I believe that change is the only constant thing. We need to incorporate all the quintessential yet changing market needs from time to time. In today’s times, R&D and innovation have become a core part of any business and yes, we also believe in the same. Being adverse to the newer technologies coming to the market has become the need of the hour. I believe that every CEO should hold knowledge of entrepreneurial skills. Nowadays a CEO cannot just manage and maintain the existing business but also has a greater responsibility to grow the same to newer heights. A CEO must have the leadership qualities to encourage and mentor his entire workforce to achieve newer heights.

I take inspiration from my father; he has grown the business from one truck to 1000++ trucks in a span of 25 years. I appreciate the passion with which he works even today. I also believe that one can constantly learn from people around you, and this learning is never-ending. I have always felt that one must strive to be better today than yesterday and believe the one mantra that the Military teaches ‘Sweat more during training to bleed less in war’. With these thoughts and virtues, I have always tried to strive for the best and succeed”, asserts Ms. Mukta Shah.

Unabated Spirit of Empowering Employees

Ms. Mukta Shah believes that all stakeholders should be treated equally and proactively. She says that the company’s workforce is one of the most important stakeholders. The right person at the right place and equal distribution of authority, responsibility, and accountability is the key to good governance. Shree Hatkeshwara Group has implemented a “Maker-Checker Policy” in each department that keeps a vigilant check on the errorless and smooth functioning of the stakeholders.

Creating a Better Tomorrow

The brand has come up with a unique scheme for its driver’s children. The group sponsors the higher education of these children and helps them achieve their dreams. The team also provides financial aid to ‘Laxmi Raghunath

Medical Foundation’ to help patients with low financial income with their surgeries. Adding more to the team’s conscious and serene actions, Shree Hatkeshwara Group supports the initiative started by ‘The Sarhad Foundation’ that emphasizes the education and overall well-being of the orphan children coming from Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland region. Recently, Shree Hatkeshwara Group has also joined hands in a project for providing oxygen to Indian soldiers at the Siachen Border.

Pitches of Excellence for the Future

Concluding the conversation with an ardent anticipation of a prosperous future, the lady finished by saying, “Shree Hatkeshwara Group has come a long way. From one truck to 1000++ trucks operating on PAN India level. In 2018 we incorporated a branch in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, with a fleet of 25 tractors and 15 trailers. We proudly present ourselves as an MNC. We wish to see ourselves as a winner in global infrastructure and become the most renowned name in the globe in the upcoming days. We strive towards becoming a successful MNC in the surface transportation industry. In the future, we would also emerge as a multi-modal transportation and logistics company.”

Under such strong intuitive leadership, we can certainly see the Shree Hatkeshwara Group unfolding many new chapters of ebullience and growth.