State of the MBa | 2018 through the CryStal Ball

pRice ` 190. jaNuaRy 19, 2018

Som NarayaN
partner
Carbon Masters

GoodFellas How a clutcH of innovators

is creating social impact
as well as profits

ViNeet rai
Founder
Aavishkaar-Intellecap

UmeSh SachdeV
co-founder
& ceo
Uniphore

www.forbesindia.com
 Business.
Minus the paperwork.
You live on the go, travelling light.

You want things now,

not when the courier gets there.

You’re connected, 24/7,

and you want your reading at your fingertips.
Welcome to the
I NDIA

Tablet Edition
Editor’s Note
Youth today are not just content competing in the corporate steeplechase. They also want to make a difference
Social impact |
StatE o f th E m ba |
The Social Impact special has stories
of entrepreneurs who are making a
difference while earning profits. And
State of the MBA highlights what ails
management institutes in the country
Best,
brian carvalho
Editor, Forbes India
brian.carvalho@nw18.com
4 | forbes india january 19, 2018
In Good Company
I
n August 2016,
Tradecraft, a full-
time, immersive
programme for
those keen to work in
startups, put out a list
of 30 “mission-driven”
Silicon Valley startups
on online publishing
platform Medium. These
were either tech-enabled
or tech-driven startups
that Tradecraft reckoned
were attempting to “make
a big impact on the world”
by fulfilling basic needs
of people that were not
being adequately met.
The list was
memorable for its
diversity, unpredictability
and the boundaries the
startups were attempting
to push. There was
Vote.org, a Y Combinator-
funded startup that was
building technology to
increase voter turnout in
the US (the smartphone
being key to that attempt).
Then, there was the
unambiguous Give
Directly, which enables
direct cash transfers to
the poor and is a recipient
of a Google Global Impact
Award. My favourite is
Pigeonly, which uses
VOIP tech to make
calls for inmates and
their families affordable
(1 percent of the US
population has a loved one
in prison, and families pay
up to $70 for 300 minutes
of call time). Other
startups included those
focussed on homelessness,
low-cost, high-impact
medical treatments and
substance abuse recovery
(using phone sensors and
phone data to predict
recovery in real time).
Impact ventures and
investments—to generate
social change, as well
as profits—have come a
long way in the US. Back
home, the journey is well
and truly underway and
Anshul Dhamija along
with a team of Forbes
India writers capture
it vividly in our cover
story on the ‘Goodfellas’.
Read about the company
that’s using speech
recognition technology to
enable Indians to access
health care, education
and banking services
in their own language.
If you thought social
businesses and investing
are new to India, find
out how Nand Kishore
Chaudhary started up
a carpets business with
rural artisans in the late
’70s. And then there’s the
Aavishkaar-Intellecap
Group, the pathfinder in
India for impact investing,
which Vineet Rai founded
in 2001. Today, it has
close to `4,000 crore in
assets under management.
It’s the likes of Rai
and Chaudhary who
may be driving today’s
youth to not just be
content competing in the
corporate steeplechase
and to instead look for
ways to make a difference.
The rash of management
institutes in the country
have for long been
more focussed on the
former but with little to
differentiate one from
the other. Most institutes
focus on (often out-of-
date) theory with faculty
that lacks skills needed in
jobs and companies that
did not exist a decade ago.
Led by Aveek Datta,
a team of Forbes India
writers set out to pinpoint
the areas management
institutes may be ignoring.
Just one of them:
Entrepreneurship, what
with most B-schools
programmed to churn
out employees rather
than startup champions.
We’re well into 2018,
but have few clues on
the uncertainty and
disruption that lie ahead.
That hasn’t stopped us
from attempting to find
answers to some questions
that will be asked in the
New Year. What we can
be fairly sure about is that
the wave of consolidation
triggered by financial
stress will continue—
although 2017 will also
be remembered as the
year in which a clutch
of potentially landmark
transactions failed to
conclude. We look back
at why they came apart
and what lies in store
for a few of these sole
survivors, who may well
be still keen to mingle in
2018. Watch this space.
 Contents
January 19, 2018 ● Volume 10 Issue 2

on the Cover

34 | the Forester
Who turned FinanCer
Vineet Rai is channelling his
$300 million venture equity
fund Aavishkaar-Intellecap
to alleviate the problems of
rural India. That it changes
the world for the better is
merely coincidental

We Value youR feedback. Vineet Rai quit his job

Write to us at: forbes.india@nw18.com | letters may be edited for brevity. as a forester and deep
read us online at www.forbesindia.com dived into finance,
on the cover: Som Narayan & Umesh Sachdev: Nishant Ratnakar for Forbes India setting up a fund that
on the cover & this page: Vineet Rai: Mexy Xavier. digital Imaging by: Sushil Mhatre would change rural India
 January 19, 2018 CoNteNtS

uPFront
28
Column
31 | the Case against teChno-oPtimism
There is a naïve expectation that digital technology
will fix the world’s problems

Features

soCial imPaCt
40 | Fuelling neW Possibilities
Carbon Masters, with its asset-light model, is
powering Mahindra & Mahindra’s generators
with clean fuel

44 | ‘there is a need to groW all oF india’ 46

Hero Enterprise Chairman Sunil Munjal feels impact
investing must bridge the social gap to quell unrest Nand kishore chaudhary’s Jaipur Rugs has empowered rural women
and foster growth

46 | From rugs to riChes

Nand Kishore Chaudhary’s carpets business, started in
1976 with `5,000, now yields `134 crore and touches the
lives of 40,000 rural artisans

52 | toWards a Clean bill oF health

Consure Medical, a little-know company based in
Delhi, is revolutionising caregiving with its faecal
incontinence therapy device

54 | talking the talk

Uniphore is tapping voice recognition technology
to help millions at the bottom of the pyramid use
smartphones for online transactions

state oF the mba 60

60 | modern gurukul
Outdated curricula and mediocre B-schools have made Mba institutes like ISb continue to witness 100 percent placement
the MBA degree less coveted. Only those that prep
millennials for a new-age workplace will thrive

65 | liberal arts helPs PeoPle beCome

liFe-long learners
Exposing management students to the stream will help
46: amIt Verma; 60, 72: HarsHa VadlamanI for forbes IndIa

create well-rounded business managers

66 | most mbas knoW theory but Can’t

Convert ideas into aCtions
A lot of modern courses put emphasis on theory-driven
practice, writing off the incredible value in
practice-driven theory

68 | ‘india has all the CharaCteristiCs

that Fuelled us entrePreneurshiP’
Jonathan Levin of Stanford Business School says the
country’s capital markets, pool of innovators and
digital infrastructure nurture great businesses
72
Vijay Pasupulati’s Greycampus provides online certification courses

8 | forbes india January 19, 2018

 January 19, 2018 CoNteNtS

70 | ‘indian business eduCation is

strongly inFluenCed by the us model’
Anjani Jain, acting dean of Yale School
of Management, says Indian education is beginning
to provide a more global perspective

72 | return to CamPus 85
More and more professionals are turning
to platforms like online certification course provider
GreyCampus to stay relevant

a bottega Veneta Mary Jane shoe with wildflower print

Forbes india Conversations
80 | making oF a leader: delving into
Promising minds 88
How young leaders are steering old and new
businesses and changing the professional landscape

ForbesliFe india
75 | make your move
We’ve lined up the best in shoes this season.
So that you don’t have to do a lot of sole searching

neW year sPeCial

86 | turn over (many) a neW leaF

A selection of books to read in 2018

88 | it’s shoWtime, Folks!

The year’s movie lineup gives you all
the reasons to grab your popcorn

90 | beFriend your Fitness routine

Instead of taking your diet and exercise schedule
as an intimidating challenge, learn to love it

92 | in steP With modern times

Gadgets that will up your productivity
or improve the quality of your life first among the big bollywood releases lined up for 2018 is Padman

94 | What’s For dinner?

Get set for fresh flavours, new twists and old favourites

98 | all roads lead to memories

Destinations to make your 2018 holiday
truly memorable

98
98: VCG VIa Getty ImaGes

90 94 china’s coiling dragon cliff Skywalk is a perfect holiday destination

regulars | 12 letters | 16 leaderboard | 104 thoughts |

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10 | forbes india January 19, 2018

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Readers Say
Time For Action
Refer to ‘Davos: An Exercise In Futility’
(Issue dated December 22, 2017). Satyajit
Das writes with all the authority of
a person who has never been to an
annual meeting of the World Economic
Forum. To be fair, not all of his article is
inaccurate: Topics such as growth, social
inclusion, gender parity and the frailties
of global financial system will indeed be
high on the agenda in January, as they
have been in previous years. Das is also
correct when he says that current global
governance structures are inadequate
for the scale and complexity of the
challenges our world faces. The truth
is humanity will never solve the myriad
complex, interconnected problems it faces
unless it is able to build a sense of shared
purpose that unites all stakeholders and
cuts across competing interests at the
regional, national and industry level. We
hope that by pairing trade unionists with
executives, environmental activists with
Podcast
Thought Leadership Web Special Lists
Looking into the Future: 21 new jobs of the next decade
Based on major macroeconomic, political, demographic, societal, cultural,
business and technology trends, we look at 21 new jobs that will emerge
over the next 10 years and will become cornerstones of the future of work
central bankers and social activists with
government leaders, our annual meeting
makes a contribution towards forging such
collective action. This isn’t just talk; the
next meeting in January will highlight
progress being made in areas as diverse
as reskilling rust-belt workers, halting
tropical deforestation, preventing cyber
warfare or indeed how to govern in a
world where technology is changing faster
than any government can keep up with.
Given the speed of change in our world,
nobody would suggest the challenges
we face have been solved at previous
meetings or even that they will be
solved at the next one. But we need to
achieve escape velocity somehow and
an improving world economy gives us
an opportunity we cannot afford to miss:
Participants at this year’s annual meeting
will be under no illusion that, along
with talk, now is the time for action.
Oliver Cann, World Economic
Forum, via email
social impact
special & state
of the MBA
By Anshul Dhamija &
Aveek Datta
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How successful transformation
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The idea that technology alone can provide
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 LeaderBoard
2018 Through An Independent Can Ola Ride The Case Against
the Crystal Ball Director=Oxymoron the Gravy Train? Techno-Optimism
The path ahead is Promoters still hold Cab aggregator Digital technology
paved with hope maximum control in re-enters a cash- can’t solve the world’s
and caution P/20 Indian businesses P/22 guzzling sector P/26 problems P/31

past forward

Deals Fall Apart

For many businesses that pinned their hopes on lucrative M&A deals, 2017 was
the year of fizzled dreams. Here are some of the prominent ones that fell
through and the way forward for these companies

rCom-maxis the roaD aheaD

Sell, Reduce, Rebuild
The proposed merger with Aircel that fell through threatened
RCom’s existence, but promoter Anil Ambani is still trying to put
a stitch in the nick of time
over the last seven years,
Reliance Communications (RCom),
the mobile telephony arm of the Anil
Ambani-led Reliance Group, has
been trying to reduce leverage by
monetising some of its assets. With
its financial health deteriorating
rapidly, RCom finally appeared
to have found a solution to its
woes in 2017. The first stage of the
restructuring plan was to hive off its
wireless communications business
and amalgamate it with that of
competitor Aircel, promoted by
Malaysia’s Maxis Communications.
But the deal was called off in October.
Deal Size
An RCom-Aircel combined entity
would have been India’s fourth
largest telco by subscriber base
and revenue market share and the
second largest by spectrum portfolio.
The merged entity would have had
assets worth `65,000 crore and a
net worth of `35,000 crore. A union
between the telcos would also have
paved the way for the planned sale
of RCom’s telecom towers business,
Reliance Infratel, to Brookfield Asset
Management for `11,000 crore.
What Went Wrong?
RCom and Aircel had signed binding
agreements in September 2016
for the transaction, but “legal and
regulatory uncertainties, and various
interventions by vested interests…
caused inordinate delays in receipt of
relevant approvals for the proposed
transaction,” RCom said in October,
after the deal was called off.
Essentially, a slew of cases filed
against the company by creditors,
including insolvency petitions by
the China Development Bank (CDB)
and telecom equipment maker
Ericsson, bound RCom in a legal
tangle and the proposed merger
became difficult to implement.
With the RCom-Aircel merger
off the table, the transaction with
Brookfield also fell through, since
the failure of the former deal
impacted the valuation at which
Brookfield had agreed to invest.
In the last week of December, RCom
tried to pull another rabbit out of the
hat. If the revised plans for easing
leverage materialise, Reliance Group
Chairman Anil Ambani may still save
his company from being taken over
by the lenders in the nick of time.
A joint lenders’ forum has been
trying to work out a strategic debt
restructuring (SDR) scheme for RCom
since June 2017. As part of the plan,
the company had time till December
28, 2017, to resolve the crisis,
failing which the lenders planned
to convert their debt into equity.
On December 26, RCom announced
that it had been working closely with
the lenders and SBI Capital Markets,
the merchant banker appointed by the
lenders to run a competitive process
to monetise assets. The assets RCom
is looking to monetise include 122.4
MHz of 4G spectrum, 43,000 telecom
towers, 248 media convergence nodes,
1.78 lakh km of optic fibre cables
and real estate. The company said
it has received binding bids for all
the assets and that the monetisation
would lead to the debt burden
coming down by `25,000 crore.
On December 28, RCom announced
that Reliance Jio was the entity that
had acquired all the assets—spectrum,
towers and media convergence nodes.
Furthermore, around 125 acres

14 | forbes india january 19, 2018


Jio has agreed to
buy anil ambani-led
rCom’s wireless assets
of real estate that RCom owns at the
Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City
in Navi Mumbai will be developed
by a special purpose vehicle (SPV)
which will be owned by the lenders.
This SPV will take over another
`10,000 crore of debt from RCom.
“Multiple times in the past,
RCom has announced several deals
to monetise its assets, which have
floundered at the eleventh hour,”
says Arun Kejriwal, director of
Kejriwal Research and Investment
Services. “One needs to get into the
fine print of the current deal with
tangible details before concluding
that all is well for the company.”
Jayanth Kolla, partner at
Convergence Catalyst, a telecom
and internet consulting firm, says
if RCom manages to complete the
transactions as planned, it may finally
end the financial stress the company
has faced over the years. Repayment
of the debt is also expected to lead to
CDB dropping its insolvency suit.
RCom is shutting down its
business-to-consumer telecom
business that comprises 2G, 3G and
4G voice and data services. It will now
assume a business-to-business avatar
comprising enterprise operations in
India and abroad, internet data centres
$60 bln
the size of mergers and
January-November period
and a global submarine cable network.
After cleaning the company’s balance
sheet, Ambani intends to sell a part of
his stake in the company and utilise
the proceeds to further pare debt.
Though the new RCom will hardly
match up to its previous size and
scale, it is expected to be a company
with better financials and growth
prospects, according to an RCom
executive. The enterprise business has
a turnover of around `6,000 crore and
an Ebitda (earnings before interest,
tax, depreciation and amortisation)
of close to `1,600 crore, he adds.
“It is a much simpler business that
follows the bill-and-keep model and
enjoys annuity income,” the RCom
official says. “There are no charges
on account of things like CUG (closed
user group), IUC (interconnect
“One needs to get
into the fine print of
the current deal with
tangible details before
concluding that all is
well for the company.”
-arun Kejriwal,
director of kejriwal research
and investment services
acquisitions activity
in india in 2017 in the
usage charges) and SUC (spectrum
usage charges) in this business.”
RCom said in its statement that
the business-to-business venture
was “stable, capital-light” and had
“sustained and predictable annuity
revenues and profits, with immense
growth potential amidst relatively
low competitive intensity”. At a press
conference in Mumbai on December
26, Ambani said the new RCom was
likely to be valued at `15,000 crore.
Kolla says RCom’s residual
enterprise business may not be
as lucrative by itself, and that
the company may need to devise
specialised products and services for
clients, in addition to the bandwidth
on offer. “The undersea cable
network was one of the first assets
to be put on the block by RCom, but
it didn’t generate much investor
interest since there is excess capacity
of bandwidth when it comes to
connectivity through and from India,”
says Kolla. “RCom will need to devise
products that combine bandwidth
along with enterprise applications
such as those meant for telepresence
and secure communications.”
Partnering with RCom in its
residual enterprise businesses may
also be a strategic fit for Jio, Kolla
says. “While Jio has been focussed
on building a robust retail franchise,
its enterprise push hasn’t been
that strong. Partnering with RCom
may open up a completely new
business vertical for Jio, which
it may not have the bandwidth
to build from scratch.”
daNisH siddiQUi / rEUtErs; top: sHUttErstoCk
RCom’s latest effort to monetise
assets and repay debt appears to
have enthused investors, as reflected
in the company’s share price. The
company’s stock price doubled on
BSE between December 19 (a week
prior to the announcement) and
December 27 to `26.93 per share.
(Reliance Industries owns Network
18, the publisher of Forbes India)
—avEEk datta
january 19, 2018 forbes india | 15
 LeaderBoard
flipkart-sNapdEal
Remove from Cart
Flipkart’s $850 million offer was rejected by Snapdeal’s founders
after seven months of
tumultuous negotiations, Jasper
Infotech called off the proposed
sale of its online marketplace
Snapdeal to bigger rival Flipkart
in August last year. The merger
talks were initiated by Snapdeal’s
largest investor SoftBank.
Deal Size
Led by SoftBank, Flipkart had
extended a $850 million (around
`5,445 crore) offer to Snapdeal.
Had founders Kunal Bahl and
Rohit Bansal extended a hand, it
would have been the biggest ever
M&A deal in Indian ecommerce.
What Went Wrong?
The negotiations between the two
Indian ecommerce players ended as
Bahl and Bansal as well as Snapdeal’s
minority shareholders were opposed
ramEsH patHaNia / miNt via GEtty imaGEs
16 | forbes india january 19, 2018
to the terms of the sale, including
the valuation of their company.
the roaD aheaD
A recent Morgan Stanley report
states that just 60 million of
India’s 432 million internet users
are online shoppers. Hence,
only the surface of online retail
has been scratched in India.
Given the growth potential of the
market, K Ganesh, a partner at
the entrepreneurship platform
GrowthStory, says there is room
for multiple ecommerce players in
India. “It’s not a winner takes it all
[scenario].” That said, with much
emphasis, Ganesh adds: “You need
to be able to access capital to change
consumer behaviour, to do promotions,
offer discounts, and all that stuff.”
For Snapdeal, capital seems to be
its Achilles heel. The company’s
founders have been working on a
‘Snapdeal 2.0’ strategy, which includes
streamlining costs and selling assets.
In July, Snapdeal sold its payments
wallet entity Freecharge to Axis Bank
for `385 crore, which it had acquired
in 2015 for about `2,400 crore. The
New Delhi-based e-tailer is said to
have let go of over 500 employees.
“Today, Snapdeal is absolutely
quiet. It will be hard for anybody to
imagine that it can stage a comeback
and give a fight to Flipkart and
Amazon [India],” says Harminder
Sahni, founder and MD of retail
consultancy firm Wazir Advisors.
As for Flipkart, it had a stellar 2017,
having raised close to $4 billion
from the likes of SoftBank, Tencent
Holdings, eBay and Microsoft
Corp, giving it the much-needed
ammunition to take on Amazon India.
“It [Flipkart] is well funded and well
managed now than before,” says Sahni.
Besides, more than just being a plain
vanilla ecommerce retailer, Flipkart is
now a sum of its many parts—fashion
portals Myntra and Jabong, fintech
For Snapdeal, capital
seems to be its Achilles
heel. The company’s
founders have been
working on a ‘Snapdeal
2.0’ strategy
business PhonePe, and the recently
acquired eBay.in. So, the way forward
for Flipkart “is more interesting
than Snapdeal”, believes Sahni.
But Ganesh says it’s too early to
write off Snapdeal. “All said and
done, Snapdeal started from zero. Its
founders pivoted the business many
times and scaled well—forget what
the valuation went up to ($6.5 billion
in February 2016) and what it came
down to. They [Bahl and Bansal] are
terrific entrepreneurs,” adds Ganesh.
—aNsHUl dHamiJa
idfC-sHriram liQUidity

Bottlenecks, The proposed

IDFC-Shriram group
What if a Billionaire
Became a Cocktail?
One Too Many
merger was too
complex to handle

(From left) rajiv lall, ajay Piramal and r thyagarajan at the announcement of the merger

in july 2017, the IDFC and founder R Thyagarajan—sounded

Shriram groups decided to explore
opportunities for a merger, aimed
at creating a financial conglomerate
with a ‘mass retail bank’ at the centre
of operations under the flagship
IDFC Limited. Despite three months
of negotiations, the plans did not
materialise due to many bottlenecks,
and were terminated in October.
Deal Size
The merged financial services entity
would have had a loan book of $22.38
billion and expanded IDFC Bank’s
retail footprint across India. For
the Shriram Group, it would have
meant cutting the cost of funding for
the group companies. Also, Shriram
Transport Finance Company (STFC)
and Shriram City Union Finance
would have been able to cross-sell
IDFC Bank-related products.
What Went Wrong?
Though the promoters of all the
parties—Rajiv Lall, founder managing
director and CEO of IDFC Bank; Ajay
Piramal, chairman of the Piramal and
Shriram Groups, and Shriram Group
upbeat, analysts were sceptical.
The deal was complex, the
protection of minority shareholders
was being questioned and it
required the approval of Sebi, RBI
and insurance watchdog Irdai.
Valuations, too, were a concern,
since it was feared that IDFC and
IDFC Bank would suffer a dilution
in the merger. STFC shareholders
felt they would be impacted by a
‘holding company discount’ which
meant that the holding company’s
market capitalisation is less than
the sum of investments it holds.
the roaD aheaD
Thyagarajan said his group would try
to start talks with IDFC again, but as
of now there has been little headway.
The deal not going through impacts
IDFC Group the most, as it hurts IDFC
Bank’s retail expansion plans. The
bank’s stock continues to drag lower.
The deal not going through
will help Ajay Piramal decide
what he wishes to do with
his Shriram investments.
—salil paNCHal
The Warren
Buffett
Creator:
Bryan Schneider
Smith & Wollensky
New York City
(a regular Buffett haunt)
IngredIents:
5–6 mint leaves
½ oz vanilla cherry syrup
2 oz aged rum (12-year El Dorado
recommended)
½ oz fresh lime juice
4 oz Coca-Cola
Marasca cherries
In a 2-ounce glass, muddle the mint leaves
in the vanilla cherry syrup. Add next three
ingredients and fill glass with crushed ice. Stir
briefly. Top with more crushed ice. Garnish
with mint leaves, cherries and drizzle of syrup
InspIratIon:
“Warren Buffett is known for his love of
Cherry Coke, so we’re making a boozy riff on
his favourite drink. Like a good Buffett stock,
there’s a venerable aged rum in it. But if you
want to enjoy this cocktail in true Buffett
style—he’s a well-known teetotaler—omit the
rum.”
(As told to Abram Brown, Leah Bottone
& Greg Andersson)

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 17

 LeaderBoard
past forward
2018 Through
the Crystal Ball
The path ahead in the New Year is paved with hope and
caution, opportunities and hazards. Forbes India navigates
the maze and finds answers to 10 crucial posers
by samar srivastava, pravin palande, salil panchal & sayan chakraborty
1 Will the government
abandon fiscal prudence?
The last year of an election cycle
is typically fraught with fiscal
uncertainty. Despite its stellar
performance so far on the fiscal
front no one expects the present
government to follow a different
path. The 2018 budget will, in all
likelihood, see the government
loosen its purse strings as it seeks
to satisfy multiple constituencies—
from farmers hit by low minimum
support prices to small traders
reeling under the implementation of
the goods and services tax (GST).
The government’s work on the
fiscal front has been exemplary
so far. It inherited a deficit of 4.5
percent and has worked overtime to
contain it to a budgeted 3.2 percent
in 2017-18. At the same time, it has
increased capex expenditure while
broadly maintaining spends on the
social schemes it inherited from the
curtailing slippage
Year
2012
Fiscal deFicit**
2013
graphics: sameer pawar
2014
2015
2016
2017
Note: *Target for 2017
Source: MoF **As percentage of GDP
18 | forbes india january 19, 2018
UPA era (the National Rural Health
Mission is a notable exception).
The recent tougher-than-
anticipated fight in the Gujarat
elections, an uptick in food price
inflation and higher oil prices have
already resulted in the bond markets
pricing in some fiscal slippage. Bond
yields have risen from 6.5 percent to
7.25 percent in the last month with a
recent Bloomberg survey expecting
them to rise to 7.5 percent by March.
The risks to fiscal slippage come as
much from increasing expenditure as
from a revenue deficit. The recent cut
in GST rates is expected to result in
a revenue shortfall of `20,000 crore.
And the government may decide to
cut excise rates instead of passing
oil prices to consumers. Add to that
the doles the finance minister could
announce in the 2018 budget and
the risks to fiscal slippage grow.
2 Will oil hit $80 a barrel
and stay there?
The recent rise in oil prices to $65
5.8
a barrel may not be as spectacular
as its collapse in 2014 but make no
mistake: Higher oil prices are here
4.9
to stay. Every few months, crude
4.5 scales new levels only to spend time
3.9 consolidating before making another
3.5 up move. At $65 a barrel, traders
3.2* continue to place bullish bets.
Two factors will determine
the strength of the rally from
supplY discipline
World production of oil World consumption
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101
96.74
2015
95.35
97.24
2016
96.95
97.97
2017
98.34
100.01
2018
99.96
Source: EIA (All figures in million barrels a day)
here on—North American shale
oil production and economic
growth in Europe and America.
It is generally accepted that at $40
a barrel, shale oil production becomes
viable and rig counts rise dramatically.
Rig counts in North America have
risen 48 percent in 2017 to 909,
according to data from Baker Hughes.
The longer prices stay up, the more
chances of the number increasing.
For the time being, rising oil
production has dovetailed neatly
with increasing demand due to
faster economic growth in Europe
and America. In 2018, worldwide
crude oil consumption is likely to
rise to 99.96 million barrels per day
as against a supply of 100.01 million
barrels a day, according to the
Energy Information Administration.
This 50,000 barrel surplus is the
tightest in the last decade resulting
in oil continuing its climb to $80. A
supply shock would only hasten it.
3 Will private sector
capex pick up?
India’s investment cycle, and as a
result growth, is unlikely to pick up
meaningfully unless the private sector
contributes. The signals emerging
from corporate India have, so far,
been mixed at best. Saddled with
excess capacity India Inc is still
working on paying down loans they
took in the last capacity expansion
boom of 2003-07. For now, capacity
expansion will have to wait.
Meantime the government has
stepped in. The last budget allocated
`3,96,000 crore for infrastructure.
It’s not just excess leverage that
is holding back private sector capex.
Capacity utilisation rates remain at
70 percent, much below the level
where companies plan the next
round of expansion. In some sectors
oil prices have climbed recently to $65 a barrel and traders continue to place bullish bets
like cement and steel the situation is
particularly acute as utilisation rates As mining bitcoin becomes difficult, and B2C startups went hand in
for the industry as a whole stand at 60 because of more competition, hand. About 1,976 B2B startups
percent. In some others—coal blocks miners will only do so if the prices were founded in these four years,
and mining, for instance—uncertain move higher. There’s talk of bitcoin marginally lower than the 2,234 B2C
government policy has prevented touching the $100,000 mark in the startups, according to Tracxn. But as
the private sector from investing in next year or two. Based on that startups chased top lines and a user
a meaningful way. The insolvency assumption, gung-ho investors base gave them bragging rights, the
code will have a chilling effect on expect bitcoin to trade closer to balance tilted heavily towards B2C
investment as scores of small suppliers $500,000 before it finds stability. startups between 2012 and 2015.
will struggle to collect their dues. Beyond such speculation, These were the rah-rah days of
With six percent growth it should though, the reality is that there is no consumer internet. Most of these
take two years for capacity utilisation fundamental way to analyse where the startups were left stranded after
to inch up to 80 percent—the level price of bitcoin will be in the future. investors tightened the purse strings
where the next round of expansion beginning 2015, citing poor returns.
is planned. For now, it’s safe to say
that private sector capacity expansion
is at best 18-24 months away.
5 Will vcs pick b2b
startups over b2c ones?
Serving business needs as opposed
Today, B2B ventures are back in
the reckoning. They possibly did
not double revenues every year, but
to consumer requirements seems didn’t splurge on customer acquisition

4 Will cryptocurrencies
crash in 2018?
Cryptocurrencies are now the topic of
to be the new mantra for Indian
startups. And investors are lapping
it up. For two reasons: One, serving
either. Instead, they chugged along
with a steady revenue stream. The
likes of Freshworks, Zoho, Fractal
every discussion. Bitcoin, Ethereum businesses tends to be more sticky Analytics and Capillary Technologies
and Ripple are the most widely traded. and, two, customer acquisition have emerged as successful B2B
Bitcoin, the biggest of them all, has costs reduce dramatically. technology startups in India.
seen its price surge throughout 2017. Between 2007 and 2011, B2B While the number of B2C startups
In the one month from November
1 to December 1, 2017 the price of
bitcoin surged from $6,750.17 to
the high noon oF bitcoin?
$20,000
$10,859.56 apiece, up by 60.9 percent,
according to virtual currency news
$15,000
website CoinDesk. But the price
Price of Bitcoin

of bitcoin has been sliding since it

rosa panggabean / reuters

$10,000
touched $19,966 on December 17, 2017
after the launch of bitcoin futures on $5,000
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Investors who believe that the $50
price will be much higher in 2018—
JAN 17 A P R 17 JU L 17 O C T 17
and there are many of them—have
this explanation for their optimism: Source: CoinDesk

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 19

LeaderBoard
Fallen angels: b2c startups lose Favour
10,000
9,000
8,000
No of startups founded
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
1,587
2,000
1,000 887
2012
Source: Tracxn
founded in 2016 plummeted to
4,753—almost half the 2015 number
—the number of B2B startups in
2016 dropped just 29 percent to
1,722 from the year before.
Besides, a few profitable exits for
investors in the B2B segment—Citrus
Pay was acquired by PayU, Skyhigh
Networks bought Mcafee, Arkin sold
to Vmware —have also swayed the
sentiments in favour of B2B startups.
That trend can only accelerate in 2018.
6 Will indian startups
consolidate?
With venture capital scarce, Indian
startups are being nudged to explore
the option of consolidation. Tracxn
data shows a sharp spike in mergers
and acquisitions in India since 2015.
For instance, there were 436 M&As
between 2015 and December 2017,
almost three times the 152 M&As
in the eight preceding years.
In some cases investors nudged
their portfolio companies to merge
startup M&a deals
Year
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Source: Tracxn
20 | forbes india january 19, 2018
B2B B2C
8,902
4,753
4,299
2,200
2,424
1,722
1,112
1,575
2013 2014 2015 2016
to form a larger entity. Case in point:
Flipkart’s acquisition of Myntra
facilitated by Accel Partners and
Tiger Global Management.
The pace of M&A is likely to
increase in 2018, with venture capital
firms leaving no stone unturned to
salvage their investments. VCs such as
Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures, Nexus
Venture Partners and Matrix Partners
raised their first funds in 2006 and
2007. Most of these firms, which were
supposed to return money to their
investors in 10 years, have sought
an extension of about two years.
While exits through initial
public offerings are few in India,
venture capital firms have little
choice but to push for M&As or
stake sales to strategic buyers.
7 Will gdp groWth rebound
to 7.5 percent in 2018?
In the last year, India’s economic
growth has suffered due to the
twin shocks of demonetisation
and the implementation of GST.
Now as the effects of both fade,
there is every chance that GDP
volume growth will rise in 2018.
35 After decelerating to 7.3 percent
58 in the quarter ended September 30,
158 2016, GDP growth kept falling in
the subsequent quarters as small
158
businesses struggled to deal with the
129 abolition of high value currency notes.
The implementation of GST from
July 1, 2017 meant that businesses
went slow on placing orders to be
able to take advantage of the input
tax credit that GST allows. As a
result, growth slid to 5.7 percent in
the first quarter of this fiscal. Growth
has begun to rise since then.
Consumer spending, which makes
up about two-thirds of GDP growth,
has remained robust as consumer
goods companies and car makers
report over 10 percent growth in year-
on-year sales. While export growth
has been subdued, that is equally a
result of delayed GST refunds, which
resulted in working capital issues for
small exporters. The next few months
could see these irritants smoothen out.
In addition to the base effect,
real GDP growth will also be aided
by a decrease in the GDP deflator.
As commodity prices and inflation
rise, expect nominal GDP growth
to rise faster decreasing the GDP
deflator. Indeed, in the quarter
ended September 30, 2017 growth
began to inch up. GDP growth
stood at 6.3 percent in the period.
8 Will the nifty index
hit a neW high?
As the Nifty index hit a new high in
2017 the question on many investors’
mind is how much higher can it go?
While the markets have been aided
by domestic retail investments—
they’ve been buying while their
foreign counterparts have been
selling—without a concomitant rise
in earnings, there is always the risk of
a sell off. For now, the simple answer
to this question is yes, but there will
be more volatility and uncertainty for
the Nifty to sustain at record highs.
Three issues will determine stock
market trends this year: Economic
growth, corporate earnings and
bond yields. In addition there is the
outcome of elections in four states
and the impact of global economic
growth as central banks start to scale
back the stimulus and liquidity they
have been providing in recent years.
India’s economic growth is likely to
sustain in coming quarters, which will
LeaderBoard
gdp growth: scent oF a rebound?
0 1 2 3
FY15 Q3
Q4
FY16 Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
FY17 Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
FY18 Q1
Q2
Source: tradingeconomics.com
boost corporate growth, but high non-
performing assets (NPAs) of Indian
banks and increased competition in
telecom will mean some companies
may see weaker earnings growth.
India’s structural reforms involving
the GST, bankruptcy code and RERA,
though positive, will also heighten
uncertainty relating to growth.
The fallout of the state elections
of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh will
also impact the stock markets. If the
BJP wins these elections investor
sentiment will hold firm; but any
reversal will lead to a nervous stock
market. The Nifty index has risen
nearly 30 percent in 2017 fuelled
largely by sentiment and domestic
retail investors who’ve put in
`1,36,000 crore in 2017. A repeat
could see a new high hit in 2018.
9 Will bank npas Worsen?
Bank NPAs are likely to go north
before they head south. The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has factored
this in its financial stability report
of December 2017. Though the pace
of growth of gross non-performing
assets (GNPAs) is starting to slow,
the levels will continue to rise in
2018. The RBI data indicates the
GNPA ratio may increase to 11.1
percent by September 2018.
Despite this, managements of
4 5 6 7
7.5
7.5
7
7.4
7.3
7.1
7.3
7
6.1
5.7
6.3
All figures in percentage
most private and public sector
banks have said that the tough
times are coming to an end.
The recent government
announcement to recapitalise state-
owned banks with up to $32 billion
of fresh funds could be positive
in several ways. Banks will be in a
position to lend more and resolution
of bad loans will also be possible in
some cases. The ability of these banks
to raise capital on their own could
also improve in coming years. Bank
credit has grown by 8.6 percent in
November 2017 against 7.5 percent a
year earlier, according to RBI data.
Through much of 2017, banks
in India have been announcing
higher provisioning to deal with
bad loans, which have continued to
place pressure and hurt profitability
in recent quarters. While stress
continues in infrastructure, steel
and mining sectors newer areas
like telecom are emerging as
potential trouble spots in 2018.
10 Will mid-cap valuations
sustain in 2018?
Mid-cap stocks jumped over 44
percent in 2017, outpacing large cap,
blue-chip stocks. Robust buying
by domestic retail institutions has
fuelled the bull rally further. Most
of the mid-cap stocks invested are
companies whose businesses are
stressed out: indian
banks’ bad loan probleM
12
8 9
10.5
10 9.5
Gross NPAs as a percentage of Gross Advances
8 7.5
7.9
6
4.3
3.8
4
2
0
2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18F*
Source: RBI, Crisil
*Crisil forecast
largely locally focussed and where
liquidity in the stocks is not so high.
Some of the hot stocks in the Nifty
Midcap 100 index include Vakrangee,
Federal Bank, Bharat Forge and Voltas.
Considering that factors such
as corporate earnings growth,
state assembly elections and bond
yields will impact how the broader
markets will fare in 2018, it is fair
to say that mid-caps will be at
greater risk than large-cap stocks.
The valuations for most of these
stocks are already stretched, but any
decline in stock prices could pull
mid-caps down faster than the large-
caps. Most equity fund managers are
quietly advising their clients to move
their investments into large-caps or
even liquid and/or balanced funds,
fearing that mid-caps could be hit the
sharpest when a correction comes.
Mid-cap stocks are unlikely to
sustain at their current valuations
and could witness much of a
rollercoaster ride in 2018, with sharper
troughs and peaks, which could
have little or nothing to do with the
fundamentals of these companies.
january 19, 2018 forbes india | 21
Past Forward
An Independent
Director is an
Oxymoron
The fiascos at Infosys and Tata Sons show that
succession planning in Indian businesses is not easy
and that promoters still hold maximum control
over the past two decades, i have been lecturing
on Indian business to overseas audiences. Without
exception, someone would bring up the question of
corruption in India based on the rankings of agencies such
as Transparency International. This would often lead to a
discussion on whether all Indian companies were tainted
by poor corporate governance and business practices.
While not disagreeing with the general thrust of the
argument, I would observe that we cannot paint all Indian
companies with the same brush. For example, one should
consider corporates like Infosys or the Tata Group that
meet, or even exceed, global standards. In my 2009 book,
India’s Global Powerhouses, I wrote extensively about their
exemplary business practices. Consequently, it is with
considerable distress that I have observed the battle in the
boardroom of these two corporates over the past year.
The separation of control from ownership in publicly
listed companies requires effective corporate governance.
As investors have limited visibility, it gives rise to the
‘agency problem’, where managers, as agents, may not
run the company in the best interests of shareholders.
In theory, the board of directors is supposed to protect
the investors since the management has considerable
discretion in running the firm. The board ensures
that the management does not ‘steal’ funds through
private planes and plush carpets and also directs it to
suboptimal projects from the investors’ perspective.
In the US, with a dispersed shareholding pattern, there
is usually no controlling shareholder. The shareholders
are often represented by large mutual fund managers
who are supposed to vote on their behalf. The role of the
board is to ensure that investors’ rights are protected
and the managers are maximising shareholder value.
The corporate governance challenge in the US is that
the large mutual funds are not ‘activist enough’, and
CEOs can obtain considerable control of their boards.
The corporate governance challenge in India is
different because ownership is concentrated. More than
22 | forbes india January 19, 2018
By Nirmalya Kumar
75 percent of large Indian listed companies are controlled
by family businesses. The promoter owns a substantial
proportion of the shares and is intimately involved in
the management, either directly as CEO or as chairman
of the board. Even when there is a professional CEO,
as chairmen, promoters have enough visibility of the
operations to make the agency problem a minor concern.
Instead, the corporate governance problem in
promoter-led Indian companies is protecting the rights
of minority shareholders. Given their control over the
companies, promoters can divert funds to themselves via
various schemes such as tunnelling or pursue personal
pet projects that cannot be justified from a maximising
shareholder value perspective. Safeguarding against this
Given the power of promoters,
independent directors are the sole
protectors of minority shareholders
must be the focus of corporate governance in India.
Courts are hesitant to get involved, except in the
most egregious cases. Courts usually have a hard time
understanding the intricacies of business to make
distinctions between managerial misjudgement and
intentional malpractice. Only recently have class
action suits been available to Indian shareholders.
Regardless, given the glacial pace at which the
Indian court system moves, how confident can one
be in the justice system to provide redress?
Another check on poorly-run companies in the US is
the possibility of a hostile takeover and activist investors.
In 2017, Procter & Gamble and Unilever faced this
challenge. While they successfully resisted outsiders,
the pressure ensured that changes will happen at both
Cyrus mistry (left) was ousted as chairman of Tata Sons in October 2016 after a boardroom battle that saw the return of ratan Tata as interim
chairman. The saga is illustrative of the control that promoters have over the boards of their companies and that succession planning is not easy
corporates to enhance shareholder returns. For example,
after averting the Kraft Heinz bid, Paul Polman, CEO of
Unilever, raised his company’s target profit margin from
16 percent to 20 percent by 2020, increased dividend,
and announced a 5 billion euro share buyback scheme.
However, hostile takeovers or an activist investor
obtaining a board position are realistically not possible
in India. This leaves the boards of companies with the
fiduciary duty of ensuring that the company is maximising
value for Indian shareholders. Given the power of
promoters, the independent directors, theoretically not
connected to promoters, are the primary, and perhaps
only, protectors of minority shareholders. Apart from
their directors’ remuneration, independent directors
in India must not have any pecuniary relationship with
the company, its promoters, or associated companies.
On paper, laws in India are stringent with respect to
independent directors. The problem is how it plays out
in practice. Increasingly, I have come to believe that
‘independent director’ is an oxymoron. Since promoters
can vote on the appointment of independent directors,
and minority shareholders rarely bother to exercise
their voting rights, effectively promoters select the
independent directors. Furthermore, the compensation
for directors can be different among directors serving
on the same board, usually determined at the whim of
the promoter. In such a situation, who is going to vote
against the promoter? My personal observation is that
the greater the compensation for independent directors
from a particular board, the less independent they are.
The Tata saga demonstrated that even someone as
powerful as Nusli Wadia can be ousted for voting against
the expressed wishes of the promoter. Most independent
directors have much less stature in the absence of their
directorships and are definitely not as wealthy. More
generally, if independent directors dissents, they get
the reputation for being difficult. This will make any
further appointments to boards impossible in a country
with dense social and economic ties between elites.
Subhankar Chakraborty / hinduStan timeS via Getty imaGeS
In 2001, China passed a law that requires board
members of public firms to reveal when they dissent
from the majority opinion, along with an explanation
for the vote. A fascinating paper by Juan Ma and
Tarun Khanna published in the Strategic Management
Journal in 2016 demonstrated that dissent by board
members is rare. If the data for India was available, it
would show identical results. I cannot recall the last
time a board member dissented on a board I served.
The Ma and Khanna paper had three other findings
which buttress my argument on independent directors
being an oxymoron. First, dissent is correlated with
breakdown of social ties between the independent
director and the board chairperson. Most often,
dissent happened after the board chair, who appointed
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 23
 Past Forward
infosys CEO Vishal Sikka (right) quit the iT major on a bitter note in august this year and a battle between the board and the promoter Narayana
murthy (left) ensued. in many instances, promoters decide to let go of their firms intellectually, but they are unprepared to do so emotionally
the independent director, had left the board or
in the 60 days prior to the departure of the board
chair or departure of the independent director.
Second, dissenting directors were punished.
Dissent substantially increased the likelihood of the
dissenting director exiting the director labour market.
It also resulted in more than 10 percent estimated
loss of annual income. Third, while dissent could be
interpreted as a sign of strong corporate governance,
firms saw an average share price drop of 0.97 percent
on the days in which the dissent was announced.
The unfortunate message is that if you wish to
protect yourself and the stock price of the company,
do not dissent. However, I doubt directors anywhere
need such advice as they are aware of it.
I realise, the above is depressing for those desiring
robust corporate governance in India. However, the
battle at Infosys and Tata also demonstrates that boards
do matter to some degree. In both cases, the promoters,
murthy: JaGadeeSh nv / reuterS; Sikka: abhiShek ChinnaPPa / reuterS
or a subsection of them, were unhappy with the CEO
selected by them. The primary reason for the promoters’
displeasure, from what I can discern, was that the
new CEOs understood that the companies needed a
turnaround. This turnaround would necessitate some
unravelling of legacy positions and culture, which
the promoters were personally identified with. While
intellectually, the promoters had made the decision to let
go, clearly they were unprepared to do so emotionally.
The greater the compensation for
independent directors, the less
independent they are in general
24 | forbes india January 19, 2018
In both cases, the boards of Infosys and Tata Sons
had supported the new strategy of the CEO and praised
the performance of the CEO. Evaluating the CEO is
a primary responsibility of the board. It is formally
conducted via the nominations and remuneration
committee (a selection of the board members headed by
an independent director), with the recommendations
finally discussed and adopted by the entire board.
In the case of Cyrus Mistry, the board had done
this in June 2016, four months prior to asking him to
leave. The same board members who were on record
praising him in June, once instructed by the promoter,
voted to remove him without an explanation. In this
sense, the Tata Sons board proved to be spineless.
In contrast, the Infosys board performed admirably
even if eventually they lost their battle against the
promoter. The chairman of the board gave cover to
the CEO by reiterating that the CEO was following a
board-approved strategy. The battle by the promoter
therefore had to be extended beyond the CEO to an
attack on the board. The promoter won for the reasons
articulated above, but the board demonstrated both a
backbone and independence. Ultimately, the chairman
decided he had had enough of the mess and resigned.
A big lesson from these two incidents is that succession
planning is not easy. And, if you do decide to leave, please
do leave and let the new person do the job they have
been hired to under the supervision of the board.
Nirmalya Kumar is a management thinker and Lee Kong Chian
professor of marketing at Singapore Management Univer-
sity and Distinguished Academic Fellow at INSEAD Emerging
Markets Institute. He is a former member of Tata Sons’ group
executive council and has served as a director on the board of
several Indian companies.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author
LeaderBoard
snacks on wheels
Can Ola Ride
the Gravy Train?
By buying Foodpanda’s India operations, the cab aggregator
re-enters a bruising, cash-guzzling sector
ride-sharing service
Ola is trying its hand at food
delivery for a second time,
buying the India operations
of Foodpanda for a measly
$40-50 million. Ola’s
previous attempt at food
delivery with Ola Café came
a cropper in 2016, when it
shut shop barely after a year
of operations. While Ola
Café focussed on delivering
food fast, the company
seems to have gone back
to the traditional business
model with Foodpanda
that puts an emphasis
on offering customers a
wide array of choices.
Bhavish Aggarwal,
the chief executive at
Ola, says in a statement,
“Foodpanda has come
to be a very efficient and
profit-focussed business
over the last couple of
years.” Once mired in
controversies around
corporate governance,
Foodpanda India
significantly shrunk its
losses to `45 crore in FY17
from `143 crore the year
before, while its revenue
increased by 64 percent
year-on-year to `62 crore.
The food delivery
business is traditionally
viewed as a cash guzzler,
with companies spending
significant cash to
26 | forbes india january 19, 2018
incentivise consumers
and buy their loyalty using
offers and discounts.
Besides, with an average
order value of `300-
400, food delivery firms
struggled to make money
with the 10-15 percent
commission they charged
restaurants on each order.
As a result, a number
of companies—Yumist,
TinyOwl, SpoonJoy and
Dazo to name a few—
have folded up over
the past few years.
Experts, however, claim
that food delivery startups
have emerged wiser
from the slump, charging
restaurants a higher
commission and consumers
a delivery fee to reduce cash
burn. And Ola has sniffed
an opportunity in the sector
that, according to RedSeer
Consulting, is poised to
grow at a compounded
annual growth rate of 60
percent between 2016
($300 million in gross sales)
and 2021 ($2.5-3.5 billion).
“Food tech will grow
at a fast clip in the coming
year. The primary reason is
that the incumbents haven’t
even touched all points of
the market. For instance,
such businesses thrive
where there are a good
number of migrants and
office-going populace, the
likes of Bengaluru, Delhi,
Mumbai, Pune, Chennai
and Hyderabad. Given its
hyperlocal nature, food
tech startups haven’t yet
touched all nodes in these
cities yet,” says Sreedhar
Prasad, partner and
head, consumer markets
and internet business,
advisory, at KPMG India.
However, the ride
won’t be easy for Ola as
Uber, its arch-rival in
the cab-sharing segment,
also forayed into the
food delivery business
with UberEats in May.
Foodpanda also faces stiff
competition from the likes
of Swiggy and Zomato.
Swiggy’s revenue for
FY17, at `133 crore, was
more than double that of
Foodpanda, but so were
its losses, at `205 crore.
Swiggy, however, grew
faster than Foodpanda
in FY17, posting a 565
percent year-on-year
increase in revenue as
against Foodpanda’s 64
percent. Zomato, which
clocked $49 million in
FY17 on the back of a
robust advertising business
that fetched $38 million,
saw its delivery business
notch up $9 million (about
`60 crore) last fiscal.
While Swiggy seems
to be the leader in food
delivery, and Zomato
claiming to grow at a fast
clip, what might turn the
game in Foodpanda’s favour
is Ola’s commitment to
infuse about $200 million
in the company post the
acquisition. At a time
when additional funding
is hard to come by, some
serious intent from Ola to
champion food delivery
will give Foodpanda ample
firepower to hold fort. “Ola
has the customers and a
brand recall for ride hailing.
Now, they are looking
at what else they can
offer,” says Vinod Murali,
managing partner at Alteria
Capital, a venture debt firm.
But Foodpanda’s rivals
are also on course to raise
additional funding. Zomato,

which has so far raised
about $225 million, is in
talks with Alibaba to raise
fresh capital while Flipkart
and SoftBank have evinced
interest in Swiggy, which
has mopped up about
$155 million in funding
since its inception in 2015.
Besides, Uber, the world’s
most valuable startup at
$69 billion, is a nascent
but formidable force.
The likes of Swiggy
and Zomato are also
expanding beyond pure
play delivery, with the
so-called cloud kitchens.
Swiggy, for instance,
is establishing its own
brands, a parallel to private
labels launched by online
retailers. For example, The
Bowl Company, House
of Dabbas and Punjabi
Rasoi by Swiggy put it in
The number of countries
in which Ubereats operates.
It has partnered with 8,000
restaurants in the Uk alone
Bhavish Aggarwal,
the quartet—Swiggy,
co-founder Zomato, Ola and Uber.
and CEO, Ola According to Tracxn, a
startup tracker, investments
in food tech startups shot
up to $266 million in
2015 from a modest $60.5
million the year before,
before plummeting to
$127 million in 2016 and
$124 million in 2017.
As the sector starts to
get crowded again, some
sabre-rattling has started
already. In September,
Zomato announced that
the company will waive
off the commission it
charges restaurants
for food delivery, an
aggressive move to fend
off competition. Chief
executive Deepinder
Goyal wrote in a blog
post that more than 70
percent of the restaurants
direct competition with listed on Zomato were
food startups such as eligible for the “zero
FreshMenu, Faasos and commission” service, based
Box8 among others, who on the number of orders
prepare the food as well processed every week
as deliver. This vertical and customer feedback.
has the potential to fetch “The food tech industry
higher margins than pure is at an inflection point in
play delivery as end-to- India. There is an increased
end in-house capabilities demand and, at the same
allow the startups to time, consumers are spoilt
tinker with prices as for choice. In 2018, as
well as control costs. access to technology gets
Alternatively, Swiggy easier, the industry will
and Zomato have see increased adoption
partnered with restaurants from restaurants owners
to open kitchens in as well as consumers.
localities which are Innovation and localisation
underserved, but promise will, therefore, be key to
good business. Case in sustain and drive growth
point: Swiggy’s Access and connect with a
kitchens and Zomato wider and more diverse
Infrastructure Services. set of consumers,” says
All this, and more, Bhavik Rathod, head
makes food delivery an of UberEats in India.
expensive land grab for —sayan chakraborTy
january 19, 2018 forbes india | 27
30
TheIr favoUrITe
ThIngs
What Was Your
Most Memorable
Holiday Gift?
“Right after World War II, my father
was saving to buy himself a new suit.
Instead he bought me a brand-new
red tricycle.”
—Ron Baron, founder, Baron Capital
“The Barbie Dream House. It is
basically where I manifested my
adult life!”
—Carolyn Rafaelian,
founder, Alex & Ani
“A picture of my son’s essay from
first grade, saying I was his hero
and that he wanted to be just like
me when he grew up.”
—Mark Cuban, owner, Dallas
Mavericks
Manoj PaTIl for forbes IndIa; IllUsTraTIons by davId Urban; ToP: neIl hall / reUTers
“My folks didn’t have much money,
but I was very excited when I was
eight and my dad brought me home
a cardboard box with holes in it—so
I knew something was alive. There
was a pigeon inside! He worked on
the railroad, so he had caught it and
brought it home. From that point on,
I have always had pigeons.”
—Frank VanderSloot, founder,
Melaleuca health products
“I was about 11 and my brother
was eight. We got up early, went
downstairs before my parents and
ripped into our packages. We each
got a pellet gun and proceeded to
use the antique bulbs on the tree
for target practice. It started out as
each of us shooting just one and by
the time our parents came down, all
the antique bulbs were destroyed.
The guns were taken away. I don’t
remember ever seeing them again.”
—Bob Parsons, founder, GoDaddy
As told to Madeline Berg
 LeaderBoard
30 under 30

Property Pros
Keeping the home fires burning with the Forbes 30 Under 30,
in 30 words or less
DAVID WALKER
Triplemint | 29
The Yale alum’s
online brokerage
bypasses Realtors,
using “predictive
analytics” and
other big data to JEMUEL JOSEPH, ALEXIS RIVAS
match buyers and Cover Technologies | 24, 24
renters for not-yet- Combating LA’s housing shortage,
listed properties. Cooper Union grads design, secure
Revenue for 2017 permits for and construct backyard
could hit prefab structures up to 1,200 square
$6 million. feet. They’ve raised $1.6 million
from General Catalyst, Khosla
HASIER Ventures, others.
SUNDEEP KUMAR, LARREA
SAM BERNSTEIN Ori | 29
LoftSmart | 25, 23 BRIAN JONES,
Live like the
The graduates of incubator AngelPad LUKE SCHOENFELDER
Jetsons with
created the first national transactional Latch | 28, 28
this MIT grad’s
marketplace for off-campus student Lost your house keys again? Open
origami-inspired
housing. Seeded with $5 million, Latch’s smart locks with your phone,
furniture, backed
LoftSmart has more than 250,000 keycard or PIN code; admit visitors and
by $6 million from
leases available for near-instant package deliveries remotely, too. The
Khosla Ventures.
booking. duo has raised $26 million.
The robotic
furnishings
transform from
bed to dresser to
desk and back.
illustrations by aaron sacco; top right: lucy nicholson / reuters

AJAY YADAV
Roomi | 30
Party animals and
early risers alike
can find the perfect
SHRUTI MERCHANT, pad thanks to
KERRY JONES DAVID MAGID Yadav’s app, which
BY ALEXANDRA WILSON

HubHaus | 24, 28 YSG Solar | 29 has secured

Jones and Merchant tackle LA and Bay
Area lodging woes with community
housing for professionals. So far
375-plus residents in 66 homes enjoy
perks like free Wi-Fi and wine nights.
The New York City company, founded $17 million in
by the son of a Peruvian immigrant, financing to help all
designs, finances and instals custom personality types
solar projects for homeowners. find like-minded
Revenue in 2017 exceeded $3 million. housemates.

28 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 $411 bln
Estimated size of the global
public cloud services market
by 2020, according to Gartner.
In comparison, it was
$219.2 billion in 2016

tEch pIonEEr understand technology but

also understand how to

Mother of the Cloud navigate through change.

Silicon Valley veteran Judy Estrin on coining the term ‘cloud
computing’ , recruiting women leaders and saving Disney
Q What did you have in
mind when you wrote
your famous ‘Cloud vs
Strings’ paper in 2000?
We were advocating
for the new converged
voice/data infrastructure
to look more like the
internet than traditional
telephony. Today
‘cloud’ has an expanded
definition. It means massive
computational power
available ‘in the cloud’—
that is, over the internet.
Q How should CEOs
think about cloud
technology?
CEOs must think about
the cloud. The cloud
accelerates the adoption
of new technology, which
means it also accelerates
business evolution. Your
competitors are thinking
about it. You can’t just
delegate [cloud computing]
to your tech people.
Q Yet even today,
Q Speaking of FedEx,
you were its first
woman director.
I was 36 when Fred asked
me to join. It was hard
at first. I was the only
woman. I had built my
career in Silicon Valley in
a very different way, doing
startups. I dealt with it by
listening and finding ways
where I could contribute.
I built relationships.
Q When you were
sitting on FedEx and
Disney’s boards, how
much time did you
allocate to that work?
I probably spent more
hours on Disney than on
FedEx, partly because there
was also more going on at
Disney—the Comcast bid
and the Eisner-to-[Bob]
Iger succession. Board
seats are not a full-time job,
Q Paradoxically, often
the best thing a board
can do, you’ve said, is
slow things down.
Think of an athlete
who may be agile, but
you need a strong core.
Companies need to be
cross-trained. You can’t
run after every change.
Q All boards say they
want more women.
How should they
recruit them?
You’ll end up with better
board members if your
approach is, yes, we’re
interested in diversity. But
we’re also interested in
these types of capacities
or domain expertise, or
type of leader. You really
want to find a great board
member first and then
work to have diversity.
Q Silicon Valley,
your home turf, is
still pretty hostile to
women on boards.
What’s going on?
The recruitment pools are
too small. Board members
come from venture firms
tImothy archIbald for forbEs; top: shuttErstock

most corporate boards
ghettoise information
technology to the
audit committee. Is
that a mistake?
Yes. Boards need to
consider how technology
drives strategic advantage.
That’s how Fred Smith
[founder and CEO] and
FedEx saw it when I served
on FedEx’s board. But Fred
was ahead of his time.
Q You served on FedEx’s
board for 21 years—and
on Disney’s for 15.
Disney was a very different
company. Michael
Eisner was the CEO.
He and Disney had just
gotten written up for
being the worst board in
America—too insular. My
job was to help Disney
understand the internet.
but you always have to be
prepared and ready to jump
in with both feet anytime.
Q What advice do you
have for people who
want to join boards?
Every company is
being impacted by the
accelerating change of
technology. Boardrooms
are crying out for
directors who not only
or they’re former CEOs.
The resulting problem
is not just the sexual
harassment you read about.
It’s an insularity that hurts
agility and dynamism.
—Judy Estrin spoke with
Rich Karlgaard, Forbes’s
editor-at-large and global
futurist. This interview has
been edited. For the extended
conversation, visit forbes.
com/sites/richkarlgaard.

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 29

 LeaderBoard
youtube stars DuDe PerFect logan Paul
The video blogger, who sticks to topics
Five friends
and their group like his dog, has transitioned to clothing
mascot—a guy design with a hit brand, Maverick.
in a panda
costume—
perform stunts
and stupid tricks,
such as wrestling sMosh
while encased in Anthony Padilla and
bubble wrap. Ian Hecox (pictured)
were comedy-show
pioneers on YouTube
but split up in June.

ryan
toysreview
The elementary-
school-age Ryan
evan Fong has every kid’s
Daniel Fong plays Felix kJellberg dream “job”:
MiDDleton ultrapopular Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, once Reviewing toys.
Since launching games like Grand topped our list but had a terrible
his channel in Theft Auto and 2017: Some advertisers dropped
2012, the British Call of Duty, and the gamer after incidences of
Minecraft player sponsors shell out racist images in his clips. But
has amassed up to $450,000 he still has nearly 60 million
over 11 billion to appear in his followers, and his ability to
views, published videos. draw a crowd has spurred
a graphic novel some brands, such as Razer
and embarked on and Origin PC, to crawl back.
a tour of 50-plus
shows, including Mark Fischbach
four sold-out The gamer’s 19 million Jake Paul
nights at the subscribers know him as A video blogger
Sydney Opera Markiplier, and given his like his older
House. reputation for dramatic brother, Logan
play-by-play commentary, (No. 4), the ex–
it’s no surprise that he Disney Channel
recently did a sketch- star now has a
1. comedy tour across the talent-management
Daniel US and Europe. company, too. lilly singh
MiDDleton 2. She translated her inspirational
$16.5 MLN evan Fong video diaries into a six-figure
Games $15.5 MLN advance on the New York Times
Games 3. bestseller How to Be a Bawse.
DuDe
PerFect
4. 4.
$14 MLN 6.
Mark logan Paul
Stunts/tricks Felix 7.
Fischbach $12.5 MLN
$12.5 MLN kjellberg jake Paul 8. 8.
Video blogs
$12 MLN $11.5 MLN ryan sMosh 10.
Games
Games Video blogs toysreview $11 MLN lilly singh
$11 MLN Comedy $10.5 MLN
Children’s toys Video blogs

Attack of the Gamers

cnana rausch / quickhoney.com

the hottest stars on youtube might spend most of their time

in pixellated worlds, but make no mistake: They’re collecting millions of
dollars in cold, hard cash. Nearly half of our annual list of the top-earning
YouTube celebrities are gamers, and gamers occupy the top two spots. Viewers
by MADELINE bERG

flock to their channels to watch them play the latest titles while delivering
funny commentary. Six of the 10 celebs ranked here are newcomers, who
delight fans with videos of stunts, gleeful children and Call of Duty battles

30 | forbes india january 19, 2018


This is the first in a tripartite series analysing the current mania around innovation
The Case Against
Techno-Optimism
There is a naïve expectation that digital technology will fix the world’s problems
By Satyajit DaS
over the course of human history,
more so in the last 200 years, advances
in technology have always been followed
by an improvement in the standard of
living of the general populace. In fact, the
impact of any technological innovation
can be assessed by four criteria:
• Quantum of change: The extent to which
the innovation has altered existing activity.
• Dispersion: Whether a discovery
is generic or specific, and the extent
and speed of its adoption.
• Virtuous cycle: The ability of the
innovation to create employment opportunities,
and wealth, and promote other discoveries.
• ‘Long tail’ effect: The longevity of an innovation and
its ability to be improved over long time horizons.
American economist Robert Gordon identified three
different periods of innovation in modern times. The
first Industrial Revolution (1750-1830) was characterised
by the harnessing of power from steam and coal, which
led to the development of steam engines, railroads
and the mechanisation of the textile industry.
The second Industrial Revolution (1870-1900) was
characterised by a series of inventions, such as electricity,
internal combustion engines, modern communications,
entertainment, petroleum/hydrocarbons and chemicals.
The third Industrial Revolution, beginning in
1960, is currently underway, and revolves around
computing, telecommunications and the internet.
Based on the identified criteria, Gordon argues that
the transformation effected in the current epoch
pales in comparison to that in the second Industrial
Revolution, which had the biggest impact on overall
productivity and living standards. Let us see why.
Nothing radical
Unlike the inventions of the second Industrial Revolution,
the emphasis in the current phase is on expanding the
usage, and increasing the efficiency, of existing processes.
Computers, for instance, have helped automate repetitive,
Das Capital
low-value clerical work. But, instead of
reducing the workload this technology
has merely dispersed it—word processing
software has not ended the need to type
out documents but eliminated secretaries
and typing pools, leaving individuals
to undertake the task themselves.
The new technologies do not
radically reshape human activity. An
electric or driverless car is still a car.
The shift is not comparable to the
transformation from animal-powered to
fuel-powered transportation. Similarly,
the internet and email may have improved speeds of
communication but it is not as radical as the original
advent of telephony and modern communication itself.
Consumption not innovation
In the third Industrial Revolution the focus is on
consumption and improving the marketing and
distribution of goods and services, with an ancillary
impact on productivity. For example, in 2014 Amazon.
com’s app made it possible for customers to photograph
a product, so that with the help of image recognition
technology the app could order it from the online store.
Alphabet (Google’s parent) is more an advertising
company than a technology company, deriving
the lion’s share of its $75 billion revenue from this
segment. Facebook’s business model is no different.
The internet boom of the noughties has focussed
on instant messaging, online gaming, video games
and new media. By 2016, users were complaining
of fatigue as they were increasingly inundated by a
flood of addictive but useless and invasive messages
from a variety of fragmented applications.
Cannibalisation
Many of the new technologies displace or cannibalise
existing industries, limiting their impact on growth and
productivity. For example, gramophone records were
replaced first by cassette tapes, then CDs, MP3s and
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 31
 Das Capital
now live streaming. Although it
made minimal difference to their
experience, people were forced
to own the same music in several
different media, together with the
associated paraphernalia, creating a
peculiar form of economy activity.
Smartphones and tablets have
cannibalised desktops, laptops,
portable music players such as
Sony’s CD Walkman, MP3 players
and personal digital assistants like
the once ubiquitous PalmPilot. They
have also replaced low-end cameras
and watches. The revenue gain from
smartphones is offset by the losses
from the products it has replaced.
In the same way, Google and
internet blogs divert revenue
from newspapers, publishing
houses and libraries and
digital advertising diverts revenue from traditional
newspapers, magazines and televisions.
Disruptive not sustainable
The current Industrial Revolution may not be as
transformative as it is made out to be because of its
emphasis on disruptive technologies, a term associated
with Harvard professor Clayton Christensen and
his influential book The Innovator’s Dilemma. It
differentiated between sustainable innovations—which
improve products and make valuable changes for a
firm’s customers—and disruptive innovations, which
are cheap, low-quality products that initially reach less-
profitable customers but uses the threat of potential
products and new customers to dominate the industry.
Many ‘disruptive’ innovations rely on lower costs,
use lower quality products or employ untrained
individuals. Airbnb, for instance, lets people rent
out their homes to travellers as an alternative to
professional hospitality services; Uber allows individuals
to use their own cars for transportation services.
The most notable effect is the alteration of industry
economics. New technologies changed advertising rates
in the US. The $51-per thousand views in a newspaper
became $29 for TV, $15 for magazines, $4.70 for desktops,
$4.42 for tablets and $1.31 for mobile devices. In the
Chaitanya Dinesh surpur
words of one commentator: “Newspaper dollars have
turned to digital dimes and those in turn are turning
into mobile pennies.” While advertisers benefitted, the
loss of earnings of traditional businesses resulted in less
employment, less investment, and lower R&D expenditure.
Arguably, it increased the diversity of information
32 | forbes india January 19, 2018
available. But the absence of
editorial oversight contributed to
a loss of accuracy and quality.
Little economic impact
The key innovations of the third
Industrial Revolution are easily
scalable. The pervasiveness
of the internet means that the
expansion of an activity can
happen without a commensurate
expansion in investment and
operational capacity. Many
new innovations piggy-back
on existing infrastructure like
online stores that rely on current
delivery platforms. In contrast,
the creation of automobiles
required the parallel development
of ancillary industries—suppliers
of steel, aluminium, rubber,
fuel suppliers, servicing and repair centres as well as
the entire road and highway system. New technologies,
however, rarely create secondary industries at this scale.
The new technologies, therefore, contribute to higher
efficiencies but reduce the overall economic impact.
Shorter Lifespan
The hardware and software technologies that
underpin some innovations are dynamic. This
reduces their lifespan, leading to waste in terms of
investment and also affecting the speed of adoption.
Unintended Consequences
The new technologies have complex side effects.
Computing and connectivity have destructive unintended
uses, like spam, viruses and cyber crime, including identity
theft. It creates a redundant cycle of destructive innovation
and counter measures, such as anti-virus and anti-malware
software, which do not generate true economic value.
While it may simply be too early to judge the full
impact of the third Industrial Revolution, it does
not seem to be driving the epochal change that the
generation of electricity or the invention of the internal
combustion engine did. There are many important
problems to be solved and innovations will continue
in many fields. But there is an unreasonable and
naïve expectation that technology and innovation
will provide a quick and painless fix to the world’s
problems, such as low economic growth, unsustainable
debt levels, resource scarcity and climate change.
Satyajit Das is a former banker.
His latest book is The Age of Stagnation.
 Social impact
The
Change
agenTs
I
n our second social impact
series, we bring to light
some of India’s change
agents—entrepreneurs
who are making a
difference in diverse
fields such as arts and craft, speech
recognition, health technology
and renewable energy. While their
field of work might be different,
the underlying theme that binds
them together is that they have
all created businesses that have
had a meaningful impact on
society and are profitable as well.
In 1978, Nand Kishore Chaud-
hary borrowed `5,000 from his
father to start a carpet business,
which got him to work with ru-
ral artisans in his home state of
Rajasthan. A business that began
with two looms and nine artisans
now touches the lives of 40,000
rural artisans, over 80 percent of
whom are women. His company,
Jaipur Rugs, which has a turn-
over of about `134 crore, is India’s
largest exporter of handwoven
carpets (p 46).
While Chaudhary has been
nurturing rural artisans for three
decades, industrialist Sunil Kant
By Anshul DhAmijA
Munjal is now taking baby steps
to promote India’s traditional
arts and craft industry (p 44).
In an interview to Forbes India,
Munjal says, “There is no industry
which touches as many people as
our traditional arts and craft sec-
tor does.” That apart, Munjal
is looking at a larger play in
the social impact space, having
made a personal investment of
`100 crore in Vineet Rai’s Aavish-
kaar Bharat Fund.
Rai is the founder of Aavish-
kaar-Intellecap Group that has,
over the last two decades, become
the flag-bearer of promoting so-
cial entrepreneurship through its
financial products and services,
including equity funds, a venture
debt vehicle, microfinance lend-
ing, investment banking and con-
sulting and research. The group
has assets under management of
about `3,800 crore (p 34).
More recently, John Cham-
bers, chairman of Cisco Systems,
invested in a technology com-
pany that has developed products
around speech analytics for the
country’s non-English speaking
populace. Entrepreneur Umesh
Sachdev’s Uniphore Software
Systems has developed a speech
recognition software by which
a tribal in Gujarat can do a bank
transaction over phone, using
voice as the password (p 54).
On the health care front,
Nishith Chasmawala, founder
and CEO of Consure Medical,
has built a medical device that
manages faecal incontinence
among bedridden patients.
Backed by investors such as
Accel and the Indian Angel
Network, the New Delhi-head-
quartered Consure Medical
sells its stool management
device, Qora, to 50 hospitals
across India and the US (p 52).
And last, Som Narayan of Car-
bon Masters is creating tremen-
dous buzz in India’s tech capital
of Bengaluru with Carbonlites—
a renewable natural gas that is
made from biodegradable wet
waste. Said to burn ‘longer and
stronger’ than LPG, Carbonlites is
being sold to restaurants in Ben-
galuru at a price of `50 per kg as
against `55 for commercial LPG.
Carbonlites also powers trucks,
but not on a mass scale yet (p 40).
 Social impact

The ForesTer
who Turned
Financier
Vineet Rai went from chasing elephants in the jungles of Odisha
to setting up impact investment firm Aavishkaar-Intellecap
that today has `3,800 crore in assets under management
By Varsha Meghani
Mexy xavier
 Social impact | aavishkaar-intellecap
i
f you come and tell us you are
trying to change the world,
chances are we will not give
you money,” says Aavishkaar’s
Vineet Rai, deadpan. His
venture equity funds, initially set up
in 2001, and now worth almost $300
million have been steadily making
investments across India’s low-income
states, building enterprises, creating
jobs and lifting people out of poverty.
He continues, “Rather than you
saying it, does your business show
it? Then we will give you money.”
That’s not all. Rai dislikes being
called an ‘impact investor’, that
is, someone who invests with the
intention of generating a positive
social impact along with financial
returns. “They [impact investors]
carry a cross on their shoulders
about changing the world. That’s
not what we want. Our work is to
make investments in distressed or
difficult areas. If in the process the
world changes, that’s great,” the
46-year-old tells Forbes India.
Rai’s story isn’t just about being
contrarian. Instead, his is a story
of extraordinary risk-taking and
tightly-managed expansion. Consider
Aavishkaar’s investment in Milk
Mantra in 2011. The Odisha-based
dairy company existed as a mere
plan on paper at the time. And
tilling of land or animal husbandry
wasn’t commonplace in the rural
regions of the state. At the front end,
too, the organised procurement of
milk in eastern India stood at 10
percent, compared to the national
average of 23 percent, says Srikumar
Misra, the Milk Mantra founder.
“Capital would generally never go
there to create a dairy,” reasons Rai.
But he sniffed an opportunity. Given
the fairly large number of cities in
Odisha, Rai knew that the demand for
packaged milk was prevalent. If a local
supply chain could be built, it would
create employment for thousands
in the state’s remote regions.
So he bought into Misra’s vision to
create an “ethical sourcing model”.
36 | forbes india January 19, 2018
a collection centre set up by Milk Mantra, a dairy firm in odisha in which aavishkaar invested
The first step was to tie up with
banks to provide loans to farmers to
buy cattle; farmers would then be
trained to breed their cattle in a way
that would up the output of milk;
milk collection centres would be set
up as would transparent payment
methods so that farmers got their
due. Packaging, distribution and
retailing across Odisha was also part
of the plan. “Our idea was to build
the entire supply chain to overcome
the trust deficit consumers have
for perishable foods; milk is often
thought to be adulterated or stale,”
says Misra, adding that Aavishkaar
put in about `5 crore of seed capital.
Today, Milk Mantra works with
more than 50,000 supplier farmers,
has 400 milk collection centres and
distributes packaged milk and milk
products across Odisha, Jharkhand,
West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. It
raked in `150 crore in revenue in FY17,
up from about `18 crore in FY13. While
Aavishkaar still remains invested,
other investors like Eight Roads
Ventures (previously Fidelity Growth
Partners India) have also swooped in.
In fact, for every $1 invested by
Aavishkaar, its portfolio companies
have raised greater than 4x follow
on capital, says Rai. He is quick to
point out that the difference between
Aavishkaar and a traditional venture
capitalist is that the former will invest
in areas where the ecosystem is
under-developed or even non-existent.
“Generally, capital and talent, like
water coming down a hill, flow to
Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai—
places where you have infrastructure,”
he says. This understanding, he adds,
occurred to him when he was heading
Grassroots Innovations Augmentation
Network (Gian), an Ahmedabad-
based incubator set up by the
Gujarat government to help farmers
convert their ideas into businesses.
Cobras and Kraits
Rai’s journey to being appointed
the CEO of Gian in 1998 was quite
an adventurous one. He grew up in
Rajasthan, moving from city to town,
wherever his father’s work as a hydro-
geologist for the government took him.
Rai’s early ambitions to join the Indian
Army—watching officers patrol the
borders of Rajasthan had made him
starry-eyed—were thwarted after three
failed attempts at the examination.
Unsure of the direction he wanted to
take, he enrolled himself for a degree
in forestry at the Indian Institute of
Forest Management, Bhopal, at the
insistence of a friend’s father. “I had no
clue what I was going to do there, but
the campus was beautiful,” says Rai
with a chuckle. He was 20 at the time.
After graduating, he joined paper-
maker Ballarpur Industries and was
posted in the deep, forested lands of
Odisha, where the company sourced
its raw material. He spent a little
over three years on the job, fending
off cobras and kraits while managing
the forests. But when the Rais were
expecting their first child, his wife
insisted he find a safer job. He applied
for various positions, including that of a
car salesman in Muscat, but found—not
unsurprisingly to him—that nobody
wanted anyone with a background
like his. Except the Indian Institute
of Management, Ahmedabad—they
were looking to fill a research position
for a project on bio-diversity. Rai
moved to Ahmedabad, took up the
job, but realised after a year that
the work didn’t excite him. “After
chasing elephants in Odisha, this
“He had no clue about finance, but his 6)$86.02
capital Float / 2013 / fintech /
knowledge about what was happening Partners, Sequoia Capital
on the ground was unparallelled.” 7) vistaar FinancE / 2010 / NBFC—com-
-Jayesh Parekh, managing partner, Jungle ventures
(writing research papers) seemed
a bit boring,” he says. That’s when
the Gian offer landed in his lap.
For three years Rai scouted for
innovative ideas that would help
farmers improve efficiencies, and
converted those ideas into businesses.
One farmer had created a downward
tilting bullock cart that allowed for
fertiliser to trickle down into the fields
while tilling, an activity otherwise
done manually. But while making a
business out of it, Rai struck upon a key
learning: That nurturing an innovation
into a full-fledged business requires
an entrepreneur, not an innovator, in
the lead and since that entrepreneur
is taking a risk, he requires risk
capital. “The biggest challenge is
not in finding the entrepreneur or
the innovation but in providing the
risk capital,” points out Rai. That,
coupled with high quality talent,
could build businesses that would, as
he puts it, make poor people rich.
Armed with this understanding,
Rai approached Gian’s board members
for a change in strategy, but they were
uninterested. So Rai, who had been
talking to a few investors about his
“theories”, quit his job and decided
to deep dive into setting up a fund
that would change rural India.
But raising money was difficult.
“Nobody wanted to give money
to a forester who wanted to do
finance,” says Rai. Finally, through
the connections he had made while
at IIM-A and Gian, he managed to
present his ideas to a handful of expats
living in Singapore. “Vineet had no
clue about finance, but his knowledge
about what was happening on the
mln / Ribbit Capital, SAIF
ground in India was unparalleled,”
says Jayesh Parekh, co-founder of
Sony Entertainment Television and
now managing partner at early stage
VC fund Jungle Ventures, who was
one among those gathered and also
the first to promise seed money. In
all, Rai managed to raise SG $100,000
(about `27 lakh then) from the group,
and the name Aavishkaar—meaning
innovation in Hindi—was born there.
Rai formally set up the fund in
early 2001. But he needed more funds.
“It was very difficult to get money. It
took me five years to raise `5 crore,”
he says. Not only was the idea of
using the venture capital method to
serve the rural, low-income market
radical at the time—Aavishkaar
It’s not just
about the money
Top 10 social impact companies in India
company / FoundEd / sEctor / total
Funding / kEy invEstors
1) Janalakshmi / 2000 / banking and
financial services / $547.86 mln /
TPG, Morgan Stanley, Havells
2) Equitas holdings / 2007 / small
finance bank / $232.71 mln /
Franklin Templeton, IFC, CDC Group
3) uJJivan Financial sErvicEs / 2005 /
small finance bank / $197.78 mln /
Sequoia Capital, IFC, CDC Group
4) spandana sphoorty Financial ltd /
1997 / microfinance / $164.50 mln
/ Kedaara Capital, Helion Venture, Lok
Capital
5) utkarsh micro FinancE / 1990 /
microfinance & small finance bank /
$88.53 mln / Aavishkaar Goodwell,
Lok Capital, Norwegian Microfinance
Initiative
mercial loans / $75.06 mln /
WestBridge Capital, Omidyar Network,
Saama Capital
8) shubham / 2010 / NBFC—consumer
loans /$65 mln / Motilal Oswal Private
Equity, Helion Venture Partners, Saama
Capital
9) iFmr holdings / 2008 / venture debt /
$55.86 mln / Accion, LeapFrog
Investments, Lok Capital
10) nEogrowth / 2010 / fintech /
$46.47 mln / IIFL Asset
Management, Omidyar Network,
Aspada Investments
Source: Tracxn * ranking based on total funds raised
claims to be one of the early, if not
the earliest, adopters globally—but
even purely commercial businesses
found it hard to raise venture money.
HigH on returns
Despite being a slow starter, Rai
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 37
 Social impact | aavishkaar-intellecap
top 5 socIal Impact Funds
Fund / numbEr oF invEstmEnts
MIChAel & SuSAN Dell FouNDATIoN /
oMIDyAr NeTworK / 12
AAvIShKAAr / 8 Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. When
ASpADA INveSTMeNTS / 8 Rai for money, he advised her to
vIllGro INNovATIoNS FouNDATIoN /
*ranking based on the number of investments made
between November 2016 and December 2017
Source: Tracxn
Fast Facts
 $1.73 billion is the total amount
of growth capital invested in the top 20
social impact companies in India
 `1,030 crore is the equity
capital that Janalakshmi raised in September
 $95 million is what Aavishkaar-
Intellecap raised from investors for the
Aavishkaar Bharat Fund in November
 `52 crore is what IntelleCash
Microfinance Network, part of the Aavish-
kaar-Intellecap Group, paid to buy a majority
stake in Kolkata-based microfinance
company Arohan Financial Services in 2012
 4 microfinance companies have launched
small finance bank operations
persisted with his vision and in 2002
also set up Intellecap—short for
“intellectual capital”—with initial
money from his wife Swati. The idea
was to provide non-financial support,
including research and consultancy
services, to rural enterprises and
help them scale. Like Aavishkaar,
Intellecap, too, struggled initially.
But, by 2005, when the microfinance
industry took off, Intellecap rode
the wave, advising and eventually
incubating institutions like Utkarsh,
Suryoday Micro Finance and
Grameen Koota, among others.
Today, Intellecap advises not just
microfinance institutions but those
across sectors and geographies.
Meanwhile, Aavishkaar made a
few investments too. One of the early
ones—in 2007—was in Rangsutra,
38 | forbes india January 19, 2018
an artisan collective that supplies
apparel to Fabindia. At the time, it
was a not-for-profit based in a remote
14 area in Rajasthan, on the India-
Pakistan border, and worked with
craftspeople from across the region
and surrounding areas, including
founder Sumita Ghose approached
shift to a for-profit model. After
5 deliberating over it for six months, she
did so and Rai put in `23 lakh for a 25
percent stake. Ghose used the funds
to develop the backend of her supply
chain and within four years gave Rai
an exit at an internal rate of return
(IRR) of 39 percent. “Aavishkaar
had faith in our enterprise when
in 2008, aavishkaar invested $1.5
million in Equitas and netted 13
times when it went for an ipo in 2016
no one else did,” recalls Ghose.
Chennai-based Equitas
Microfinance was another big success:
Aavishkaar invested $1.5 million in
2008 and netted 13 times when it went
for an IPO in 2016. Enticed by these
returns, more limited partners came
in and raising money became easier.
“I later managed to raise `375 crore
in seven months, up from `5 crore
in five years,” says Rai. Today, he
manages six funds worth almost $300
million, including one that makes
investments in Indonesia, Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh. The focus continues
to be on providing high-risk capital
to early-stage enterprises based out
of rural and semi-urban regions—
Aavishkaar is the first institutional
investor in more than 92 percent of
the 58 businesses it has invested in
so far. While most of the investments
are in the financial services space,
other sectors that Aavishkaar backs
include agriculture, health care,
education, energy and sanitation.
Moreover, limited partners
include heavyweights like the
International Finance Corporation,
New York-based pension fund
TIAA, and the Dutch development
bank FMO. “Vineet has managed
to excite and attract a phenomenal
LP base,” says Parekh.
While the venture equity funds
are grouped under Aavishkaar
Venture Management Services,
the firm has over the years created
an entire ecosystem to service the
needs of enterprises: IntelleGrow to
provide venture debt, IntelleCash
to meet the working capital and
business loan needs of small and
medium enterprises, and Arohan
to cater to microfinance borrowers.
These entities, along with Intellecap,
together form the Aavishkaar-
Intellecap Group that today has
`3,800 crore ($590 million) of assets
under management (AUM). “We
can provide anything from `5,000 to
`100 crore across debt and equity,”
says Rai, who claims to be on track
to achieve `4,500 crore ($700
million) of AUMs by March 2018.
With impact investing growing
in India—$5.2 billion came in
between 2010 and 2016, according to
McKinsey—Rai’s targets don’t seem
out of reach. Moreover, a total of 48
exits were seen during the period of
which 24 were made by Aavishkaar-
Intellecap alone. Returns of 3.1 times
were given to investors, says Rai. In
fact, following Aavishkaar-Intellecap’s
success, a number of players including
Omnivore Partners, Asha Impact
and Lok Capital followed suit.
Says Parekh: “Vineet got the
entire impact investment ecosystem
going. He’s like the Pied Piper.”
 Social impact | Carbon Masters
Fuelling new
possibilities
Carbon Masters, with its asset-light model, is powering
Mahindra & Mahindra’s biogas plant
By Sayan ChakraBorty
i
n April 2016, when Som
Narayan, 32, and Kevin
Houston, 65, agreed on
a deal with Mahindra &
Mahindra, it was the kind
of association they had dreamt of.
After being in the business of
advising clients on reducing their
carbon footprint and then producing
bottled bio-CNG (a purified form of
biogas) over the past eight years, they
would be running a biogas facility
at Malur, a town about 50 km from
Bengaluru, for Mahindra Powerol, a
generator manufacturing arm of the
$15-billion Mahindra & Mahindra
Group, for eight years. While
Mahindra would spend about `7 crore
on installing the facility, Narayan’s
and Houston’s venture, Carbon
Masters, would procure wet waste
for producing biogas and organic
fertilisers, and package and sell the
gas. The plant, with a daily production
capacity of 1,600 kg, was about eight
times as big as their existing facility
at Doddaballapura in Karnataka.
Mahindra, on the other hand, was
impressed with Carbon Masters’
focus on “sustainability”. “The Malur
bio-CNG project is Mahindra’s
carbon maSterS
Headquarters: bengaluru
business: an asset-light model of producing,
Som Narayan packaging and selling bio-Cng to enterprise
expects Carbon
Masters’ Malur
customers
revenue: `2 crore (projected for fY18)
plant to run to
its full capacity Funding: `4 crore from indian angel network
of 1,600 kg by and sangam Ventures
March 2018
first commercial waste-to-energy
project, which not only generates
green energy but also creates rural
employment and supports the
farmer community with the organic
fertiliser. This very well synergises
and supplements Mahindra’s vision
of farm tech prosperity,” says Hemant
Sikka, president–chief purchase
officer, Powerol & Spares Business,
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
But even as Houston and Narayan
signed on the dotted line, they knew
that a rocky road lay ahead. The
company needed to make some
investments to run the plant, and
despite Houston, a former executive
at Procter & Gamble, and PwC already
having invested `50 lakh of his
personal money, more was required.
Consequently, they spent much
of 2015 scouting for funds. “We just
did not know how to raise funds,”
recalls Houston, while we sit at
Konark restaurant in Bengaluru, one
of Carbon Masters’ early clients for
the bottled biogas. “The best that
photographs: nishant ratnakar for forbes india
we could get was some consultant
who would promise to raise the
money from banks against a cut,”
says Narayan. “We signed the deal in
May 2016. Until then, we had done
everything from understanding the
space and building a team to running
pilots. This plant was one box on the
checklist that we had to tick off.”
But fresh funds remained elusive,
while the plant at Malur was nearing
completion. It was not before
another year that Houston and
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 41
 Social impact | Carbon Masters
Narayan could finally breathe easy.
Help came from an unlikely
quarter. Konda Vishweshwar Reddy,
a Member of Parliament from
Telangana, whom Narayan had met
at multiple conferences, introduced
the duo to the Indian Angel Network
(IAN). Soon, they found patrons in
angel investors Nagaraja Prakasam
and Mridula Ramesh, and Sangam
Ventures, a sustainable energy-
focussed fund backed by the Shell
Foundation. In June 2017, IAN and
Sangam Ventures invested `4 crore
in Carbon Masters, a crore more
than the company’s initial ask.
Today, Carbon Masters processes
about 35 tonnes of wet waste, sourced
from multiple waste procurement
firms in Bengaluru, including
Saahas and Hasirudala, and garbage
contractors recognised by the
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike
(BBMP), to produce about 1,000 kg
of bio-CNG and 10 tonnes of organic
fertiliser every day at the Malur plant.
Narayan expects the plant to run to
its full capacity of 1,600 kg by March
2018. A few more plants are expected
to come up next fiscal, he adds.
Apart from this, Carbon Masters
has developed an engineering
unit in Bengaluru that will handle
conceptualisation, commission
and operations of biogas plants.
The results so far have encouraged
Narayan and Houston to aim for about
`30 crore in annual revenue in the
next three years, compared to the
current revenue run rate of `2 crore.
“What excites me is that Carbon
Masters is able to package and sell
[the gas]. It helps customers because
they don’t need to switch between
LPG and biogas, and lose efficiency in
the process. It is a win-win for waste
management companies because
earlier, they used to compost the
waste, which would take months.
Now, they can just hand over the
wet waste to Carbon Masters,”
says Prakasam. “India produces
1.5 lakh tonnes of waste every day,
and half of that is wet waste.”
42 | forbes india January 19, 2018
With every development, Houston
and Narayan are moving a step closer
to their dream of reducing carbon
dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
An April 2017 report by the United
States Environmental Protection
Agency states that carbon dioxide
accounts for 82 percent of the total
greenhouse gases, when compared
to methane’s 10 percent. Methane,
however, absorbs 100 times more
heat than carbon dioxide over five
years, and 72 times over 20 years.
Though methane breaks down
faster than carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, its capacity to retain
more heat makes it more dangerous.
“The best one to tackle first is
methane because it has a higher
global warming potential,” says
Narayan. “When you burn methane
from a biogas plant, it gets converted
to carbon dioxide [and moisture],
but this is biogenic. But, when you
take coal and burn, it is incremental
carbon masters processes about 35
tonnes of wet waste. it is eyeing `30
crore in annual revenue in three years
carbon dioxide being released in the
atmosphere.” This explains Carbon
Masters’ biogas product, CarbonLites,
which is 92 percent methane.
i
t wasn’t a smooth start for us,
says Houston, who started
pondering over global warming
after watching An Inconvenient
Truth, a 2006 documentary by Davis
Guggenheim featuring former US Vice
President Al Gore. All hell broke loose
when he decided to quit his consulting
job at IBM in the UK to go back to
school to study carbon management
at the age of 55. “At the time, my three
adult children were leaving university.
They felt I was crazy, having a midlife
crisis and had lost the plot,” he jokes.
Houston met Narayan at the
University of Edinburgh in September
2008, where both were studying for
their master’s in carbon management.
The two set up Carbon Masters, with
an office on the university campus
and four other employees, in May
2009, while still at university—with
a 10,000-pound interest-free loan
from the university’s incubator—
to advise businesses on ways to
reduce their carbon footprint.
Over the next two years, Carbon
Masters wangled projects from
the European Commission in
Brussels, the Edinburgh airport,
drug manufacturer Pfizer and steel
manufacturer Adelca; Edinburgh
University, in fact, was their first
client. The company clocked about
`20 lakh in annual revenues in FY13.
Towards the end of 2011,
Narayan had to return to India.
His visa had expired. “We thought
it would be prudent for him
to return [to India] and set up
business here,” says Houston.
And there was enough opportunity;
or so it seemed. A 2011 report by
Greenpeace said India’s telecom
sector emitted 5.2 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide annually, accounting
for 2 percent of domestic greenhouse
gas emissions, thanks to its enormous
appetite for diesel. Early in 2012,
the central government asked telcos
to ensure that by 2020, at least 75
percent of towers in rural areas and
33 percent in urban areas should
run on hybrid power. This gave
Carbon Masters enough reason to
set their eyes on the telecom sector.
But what seemed like a land
of opportunities turned out to be

a quagmire. “We did about three
months of pro bono work for a
telecom tower operator towards the
end of 2012. But they got the work
done, and didn’t give us any contract.
It was hard for me to digest that,”
says Narayan. “We decided not to
do consulting engagements in India.
I believe consulting work in the
climate change space goes to the Big
Four accounting firms or companies
that can get regulatory clearances.”
It was also a time when the garbage
crisis in Bengaluru was at its peak:
As villages around the city’s landfills
began to protest, waste disposal
within the city got held up, causing
massive garbage pile-ups. Amid the
stench, Narayan and Houston got the
whiff of an opportunity to process
wet waste to generate biogas, bottle
Narayan and his University
of Edinburgh colleague
Kevin Houston set up
Carbon Masters with an
office on the university
campus in 2009
it and sell the gas to businesses.
“For telecom contracts, you have
to ensure an uptime of 99.9 percent.
We didn’t know how to do that, and
failure would entail a fine,” says
Narayan. “The next option were
kitchens. Back then, commercial
LPG cost about `118 per kg and we
could compete on that front.”
In February 2013, they made a
deal with Maltose Agri Products Pvt
Ltd to operate the company’s biogas
facility—it had a capacity of 200 kg a
day—in Doddaballapura. Running the
pilot project was essentially to identify
potential business opportunities.
While a few pilots with restaurants
and caterers were successful,
running three Mahindra trucks on
biogas in November 2013 catapulted
Carbon Masters straight to the
truckmaker’s boardroom in Mumbai.
“They were the first biogas trucks in
South India. The truck distributor
rang up the Mahindra guys in
Mumbai and told them about us.
The company people then visited
us on the plant,” says Houston.
Things have only looked better
since. The company now also supplies
CarbonLites cylinders to about eight
restaurants in Bengaluru, while
work is underway to reach eight
more cities in Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh. Given that CarbonLites is
priced to match commercial LPG—
Carbon Lites cost `60 per kg, while
LPG costs `65 per kg—restaurant
owners aren’t complaining either.
“There was some initial scepticism
because we were new to it,” says Ram
Murthy, owner of Konark restaurant,
which has been using CarbonLites
since 2014. “But, unlike LPG,
CarbonLites cylinders maintain a
constant pressure even as the content
is depleted, and it does not produce
carbon soot, hence no gas is wasted.”
Its asset-light model sets Carbon
Masters apart from its peers, such
as GPS Renewables, SustainEarth
Energy Solutions, Green Brick Eco
Solutions. “Startups lose their
footing because they have to set
up the plant, run it and then find
customers. They neither have
enough money to build a proper
plant and bear operational expenses
nor enough bandwidth for sales.
The economics don’t work because
eventually you cannot sell gas
beyond a certain price. Hence, the
model for Carbon Masters, where
they just run the plant and sell the
products, is impressive,” says Shyam
Menon, co-founder and investment
director at Infuse Ventures.
Narayan is aware of the
challenges of evangelising biogas
adoption in India. He admits that
creating awareness about biogas
is one of his biggest challenges.
But, his faith in the “waste-to-
value” business does not waver.
At least, his cylinders are selling.
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 43
 Social impact | interView: sunil munjAl

‘There is a need To
grow all of india’
Hero Enterprise Chairman Sunil Munjal feels impact investing must
bridge the gap between the top and the bottom of the pyramid
to quell social unrest as well as foster growth
By Anshul DhAmijA

w
hen it comes to
impact investing,
Sunil Munjal,
chairman of Hero
Enterprise, is
the newsmaker of 2017. In April,
Munjal wrote a cheque of `100 crore
to Aavishkaar, an early-stage, social
venture capital firm. The investment,
dubbed the biggest such by an
Indian HNI, was part of Aavishkaar’s
`2,000-crore Aavishkaar Bharat Fund
to bankroll startups as well as other
companies that operate in sectors
such as agriculture, financial services,
renewable energy and health care.
The 57-year-old entrepreneur, who
moved out of his family’s flagship
company Hero MotoCorp in 2016,
is also a votary of India’s traditional
arts and crafts. “If it can be branded
and positioned appropriately,
it will truly build India’s soft
power,” Munjal tells Forbes India
in an interview. Excerpts:

Q The buzz is that you signed the

single biggest impact investment
cheque among Indian HNIs. What
made you invest in Aavishkaar?
Frankly, I didn’t realise I was doing
that. The idea is simple. For us, as
a nation, there is a need to grow all
of India. You’ll see that, over the
last 20 to 30 years, India has done
exceedingly well at the top [of the
Sunil Munjal wants to
pyramid]. But the gap between the top improve the lives of
Amit VermA

and the rest has grown dramatically. artisans and connect

them with markets in
There are many [citizens] who still do India and overseas
not have access to basic opportunities

44 | forbes india January 19, 2018

in the areas of education, health
care, clean drinking water, etc.
Aavishkaar has a track record of
investing in enterprises that work in
those areas and in a manner that is
both profitable and sustainable. So, it
looked like a perfect place to invest in.
That said, our family foundations
and trusts [the Munjal family] have
been supporting some of these
areas through our own initiatives.
In this, we don’t look for profit and
don’t take a penny back. But, as a
philosophy, we never announce
what we do. Of late, we have had a
lot of pressure and have done some
rethinking ourselves—a reason why
I’m talking to you—that it may be
good for people to see and learn.
Q What is your idea of
impact investing?
First, the [business] idea itself must
“We inherited one of the richest cultural
legacies in the world, but have lost
about 30% of our cultural heritage.”
be one that has a huge social impact,
otherwise it doesn’t count for impact
investing. Besides, when I look at
impact investing, it essentially has
to help in the capacity-building
of individuals, communities,
societies, villages, etc. Or it has to
provide a product or service that
will enhance the quality of life for
the individuals involved and also
help create livelihood for them.
That said, there are two ways to
look at impact investing. The private
sector must invest in any business that
gives a return, and those businesses
that do not give a return should be
taken care of by the government.
But now there is a third category of
private enterprises and individuals
investing in areas, which are normally
not seen as pure businesses which
have a significant positive impact on
society and people, and where there
are returns that may take longer. To
my mind, this is a perfect junction
of meeting the needs of society.
We have to develop all of India for
two different reasons. One, if you do
not start to address those areas that
are getting left behind, you could
have social unrest. Plus, if you can
fix some of those areas, you could
develop the world’s largest growth
market. Both are good reasons for
us to look at impact investing as an
essential tool to bridge the gap.
Q Do you think listed entities
should set aside money from their
CSR corpus for impact investing?
CSR by its very nature means that you
are not making an investment. It’s
money that you give away; in a sense,
it is philanthropy from a company.
CSR money cannot replicate or
make up for [the lack of] impact
investments. But it is important
because there are many areas in
which you will never be able to get a
return on your investment. If you look
at sanitation, for example, you can’t
turn that into a business. You invest
in building a toilet and leave it there.
Q What role do you see yourself
playing in the impact investing
space in India. Do you have
an investment outlay?
I will not get into discussing
numbers (laughs). Even the `100
crore was announced almost
under duress. I wouldn’t have
liked to make that figure public.
About four years ago, we set up a
foundation that looks at traditional
arts, craft and culture. As a nation,
we are losing our inheritance. We
inherited one of the richest cultural
legacies of the world. But, according
to reports, over the last 30 years, we
have lost about 30 percent of our
cultural heritage [in arts and craft].
Because it’s not remunerative, young
people are getting away from it.
More recently, we organised a
festival called the Serendipity Arts
Festival in Goa [in December]
where we combined all sorts of
traditional Indian art forms, like
theatre, music, food, street art, etc.
We did it last year [2016] too and
got a footfall of about 100,000.
Now I’m trying to see if we can
revive some of these declining arts
and craft forms and help bring
some patronage for them. If we can
attempt to help the artisans with
design and process inputs, and help
connect them with markets both in
India and overseas. Also, see if there
is a possibility to build sustainable
livelihoods for them and their
families. If we can do that, we have
the potential to create the largest job
opportunity this nation has ever seen.
Q Companies like Fabindia and
Jaipur Rugs have built scalable
and profitable social business
models that touch the lives of
rural artisans. How different
would your approach be?
These are brilliant companies. And
there are many more like them that
are working on a smaller scale. It’s
just that for a large nation like India,
where millions are involved in the
arts and craft industry, there is space
for, say, even 50 more companies.
If you go back in history, the
patrons of art used to be royalty.
At some point, the government
became the patron and it has done
what it could do. But it’s not enough.
Today, we are using ecommerce to
reach out to customers around the
world. Why should our traditional
arts and craft sector not have access
to this? If it can be branded and
positioned appropriately, it will
truly build India’s soft power.
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 45
 Social impact

s
omewhere between

Rugs to
1984 and 1985, Nand
Kishore Chaudhary had
a sinking feeling about
life. Born and brought
up in the small town of Churu in

Riches
Nand Kishore Chaudhary has empowered
rural and tribal women in India by seamlessly
weaving them into the fabric of a profitable
business of handwoven carpets
By Anshul DhAmijA
Rajasthan, Chaudhary was weighed
down by societal prejudices over
not having a son. Chaudhary and
his wife Sulochana were till then
only blessed with three daughters—
Asha, Archana and Kavita.
“When you have daughters,
people feel there is something wrong
with these women [referring to
his wife],” says Chaudhary. Three
decades later, such prejudices are
still prevalent in India, which was
ranked 108th among 144 nations
on the World Economic Forum’s
Global Gender Gap Index in 2017.
In the absence of family support,
Chaudhary, 62, turned to his English
friend and art historian Ilay Cooper—
who has written many books on the
Shekhawati region of Rajasthan,
which Churu is part of—for help.
Among them are The Painted Towns of
Shekhawati and Rajasthan: Exploring
Painted Shekhawati. Chaudhary
had met Cooper in the early-to-
mid ’70s when the latter was in
Rajasthan studying wall paintings.
They have been friends since.
“Whenever I had any difficulty,
I used to take his advice,” says
Chaudhary. “Once I told him
that I have three daughters and
people in my community and my
family don’t see this nicely.”
Cooper’s response to Chaudhary,
which he vividly narrates to Forbes
India in chaste Hindi, was: “In your
family and society, the demarcation
and difference that exists between
boys and girls is a huge issue and
not a sign of a progressive society.
Women are more efficient and
PhotograPhs: amit Verma

receptive than men. You should bring

up your daughters in an open and
friendly environment. Give them
all the opportunities and support
they need to grow. There should be
no difference in their upbringing

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 47

 Social impact | JaiPur rugs

just because of their gender.”

Chaudhary took his friend’s advice
seriously—both in the upbringing of
his daughters and in business as well.
As chairman and managing
director of the social impact venture
Jaipur Rugs Company Pvt Ltd,
which was founded in 1999 as Jaipur
Carpets, Chaudhary has impacted
the lives of 40,000 rural artisans
spread across villages in North and
West India. Over 80 percent of the
artisans are women and about 7,000
tribals. The company has built a
profitable business from the export
of hand-knotted carpets produced
by these artisans. Its biggest market
is the US where it serves 5,000
customers that comprise small retail
stores and interior designers.
In 2015, the company expanded
its women empowerment
outreach by partnering with the
government of Bihar to train
women from the Maoist-hit areas
of the state in rug-weaving. The
aim was to skill the women so
that they could earn a living.
“In a lot of these villages that we
work in, you will see that women
today don’t consider themselves
inferior to men as many of them are
running their households—they are Nand Kishore Chaudhary’s daughter Kavita oversees design at Jaipur Rugs
the breadwinners of the family,”
says Yogesh Chaudhary, the fourth branding of products—he dealt Bissell, managing director of Fabindia
child of Nand Kishore Chaudhary. only with male artisans. But he Overseas Pvt Ltd which owns and
Impact investor Nagaraja noticed that they were not serious operates the retail chain Fabindia,
Prakasam, part of the Indian Angel about work and were on leave most commends Chaudhary for having
Network, narrates one such story of the time. Emboldened by his created a grassroots network that has
of Chaudhary’s impact on women friend Cooper’s advice, Chaudhary come to be a “significant empowerer
empowerment in rural India. When started inducting more women of rural women”. Bissell himself is an
he visited the artisans of Jaipur Rugs into his workforce and realised advocate of women’s empowerment
in 2015, Prakasam met a girl at her that they were more receptive, through Fabindia’s connect with
home in Achrol, Rajasthan. He asked efficient, dedicated and diligent. rural artisans across India.
her why she was not studying to Fellow social entrepreneur William Chaudhary also built his social
which she said her family could not
afford to send her to college. “But she
was doing a correspondence course, “i never say that i have done any good
which she paid for from the earnings to the weavers. it is just the opposite:
she made from knotting carpets
[for Jaipur Rugs],” says Prakasam. they have done good to me.”
When Chaudhary started -nAnD Kishore ChAuDhAry, chairman and mD, Jaipur rugs
his business in 1978—it was an
unregistered entity with no

48 | forbes india January 19, 2018


venture in a bid to remove the
middleman and connect artisans
directly with the end customer. The
benefit: Artisans get paid their rightful
dues and aren’t cheated. Today,
Chaudhary looks to his children to
strengthen his commitments,
giving an equal opportunity to his
daughters and sons in the business.
He sent all his five children—
three daughters and two sons—
abroad for higher education.
Asha, 39, and Archana, 35, are
married and settled in the US and
oversee the company’s US operations
[Jaipur Living], which accounted
for 60 percent of its `133.49 crore
revenue in fiscal 2017. Kavita, 34,
oversees design and along with her
younger brother Yogesh, 30, works
out of the company’s headquarters
in Jaipur. Nitesh, 27, who’s currently
based in the US, is in the process
of joining the family business. The
siblings plan to meet in Istanbul
this year to chart out Nitesh’s
entry and role in the company.
The begiNNiNg
In 1977, after completing his
bachelor’s in commerce from Lohia
College in Churu, Chaudhary joined
his father who then ran a branded
shoe shop in the city. Chaudhary
remembers his father’s shop was not
doing “great” business. What added
to his frustration was that he did
not enjoy being a shoes salesman. “I
moved out of the family business and
got a job as a cashier at United Bank
of India. But I didn’t join the bank
either as I didn’t want a 9 to 5 job that
wouldn’t give me an opportunity to
learn anything new,” says Chaudhary.
In his quest to find a job that
would give him the chance “to work
with people”, Chaudhary researched
extensively and chanced upon
the carpet business. It had a good
export market, but the sector was
highly unorganised and involved
a lot of middlemen—wheeler-
dealers who were treating artisans
unfairly. “I figured that this [trade]
Consistent returns
Revenue/PRofit (In ` Crore)
*FY18 149/15
FY17 133.49/9.78
FY16 153.3/10.7
FY15 137.33/ 8.85
FY14 121.41/6.34
FY13 101.13/4.39
FY12 79.78/3.89
5-Year 5-Year ProFIt
revenue CaGr CaGr
10.84% 20.25%
*ProjeCted
will give me the opportunity to
meet people and visit different
villages and work with artisans,”
says Chaudhary. Having made up
his mind, he took a loan of `5,000
from his father to set up his business
in Churu. He spent the money in
procuring two looms on which nine
weavers—all men—worked on. He
also bought himself a scooter.
By 1986, Chaudhary had built a
sizeable network of artisans and in
partnership with his younger brother
MK Choudhary started an export
business (Saraswati Exports), thereby
removing the middleman from the
equation. But the journey was fraught
with challenges. To begin with, his
family and community were against
his business idea. “When I started
working with the weavers, people said
that ‘you work with untouchables…
you cannot stay among us’,” recounts
Chaudhary. His ideals were different.
For him, people should be recognised
for the work they do and not for
their caste, religion or social status.
In 1989, he left Churu—the
running of the export business was
handled by his brother—and moved
to Pardi, Gujarat, to teach tribals in
the region how to weave and help
extend his artisan network. While
Chaudhary admits that he does not
know how to weave a carpet himself,
he clarifies, “I’ve spent a lot of time
with the weavers and I am well
aware of the technicalities involved.
I closely assisted the tribal people in
Gujarat so that they could grasp the
technical aspects of weaving.” He
was based in Pardi for nine years.
“My early memories are of
going with him [my father] during
weekends and summer breaks from
school to remote tribal villages in
hilly areas for which we had to
cross forests and rivers that were
flooded. We literally grew up in a
rural environment,” says Kavita.
“My mother always reminds us
that when we went to Gujarat, we
had nothing—no car, no house and
no relatives. We had stepped into
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 49
 Social impact | JaiPur rugs
Chaudhary’s son yogesh works out of the company’s headquarters in Jaipur
a new world and slowly, my father
established himself, sending the kids
to the best schools and also saving
enough to eventually buy a jeep.”
Little did Chaudhary know that
he would have to start his life from
scratch in 1999 after he had a fallout
with his brother. It’s something that
he does not wish to talk about. The
fallout led to Chaudhary relocating
the family back to Rajasthan, this
time to the state’s capital of Jaipur
where he established Jaipur Rugs
as a company. Having built strong
“Jaipur Rugs not only pays the artisan
a fair price, but has also taken care of
some other [critical] aspects.”
-GAnesh n PrABhu, professor, iim-B
50 | forbes india January 19, 2018
personal bonds with artisans,
he got on board 5,000 weavers
who helped Jaipur Rugs clock an
export revenue of about `5 crore
in the first year of its operations.
Today, Jaipur Rugs’ 40,000 strong
weaver base, comprising largely
women, operates 6,000 looms across
the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
“We chose these states because the
quality of work and craftsmanship
that we need is available there,”
adds Chaudhary. In every region,
the company has a branch office,
with a branch manager and a quality
supervisor. Each weaver works for
typically 7 to 8 hours a day and on
an average earns about `4,500 per
month. Weavers who take up urgent
carpet assignments or customised
weaving work typically earn about
`8,000 to `10,000 a month.
MaRRyiNg soCial wiTh pRofiT
For Chaudhary, ‘profit’ and ‘social
mission’ are not diametrically
opposite concepts. “I believe a
business cannot run without profit
and business is all about people,”
he says. “An entrepreneur has to
have empathy. Once there is empathy,
the social model will come on its
own. A business is truly
successful when you empower
everyone involved in it.”
Jaipur Rugs operates an end-
to-end business model, right from
sourcing of wool to exporting
a finished handwoven rug. The
company buys wool from many
countries, including India, and
then gets it handspun by artisans in
and around Bikaner in Rajasthan.
After dyeing, the wool is sent to
the company’s network of weavers
who get paid a monthly fee. The
price that the company charges
to retailers/wholesalers ranges
between $2 and $40 per square feet.
The not-for-profit Jaipur Rugs
“His laudable success while ensuring
livelihood for artisans is the result of
tremendous value creation.”
Foundation, which was set up in
2004, helps in skilling weavers in
rug-weaving and is engaged in helping
the weaver community get access
to health care, financial inclusion,
education, among other things.
“Jaipur Rugs has built a system that
not only pays the artisan a fair price,
but has also taken care of some other
[critical] aspects,” says Professor
Ganesh N Prabhu of IIM-B. Professor
Prabhu along with Professor Devi
Vijay of IIM-C have done a case
study titled “Jaipur Rugs: Weaving
together 40,000 artisans”, which is
presently under journal review.
According to Professor Prabhu,
Jaipur Rugs has reduced the cost
incurred by artisans to produce the
product by providing them with raw
material and equipment. It has also
reduced the time and effort taken by
artisans to buy the raw material and
to sell the product. The company
has reduced the risk undertaken by
the artisans in making the product,
as Jaipur Rugs owns the product. It
increased the value of the product
by giving artisans better designs and
selling them at a premium in the US.
william bissell, MD, fabindia overseas pvt ltd
-WilliAm Bissell
And, finally, it provided training to
the next generation of weaver families
in vocations other than weaving.
It is this comprehensive approach
of Jaipur Rugs, where it treats
weavers as part of an extended family,
that “distinguishes it from other
social impact ventures [in India]
that may not be as comprehensive,”
says Professor Prabhu.
For Chaudhary and his children,
the focus now is on how to double
the wages of artisans and increase
the company’s profitability. “The
more profit you make, the more
social impact you will have,” says
Yogesh. And the path to higher
profits for Jaipur Rugs is the India
market, which now accounts for 5
percent of the company’s revenue.
But it has the potential to be the
biggest market in revenue, after
the US, in the next three years. The
India strategy, however, would be
different and would see the company
open B2C (business to consumer)
retail stores as well as reach out
to end consumers through the
internet. So far, the company has
built its business on a B2B (business
to business) export model.
In the last 12 months, Jaipur Rugs
has opened a retail store on New
Delhi’s MG Road and has launched
its own website, with plans to tie
up with ecommerce players such
as Amazon India. “We have an
aggressive plan to mark our presence
in top Indian cities. This could even
be in partnership with someone
because to operate standalone
retail stores on your own is not an
easy task,” says Chaudhary, who
is also scouting for a professional
CEO. “Marketing, branding and
communication are key aspects for
our business to grow. We have to do
a lot of catching up in these areas.”
The obvious question though is
why focus on India now? What has
changed between 1999 and now?
Chaudhary believes that the demand
for handwoven carpets in India has
grown in the last decade, as has the
spending power of India’s urban-
middle class. “People are willing
to pay a price for quality products;
they now understand and appreciate
handwoven products and the labour
behind it,” explains Chaudhary.
Chaudhary’s business philosophy
and what he has built have been
featured in the fifth edition of CK
Prahalad’s globally acclaimed book,
The Fortune at the Bottom of the
Pyramid. About a month ago, Unilever
CEO Paul Polman visited villages in
Rajasthan to meet with the weavers
of Jaipur Rugs in order to understand
the company’s business model.
Despite the recognition, Chaudhary
is modest to a fault when he says, “I
never say that I have done any good
to the weavers. It is just the opposite:
They have done good to me.”
Adds Bissell of Fabindia, “His
laudable success with a global
clientele while ensuring access
and sustainable livelihood for
local artisans and craftspersons
is the result of tremendous value
creation, in both business and social
terms. This is the true measure
of social entrepreneurship.”
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 51
 Social impact | Consure mediCAl

TOWARDS A CLEAN
BILL OF HEALTH
New Delhi-based Consure Medical’s one-of-its-kind device Qora has
the potential to be the Foley catheter of faecal incontinence therapy
By Manu Balachandran

F
or over five decades,
health care providers
everywhere have banked
on the Foley catheter
to drain urine from the
bladders of patients who cannot do
so normally. It is also used to treat
urinary incontinence—a condition
marked by excessive urination. The
device comprises a tube that is passed
through the urethra and into the
bladder to drain urine into a bag.
While the catheter has now become
a workaday device for medical care
givers, a comparable tool in faecal
management has eluded medics.
More often than not, nurses or
bystanders are forced to change soiled
bed sheets by hand, particularly
in the case of bedridden patients
who are immobilised by medical
conditions such as a stroke. On other
occasions, patients are forced to
spend days on their unclean beds
or use adult diapers, which leads
to bed sores and cross infections.
Now, a little-known company
is revolutionising the field of care
giving with its faecal incontinence
therapy device. New Delhi-based
Consure Medical—the brainchild of
Nishith Chasmawala, 37, and Amit
Sharma, 34—has been selling its stool
management device, Qora, across
50-odd hospitals in India and the US.
Qora is an applicator inserted into
the anal cavity to provide a pathway
for stool diversion with very little
leakage. The stool is diverted to a Amit Sharma,
co-founder and
Amit VermA

collection bag before being disposed chief technology

of. “Stool management is such a officer at
Consure Medical
‘yucky’ problem and an assault on

52 | forbes india January 19, 2018


coNSURE mEDical
Founders: nishith Chasmawala
& Amit sharma
Headquarters: new delhi
(with a subsidiary in the us)
operations: india, us (plans to venture
into Japan and southeast Asia)
investors: Accel, indian Angel network,
india innovation Fund and india Venture
Partners
Business: stool management device
the dignity of people,” Amit Sharma,
co-founder and chief technology
officer at Consure, tells Forbes India.
“A lot of times, family members or the
women in the family have to do the
cleaning. In bedridden patients, faecal
contents lead to a 22 percent increase
in bed sores. That’s how we came up
with a product that is clinically better
and reduces the cost for hospitals.”
FroM StAnFord to IndIA
Consure Medical started out when
Chasmawala and Sharma met
during the Stanford-India Biodesign
Programme—a collaboration between
Stanford University, the New Delhi-
based All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian
Institute of Technology Delhi.
The project is funded by India’s
department of biotechnology.
Chasmawala, Consure’s CEO
and a medical engineer, had worked
with US-based medical devices
manufacturers Cordis Corporation
and Kyphon before opting for the
programme. Sharma, on the other
hand, had worked with India’s
largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki and
CryogenX, a design consultancy
firm, before coming on board.
The duo spent countless hours
as part of the programme trying to
there are three variants of Qora
and consure medical has so far
sold a combined 1,000 units
identify medical products before they
chanced upon the need to address the
shortcomings in faecal management.
A programme teammate’s relative
had taken critically ill and was
struggling with incontinence.
Back then, like today, adult
diapers were the mainstay while
managing faecal incontinence,
leading to dermatitis and skin
breakdowns. “Adult diapers have
a lot of related complications,” says
Sharma. “In women, for instance,
stool could go into the urinary tract
and cause urinary infections. We
wanted a technologically different
and intelligently designed product
that could help these patients.”
In 2012, the duo started Consure
Medical with seed funding from
Indian Angel Network, India
Innovation Fund and India Venture
Partners. The name Consure,
Sharma says, is short for ‘continence
assured’ and much of the company’s
differentiating factor is the technology
applied in their product. “Many of the
products that are in the market aren’t
designed considering the physiology
and anatomy of the patient,” Sharma
explains. “Qora uses an ergonomically-
designed, self-expanding latex that
makes it easier for the patient [to
deal with faecal incontinence].”
Perhaps, Qora’s superior design is
also the reason why the early stage
investors, along with US venture
capital firm Accel, participated
in another round of fundraising
and invested an undisclosed
amount in the company.
Currently, Consure’s competition
include Danish multinational
Coloplast, the UK-based ConvaTec
and US-based Hollister that market
their own stool management kits.
IndIA And beyond
Consure sells its Qora units through
prescriptions and although the
manufacturer believes an untrained
professional can insert them, the
company doesn’t want to risk
injuries. “Getting clearance from the
authorities for an OTC [over-the-
counter] product is tough, and even
though the device is easy to use, any
injury can spell trouble,” says Sharma.
Consure sells three variants of
Qora. The cheapest, priced at `6,000
and intended for a single use, includes
the applicator and a non-replaceable
collection bag. “That product is aimed
at those suffering from diarrhoea,
when doctors know the patient will
recover in a few days,” says Sharma.
The second variant is priced
around `14,000 and Consure is
revamping it with a replaceable bag;
the unit can be used for up to 29 days.
The most expensive variant, priced
at `18,000, can be used even during
MRI scans. So far, the company
has sold a combined 1,000 units.
“My sense is that the demand for
such products is going to rise,” says
Dr Govind K Makharia, a professor at
the department of gastroenterology
at AIIMS. “Compared to the products
in the US, Consure’s device is
cheaper. It is a boon as the entire
process is hygienic. Maybe now,
they can look at new designs aimed
at people who aren’t bedridden and
yet struggling with incontinence.”
The company started sales in
India last year and for now, much of
Consure’s business is spread across
the US and India’s metropolitan
cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, and
Mumbai. It is now firming up plans to
enter the Japanese market and other
Southeast Asian countries. “The global
market continues to be our focus
area,” adds Sharma. “We want to build
an ethical and credible business.”
With faecal incontinence
affecting nearly 100 million
bedridden patients across the world,
Consure has before it a massive
market waiting to be tapped.
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 53
 Social impact | uNiphoRe

Talking
The
Talk
With the help of machine
learning and automation,
Uniphore wants every
Indian to access
health care, education
and banking on their
mobile phones—in
their own language
By HaricHandan arakali

T
here are 52 million hours
of phone calls recorded
every day worldwide, by
call centres and such like,
say Umesh Sachdev and
Ravi Saraogi, co-founders of Uniphore
Software Systems. And, based on
industry estimates, only 1 percent of
that voice data ever gets analysed.
However, companies such as
Uniphore are changing that skew
by bringing machine learning and
automation to analyses, and providing
large businesses—from insurance
companies to airlines—with useful,
and often, real-time information. A
classic example of their work would
be a voice-engine based automated
response system to quickly switch
a call to a human agent, when
NishaNt RatNakaR foR foRbes iNdia

it “senses” a caller’s distress or

note of urgency, Sachdev says.
Today, such things are possible, and
are being tried out at large businesses,
say Sachdev, 31, CEO, and Saraogi,
32, president for Asia Pacific. Voice-
based biometrics too is no longer in
the realm of science fiction. Sooner,
rather than later, millions of people

54 | forbes india January 19, 2018

 in India’s small towns, and even
Uniphore co-founders
Umesh Sachdev (right), villages, can expect to speak into
who is also CEO, and their smartphones to buy things
Ravi Saraogi, president,
Asia Pacific online, transfer money, and so on.
And Uniphore, which will turn 10
next year, is well-placed to tap that
massive opportunity. This potential
was validated in December 2017
by a significant infusion of money
from John Chambers, chairman
of Cisco Systems, in his personal
capacity, in Uniphore’s series B
funding. IDG Ventures, an existing
investor, and IIFL also invested
in this round. Uniphore has more
than 70 large-business customers—
including State Bank of India, ITC
Ltd, and Tata group—touching 2
lakh hours of voice data every day,
and 40 lakh end-consumers in total.
It also claims to have accumulated
six patents for its technologies.
While the bottom-of-the-pyramid
opportunity in India is believed to
be huge in the longer run, for now,
the path is more conventional,
meaning customers are the corporate
kind, willing to pay for high-end
analytics of voice data. With voice
recognition emerging as a large
opportunity, Uniphore isn’t alone
in this field. Competitors include
CallMiner in Massachusetts, which
provides cloud-based analytics
of call-centre voice data, and
California’s VoiceVault, building
voice biometrics. And Hexolabs
Interactive Technologies, also in
Chennai, offers voice-based products
that businesses can use to engage
consumers in their own languages.
Uniphore has three products: In
speech analytics, a voice assistant,
and in voice-based biometrics. Speech
analytics is by far the biggest revenue
earner because large businesses have
accumulated terabytes of data, and
continue to add more every day.
“Uniphore is clearly a story of
a hi-tech product being developed
out of India to solve some of India’s
biggest problems,” says Sachdev. He
and Saraogi hope that eventually their
work will have “global relevance”,

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 55

 Social impact | uNiphoRe
John Chambers, chairman of Cisco Systems, is said to have invested $4 million for the 10 percent stake he picked up in Uniphore.
here he is seen with Sachdev
as the company scales up. Chambers
expects Uniphore to double its sales
each year, for the next few years at
least. The telecom veteran has even
taken on a formal role at the startup,
as Chief Guru, reflecting the idea that
he will be a very hands-on mentor.
This is already having an impact
on how Uniphore conducts itself.
For instance, for every new position
to be filled, the HR manager is
mandated to interview at least
two women applicants. “We are
currently at about 32 percent in
terms of women employees, and we
would like to at least push that to 50
percent, if not higher,” Saraogi said.
Sachdev and Saraogi also expect
staff strength to increase from about
a 100 now to a few thousand over the
next two or three years. The company
Uniphore has over 70 large-business
customers, touching 2 lakh hours
Madhu kappaRath
of voice data every day
56 | forbes india January 19, 2018
is headquartered in Chennai, and has
offices in Singapore and Bengaluru.
SAChdEv And SARAOgi wERE
almost compulsive entrepreneurs,
all the way back to college. They
met as students at Jaypee Institute
of Information Technology in
New Delhi, and, in their second
year, submitted a location-based
mobile theft detection prototype in
a competition run by Gemalto, the
world’s largest SIM card maker.
Their prototype earned them a spot
among the top three entrants, and
a visit to Paris, and “the SIM card
company offered to work with us to
commercialise it”, says Sachdev.
By their final year—they graduated
in 2007—a business plan competition
sponsored by Intel helped them
decide between building further
on their project or pursuing higher
studies. They proposed a business
plan around their earlier prototype,
and won the top spot among entrants
from India, which placed them among
the top three teams at University
of California, Berkeley, where Intel
brought in international teams.
This success pushed them to
try and build Singularis, their first
startup, launched during their final
year at college. The combination of
a tech before its time, and rookie
entrepreneurs who didn’t understand
the importance of marketing and
sales, meant that the venture didn’t
do well commercially, they say.
The experience, however, proved
handy when they set up Uniphore,
which they incubated at Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras,
starting 2008. “We didn’t start
with a tech idea, but a large-scale
problem that we wanted to solve,”
says Sachdev. A $100,000 grant from
the National Research Development
Council, in 2008, helped get things
off the ground, according to a profile
of the company on the tech and
entrepreneurship website Inc42.
Sachdev and Saraogi realised that
in India alone at that time, 70 percent
of the population was disconnected
from the so-called digital revolution.
And not just for lack of connectivity,
but because everything on the
internet was in English, and people
did not know how to use it.
Sachdev adds that although
the country may have crossed the
400-million milestone, by number
of people with access to the internet,
only one in four of those is probably
an active user. This they saw for
themselves, when they spent several
weeks in the villages of Tamil Nadu,
where even SMSes were received
more than sent, with voice calls and
missed calls—when someone would
call them back—being the norm.
Uniphore aims to enter the US
market and get a sizeable share
in the next 12 to 15 months
Sachdev and Saraogi wanted to
enable every Indian, who wanted
to use their own language, to access
banking, health care or education over
their mobile phones. For this, they
needed to develop speech-recognition
technology, machine learning
and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
At that time, much of the work in
speech recognition-related technology
had been done for the English
language, and in advanced economies.
No one had worked with Indian
languages at scale, that too under
Indian conditions of ambient noise. A
lot of their research and development
was initially done at IIT Madras, and
it was only when the company grew
that they built its own labs in Chennai.
They soon realised that the
tech they were building had a lot
of applications in the corporate
world, and an important customer
was Thomson Reuters, Sachdev
says, which used Uniphore’s
voice assistance technology on its
Market Lite (earlier called Market
Light) service that sent useful
information to farmers. Market Lite
was SMS-based and later used a
mobile app. Uniphore’s voice tech
enhanced the service, he says.
Analysing human verbal
communication requires an analysis
of not just the words, but also of
emotions, intonations, pauses,
and emphasis. The technology to
analyse these nuances is becoming
increasingly sophisticated, thanks
to the work done by companies
such as Microsoft, Google and
Amazon, as well as Uniphore.
“Now you don’t need a human
being to listen to the 1 percent of
calls; you can automate this, with a
computer listening to 100 percent
of the calls,” says Sachdev. The
technology also helps figure out,
“Is someone likely to switch to a
competitor? Is there a demand for a
product that a business doesn’t have
yet, and so on… this is powerful.”
For instance, Uniphore’s voice-
assistance solution can understand
80 global languages, including 17
Indian ones. Based on this, the
company has made an application
for a leading insurance company in
India to advise end-users retirement
planning. “Consumers can be doing
this in Hindi or Telugu or another
Indian language,” says Sachdev. The
company expects the technology
to integrate with applications
in health care, for instance,
via wearable devices, or home
entertainment and connected cars.
Uniphore’s third product, based on
biometrics, provides a critical element
needed for processing transactions—
authentication. The human voice,
which is unique for every person,
can be used for authentication
purposes. Uniphore’s technology
will enable Indians to speak in their
own languages and dialects as part
of this authentication process.
AftER fivE yEARS Of SElling
their software as a bespoke solution,
Uniphore switched gears to become
a software-as-a-service business,
following a series A round of funding
in 2013, led by investor Naga Prakasam
via the Indian Angel Network.
In late 2013, a chance meeting with
a senior executive at a large credit
card company gave Sachdev and
Saraogi the opportunity to try out their
algorithms, ironically, in English. The
success of their software opened the
doors to the opportunities of analysing
voice data. Today, their analytics
product leads the venture’s revenues.
In 2015, IDG Ventures and Infosys co-
founder Senapathy Gopalakrishnan,
who is on the board of the IITs
research park, invested in Uniphore.
Chambers is said to have invested
as much $4 million for the 10
percent stake he picked up in the
venture, according to a person
with knowledge of the deal.
They money will come in handy,
as there is potential for R&D beyond
“our lifetime”, the entrepreneurs
say, as they expect thousands of
applications, especially of enterprise
products. A near-term goal also is to
enter the US market and get a sizeable
share in the next 12 to 15 months.
Uniphore has also started an R&D
unit in Redmond, Seattle, this year
and plans to expand it, while adding
at least two more offices in America.
“Speech is the lowest common
denominator for human interaction,”
Sachdev says. “That’s the long-
term view, and this seems like it
is something that won’t go away
in 10 years, because humans
will still want to speak.”
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 57
 State OF tHe mba
Lessons
to be Learnt
Management education needs an overhaul as technology
continues to transform the modern-day workplace
BY Aveek DAttA
t
he foundation of
Indian enterprise
and the economic
progress made by the
country in the seven
decades since Independence has
been laid down by an exceptional
talent pool. Over the years,
hardworking and intelligent
individuals from all strata of society
have excelled in their chosen fields
of education and contributed
towards nation-building through
their professional pursuits. Many
of them either chose engineering
or management, or both.
Management education became
popular in India after the first few
Indian Institutes of Management
(IIMs) were established in the
1960s and 1970s. Graduates from
IIMs and some more public
and private business schools
that followed them went on
to become successful business
leaders in India and globally,
especially after the Indian
economy was opened up in 1991.
But after spawning lakhs of
successful professionals through
the years, management education
finds itself at a crossroads today.
The substandard quality of
education imparted at hundreds
of business schools that have
mushroomed across the country to
cater to the aspirations of millions
of Indians joining the workforce
each year has rendered several
new MBAs unemployable.
As technology disrupts every
sphere of life, including the
modern-day workplace, only
those schools that reimagine
their curriculum and pedagogy
will remain relevant.
Though institutes like
ISB continue to witness
100 percent placement,
management
education, in general, is
staring at a grave crisis

Modern
State o f th e M ba |

s pecial r ep o rt

60 | forbes india January 19, 2018

 Outdated curricula and
mediocre B-schools have
made the MBA degree
less coveted than before.
Only those that invest in
prepping millennials for
a new-age workplace
will thrive
By Aveek DATTA, vArShA MeghAnI
& AnShul DhAMIjA

W
hen Adi Godrej,
the 75-year-old
chairman of
the $5-billion
Godrej
Group, joined his family business in
1963, he was the first management
graduate in the family to do so. “The
concept of management education
was unheard of in India at that
time,” Godrej tells Forbes India.
After completing his management
studies from the Sloan School of
Management at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Godrej
joined his family’s soaps business
and utilised his global education to
usher reforms that helped turn the
venture around. Realising the value
that a management graduate can bring
to an enterprise, Godrej hired more
such candidates at the conglomerate,
including from the first graduating
batch of the Indian Institute of
Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).
Management education in India
has come a long way since then. MBA:
These three letters (an acronym for
Master of Business Administration)
represent the pillars on which millions
HarsHa Vadlamani for forbes india

of young Indians have built their

careers, dreams and aspirations over

Gurukul
the last five decades. The success
achieved by the first few batches of
the IIMs in India and abroad (think
KV Kamath, Raghuram Rajan and
Indra Nooyi) spurred the creation of
a plethora of other public and private
sector B-schools in the country.

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 61

 State o f th e M ba | s pecial r ep o rt

A BrewIng crISIS
Management education, along
with engineering, formed the
very fabric of the universe of so-
called white-collar professionals in
India. But much like engineering,
management education in the country
is also staring at a grave crisis.
The reasons for the current
disenchantment experienced by
millennials are broadly the same.
While an increasing number of
B-schools and engineering colleges
have mushroomed in an unregulated
environment, focus on the quality
of education has suffered, dimming
job prospects for students.
“The industry-academia
connection in Indian technical
education is lacking. Courses on Bala v Balachandran, founder, dean and chairman of the great lakes Institute of Management
campus are too focussed on writing says his institute encourages students to start their own businesses on campus
and clearing exams, and not on
what businesses really need,” says work on industry linkages and spend be done to reimagine management
K Sudarshan, managing partner, money on research and knowledge.” education so that the MBA course
India, at EMA Partners, a global According to data available with regains some of its lost sheen. Five
executive search firm. “The the All India Council for Technical distinct areas on which management
pedagogy at these institutes is more Education (AICTE), only half the schools need to focus on emerged.
theoretical and bookish, with no real students graduating from B-schools
application of what one learns.” approved by it are getting placed. Technology
It is no surprise then that an (See table The Glass is Half Empty) Gone are the days when technology
overwhelming majority of graduates There definitely are some top was the sole domain of technologists.
from such schools are found to engineering and management colleges “The workplace of 30 years ago is
be unemployable by the industry. that have built a reputation of being different from the one today. We
According to industry body The premier institutes. But these cater to need to teach skills that are relevant
Associated Chambers of Commerce only a small fraction of job aspirants in the present context,” says Nitish
& Industry of India (Assocham), only who think a degree in engineering Jain, president and director, SP Jain
20 percent of students graduating or management, or both, is the School of Global Management, which
from B-schools in 2017 have got best way to enter the workforce. has campuses in Mumbai, Dubai,
employment offers. According to Forbes India spoke to a number of Singapore and Sydney. “Business
the Assocham report, many parents academicians from leading B-schools education and technology were two
and students are rethinking before in the country and HR heads of separate streams to date. But they
investing several lakhs of rupees for large companies to assess what can are merging as new businesses are
a course. “More than 250 B-schools increasingly being led by technology.”
have closed down since 2015… another Consequently, SP Jain is
99 are struggling for survival,” the
report states. “The root cause of the
Just 20% of reconstructing its entire MBA
programme to make technology
problem is that institutes only focus students an integral part of it. The institute
p raVikumar for forbes india

on filling up seats and do not consider
the quality of students at the time of
intake. Consequently, students think
that the entire responsibility lies
with the institute. On the other hand,
the institutes will have to improve
the infrastructure, train the faculty,
graduating now has separate virtual labs
from B-schools focusing on blockchain, Internet of
Things, machine learning, Artificial
in 2017 have got Intelligence, and big data, all hosted
JoB offers on the cloud and accessible from
anywhere. The school is hiring faculty
trained in such new technology,

62 | forbes india January 19, 2018

who can help students (and even
the alumni) make sense of how the
current wave of digital transformation
is disrupting businesses through
courses such as 3D visualisation of
MIS data, and how to make supply
chain management and marketing
more efficient using technology.
Apart from including technology
in their curriculum, B-schools are
also leveraging it to expand their
reach. “Access to quality education
is enhanced by enabling distance
education, either in a synchronous
or asynchronous mode,” says
G Raghuram, director of IIM
Bangalore (IIMB). “The MOOCs
(massive open online courses),
offered by IIMB are an example of
this. Over 500,000 students, across
189 countries, have registered
for IIMB’s 30-plus MOOCs.”
Manav Jain, associate vice-
president, human resources, at Paytm,
says the gap between the top tier
B-schools and those in subsequent
tiers keeps widening when it comes to
the focus on technology. “While there
are electives or subjects around digital
marketing or digital analytics, it’s
more of a hands-off approach,” says
Jain. “From a curriculum standpoint,
there is scope for improvement.”
enTrepreneurShIp
For long, the end objective of an
MBA degree was a well-paid job in
the corporate sector. But times have
changed. With relatively easier access
to funding, several B-school students
want to utilise their intellectual capital
and training in management studies
to turn entrepreneurs, right out of
campus, and sometimes even while on
it. But traditional MBA programmes
are still geared towards creating future
employees rather than entrepreneurs.
“B-schools can help create
opportunities to nurture
entrepreneurship through
networking, cross-pollination of
ideas, training students in financial
and business planning, and helping
incubate, refine and prototype their
The cup runneTh over
the country's top management institutes witness 100 percent placements
IIM Ahmedabad
2017
BAtcH SIze 400
StudentS
SeekIng cAMpuS 386
plAceMentS
no of fIrMS
120
MAkIng offerS
InternAtIonAl
offerS
18
totAl offerS 386
AverAge
doMeStIc SAlAry 22,57,815
(`/annum)
top recruItIng consulting, Bfsi, fmcg,
SectorS conglomerates, it
accenture, amazon, Bain & co,
key recruIterS mcKinsey & co, Bcg, goldman
sachs, Yes Bank
Source: IIM Ahmedabad placement reports for 2017 and 2016; ISB placement report 2016; websites
ideas,” says Bala V Balachandran,
founder, dean and chairman of Great
Lakes Institute of Management,
which has campuses in Chennai
and Gurugram. To instil a sense of
entrepreneurship, Great Lakes has
encouraged students to start their
own businesses on campus, including
a localised online grocery store.
At the SP Jain Institute of
Management Research (SPJIMR,
no connection with SP Jain School
of Global Management) in Mumbai,
students from the graduating
batch are allowed to defer their
placement by two years to try their
hands at entrepreneurship. “We
provide these students a stipend for
two years and mentor them,” says
Ranjan Banerjee, dean of SPJIMR.
Additionally, SPJIMR has its own
incubator for students who are a part
of the entrepreneurship cohort.
“We are recognising that even if
students want to turn entrepreneurs,
the prospect of needing to borrow
funds and the need for security
deter them at the beginning of their
careers,” says Banerjee. “So 3-4
years down the line, if an alumnus
wants to pursue a business, we
ISB (Hyderabad and Mohali)
2016 2017 2016
397 903 813
383 898 812
110 411 297
15 12 101
383 1,113 1,151
22,14,043 20,76,383 22,58,273
consulting, ecommerce, it, Bfsi, Pharma/
health care
accenture, at Kearney, Bcg, mcKinsey & co,
amazon, flipkart, Bookmyshow
extend our help to him as well.”
The industry is also doing its bit to
work with MBA graduates. Mahindra
& Mahindra (M&M) has a programme
called Mahindra War Room, where
live business challenges are thrown
at MBA graduates. Those who take
these on, work on them for 45 days
and come up with solutions that
are presented to M&M’s Executive
Chairman Anand Mahindra and other
group presidents. “The event not only
helps bridge the industry-academia
gap, but also upskills students by
providing them an opportunity to
apply their management education
to real-life problems,” says
Prince Augustin, executive vice
president, group human capital and
leadership development, M&M.
“We believe that an entrepreneurial
spirit and skillset are key enablers
for driving exponential growth in
the organisation,” says a Hindustan
Unilever spokesperson.
reSeArch
A regular criticism of Indian B-schools
has been that they don’t focus
enough on research. As has been
demonstrated by global B-schools,
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 63
 State o f th e M ba | s pecial r ep o rt
most notably the Harvard Business
School, high quality research helps
build an institute’s brand from
a thought leadership standpoint
and attracts the best minds.
Raghuram says research is an
“essential part of management
education” at IIMB, and helps keep
the curriculum “current and rigorous”.
Calling his institute a frontrunner in
the field of research, Raghuram cites
that IIMB’s faculty members had
as many as seven research papers
published in the Financial Times Top
50 Journals in 2017 alone. The subject
of such research has varied from how
foreign companies can be successful in
their ‘Make in India’ vision by weaving
together global and local supply
chains, to how careers are shaped
post adult onset of hearing loss.
SPJIMR has roped in
R Gopalakrishnan, former Tata
Sons director and vice chairman of
Hindustan Unilever, as executive-
in-residence, who will spend four
days a month on campus to work
on applied research projects. “The
flaw with research is that it stays
confined to academic journals.
We want to do research that
will impact the way managers
think and act,” says Banerjee.
eThIcS
In the light of various instances of
corporate greed that have come to
light globally over the last decade,
there is a rising demand for the
business leaders of tomorrow
to be ethical and sensitive to
all stakeholders, including the
community around them.
Banerjee says while almost all
institutes have some course or the
other on ethics, not all of them are
effective. To sensitise students to the
society in which they operate and
make them more empathetic leaders,
SPJIMR mandates its students to take
up a social sector internship, requiring
them to spend five weeks with a rural
NGO. “So some part of the ethics
course is taught through experiential
64 | forbes india January 19, 2018
The glass is half empTy
enrolment and placement at aicte-approved management institutes offering Pg and
diploma courses is hovering around the 50 percent mark
nuMBer of
yeAr
InStItuteS
2012-13 3,881
2013-14 3,757
2014-15 3,608
2015-16 3,472
2016-17 3,358
Source: All India Council for Technical Education
learning, which is a significant
differentiator,” says Banerjee.
SPJIMR revamped its ethics course
in 2017, making it compulsory for
students to interview 50 CEOs and
understand first-hand the kind of
moral dilemmas they face, and how
they have stayed the course while
adhering to certain principles.
Nitish Jain states that if and when
a student at SP Jain School of Global
Management is caught cheating, apart
from penalising him, there is also an
intense counselling session that he
needs to undergo. “The idea is to try
and reform such students and if you
persist with them, it works,” says Jain.
“We have always ensured that
the values of ethics and corporate
governance are intrinsically
embedded in our employees and
therefore we continue to check
for the same when hiring any new
recruits,” the HUL spokesperson said.
DIverSITy
“A heterogeneous peer group offers
the greatest bandwidth in being
able to understand perspectives that
differ on the basis of culture, ethos,
age, experience, qualification and
ethnicity,” says Balachandran.
For long, management education
in India has been dominated by
male students, who comprised an
overwhelming majority of a class,
and engineers. This led to lopsided
peer groups where technical
thinking would take precedence
over creative differences.
Some progressive institutions
Approved grAduAtIng plAceMentS
enrolMent (%)
IntAke StudentS (%)
4,44,419 53 1,79,506 53
4,52,028 52 1,85,707 56
4,56,359 54 1,86,256 56
4,32,930 58 1,85,682 55
4,13,068 56 na nA
have started taking steps towards
carefully constructing a classroom
that will allow for a free flow of
divergent views. SP Jain School of
Global Management, for instance,
restricts engineers to 50 percent of
a batch strength. The other half of
the class is sourced from diverse
backgrounds such as professionals
from the fields of fashion, hospitality
and law. “Just because someone
scores higher on an aptitude test, it
doesn’t make him a smarter business
manager,” says Nitish Jain. “Which
is why we put a lot of weightage on
panel discussions with our faculty and
alumni during the admission process.”
At SPJIMR, female students
comprise 42 percent of the class
while Great Lakes tries and
ensures a healthy mix of students
from all regions of India.
Sudarshan of EMA Partners
observes that if B-schools continue
to breed mediocrity, India may
alarmingly find itself at the beginning
of another phase of brain drain,
after witnessing the first one in the
70s and the 80s, when those with
resources relocated to countries like
the US and UK in search of greener
pastures. India’s middle class has
more economic heft than it did four
decades ago and global B-schools
are more than eager to woo Indian
students. The only way homegrown
management schools can compete
is by continuously upgrading
their curriculum, faculty and
infrastructure, and producing talent
ready for a modern workplace.

LiberaL arts heLps
peopLe become
Life-Long Learners
Exposing management students to the stream will
help create well-rounded business managers
L
BY Shekhar a Bhattacharjee
iberal arts, through the
ages, has been revered
as a valuable stream
of education, but has
been relegated to the
sidelines. During the classical era
in Europe, it was imperative for a
person to be well-versed in liberal
arts to be considered a worthy
citizen. Prowess in debate, rhetoric,
logic and ethics—skills that were
gained from an education in liberal
arts—placed an individual in the
upper echelons of society.
Though these are the same
traits that characterise a successful
person in the modern world as
well, the popularity of liberal arts
as a field of study has waned over
the centuries. Preferred only by
a few, liberal arts isn’t considered
enough as an education for a
worthy profession. It is deemed
fit to be pursued by a man of
leisure or of lesser ambition.
Despite its presence in almost
all centres for higher education
around the world, the pursuit
of liberal arts has been eclipsed
by more mainstream courses in
fields like science and technology,
medicine and management.
But things are changing in the
21st century. There is a growing
recognition of the vitality of liberal
arts in all kinds of education, including
management. To what do we owe
this revival of interest in liberal
arts? A growing consensus among
educators and curriculum pundits
that skills acquired through a study
of liberal arts are of great value to
management students as well.
In ancient Greece, students of
liberal arts excelled in oratory, debate,
reasoning and ethical thinking. In
recognition of these capabilities, such
students often found themselves
discharging important duties across
spheres such as politics and the
judiciary. Many of them went on to
be regarded as impactful thinkers
of their times. They were adept at
getting people together, and ensuring
that they work towards a common
goal efficiently and effectively.
Aren’t these the very goals
that management students
strive for these days?
The world, as we know it, is
changing rapidly. Studies reveal
that 65 percent of students today
will find themselves in jobs that
don’t exist yet. In such a scenario,
management students need to think
beyond their immediate realm
of existence, anticipate future
trends and prepare for them.
To be able to think in a non-
linear manner, draw parallels
a training in
liberal arts may
help leaders
of the future
to be more
compassionate
State O F tH e m ba | co lu m n
from various walks of life and
connect the dots, reason with logic,
communicate thoughts effectively,
perceive demands and needs through
psychological analysis, and manage
resources with a conscience is what
the future manager will need to do.
It is possible to empower leaders
of tomorrow to do so by exposing
them to liberal arts in addition to
their management studies, which
can help them develop qualities
like analytical and organisational
skills, pattern recognition and
critical thinking, cross-cultural
knowledge and people management.
Business leaders of the future
need to be innovators who can dare
to imagine. They will face several
challenging questions on global
concerns like water management,
environmental impact, food
security and poverty. A training
in liberal arts may well help them
to be more compassionate.
It is time our model of management
education gravitates towards a more
inclusive approach, where liberal
arts plays an important role in
creating well-rounded business
managers endowed with a
broad spectrum of skills. Liberal
arts helps people think out of
the box, and become life-long
learners, who question change
before embracing it.
Shekhar A Bhattacharjee is the founder
and CEO of Great Place to Study, a global
auditing and intelligence firm that clas-
sifies and recognises institutes on the
basis of student engagement
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 65
 State O F tH e M BA | co lu m n
Most MBAs know
theory But cAn’t
convert ideAs
into Actions
A lot of modern management programmes put
much emphasis on theory-driven practice, writing
off the incredible value in practice-driven theory
w
hy is there such
disenchantment
with management
school curricula
and what is
the fix? Before we go on to talk
about the upgrades that need to
be incorporated in management
education to make it suitable for new-
age managers, we have to dive a little
deeper to understand why this need
has arisen, what the gaps are, and
further, identify possible solutions.
First, there is no dearth of MBA
programmes in India and abroad.
However, many of these schools
have just the infrastructure and
not the elements that are more
essential to the programme—quality
faculty, courses that address market
realities and placement services.
To fill this gap, most of them rely
heavily on adjunct faculty that may
bring relevant experience but not
the learning that requires a blend of
theory and practice. Experiential,
tacit learning is far more durable
on strong theoretical foundations.
People go to management schools
HarsHa Vadlamani for forbes india
to advance their careers. The absence
of quality faculty and programmes
results in an education that falls
short of industry requirements.
Due to the current market
dynamics and the rapid change in
work environment, it is important
that MBA graduates hit the
ground running. Unfortunately, a
66 | forbes india January 19, 2018
vast majority of students in MBA
programmes join directly after
undergraduate studies, with no
work experience. This limits their
ability to ask the right questions.
When they graduate, they are armed
with theory, but can’t convert ideas
into actions; they are devoid of
insights and skills that are required
to execute in the marketplace.
Moreover, most of the content in
Indian B-schools has been taken from
the West. Because of the contextual
difference—greater diversity, higher
growth rates, more regulation in
emerging markets—insights from the
West may not go well with capabilities
that are required to succeed in
India. We study cases on Intel,
but not on Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Company, why
Apple flourishes in the US but not
why Xiaomi and Samsung thrive in
India. In short, missing in most of the
management sessions and institutes
is a blend of theory and practice and
ExpEriEntial,
tacit lEarning
is morE durablE
on strong
thEorEtical
foundations
BY RajendRa SRivaStava
insights integrated from the West and
the East. That is where the Indian
School of Business (ISB) may have
an edge, as we take students with
prior work experience. We feel that
the students need to have on-the-job
experience to ensure that learning is
based on the ability to ask the right
questions, and not just note-taking
and rote learning. By integrating
insights from our research centres
and institutes (RCIs) that focus on
sectors like health care, information
technology and digital transformation,
applied finance, innovation and
entrepreneurship, among others,
we are able to create specialisations
that are contextualised via insights
into Indian and emerging markets.
If we look at the overall scenario,
there has been an inadequate
return on educational investment.
The content has been somewhat
traditional; for instance, in marketing,
we still look at aspects such as
return on advertisement, sales
expenditure, response, etc. But a
number of sectors, like financial
services, airlines, new media and
communications are changing at a
faster pace than academics. Many
jobs and companies that exist today
were not even there 10 years ago. It is
a must to ensure that the curriculum
is revised based on real-world
issues. To this end, academia would
benefit from collaborations with the
industry and the government. While
 at the indian School
of Business, only
students with prior work
experience can enrol for
MBa programmes
there is much emphasis on theory-
driven practice, there is incredible
value in practice-driven theory.
Finally, all MBA programmes
shouldn’t be the same. More
experienced students of executive
MBA programmes need general
management and global leadership
skills, while younger, less experienced
students are being hired for specialist
positions in accounting, sales, financial
analysis, data analytics, etc. The
latter group needs more electives
for specialisations in subjects like
e-marketing and business analytics.
So do management courses need
to fine-tune their focus further on
specific subjects? The answer is both
yes and no. Yes, as newer things are
happening today; no, because you still
need an understanding of the basic
framework. Let’s take the example
of business and data analytics. While
data and information can furnish
insights and market intelligence,
domain and process insights are
necessary to create options and
to implement market-informed
decisions. We need to ensure that
students are capable enough to use
analytics but our job as instructors
does not end here. The students
should also be able to understand the
need for using analytics to improve
performance rather than just learning
“tools” and methods. One has to know
the context within which data has
to be used to take better decisions.
People need to be more agile in
decision-making, they need to take
more calculated risks and should
be able to use multiple media and
channels. But, at the same time, they
also need to understand marketing,
business process controls, accounting,
and balancing risk and returns. What
we need today is a blend of old- and
new-age learning. We can use an
online/digital interface to cover
basic concepts and principles that
are more “black and white”, such
as segmentation and differentiation
in marketing, accounting concepts
such as assets and liabilities, financial
issues related to risk and return,
behavioural economics, etc. This
will free up time for face-to-face
discussions in classrooms and case
studies to cover more complex
issues that require dialogue, debate
and domain-based insights. One
could also borrow from German
apprenticeship and applications-
driven education such as that offered
by the Fraunhofer Institutes.
Effective management education
needs to sit on a foundation of
experience. This is a major strength
of ISB students. While a high
proportion of students come from an
engineering background, they come
via different industries. Differences
in industry experience result in
different perspectives, contextualised
knowledge and unanswered
questions that result in classroom
debate, enabling a richer learning
environment. One question can lead to
multiple practical solutions. Besides,
at ISB, we integrate discipline-
based academic perspectives with
insights from the industry and the
government. We bring senior-mid
career executives and administrators
from the industry and the government
into an academic setting, resulting
in multilateral learning.
Last, we also try to teach softer
aspects of management not only to
our students but also to our staff.
There is a lot of project-oriented
work, team work, discussions,
sessions that focus on communication
and presentation skills. Those who
have experiential learning are
more productive. To summarise,
management education is increasingly
about developing solutions, leveraging
P anil Kumar for forbes india
technology, flexibility and agility,
and about learning to manage
a dynamic market fraught with
challenges and opportunities.
The author is dean and Novartis
Professor of Marketing Strategy and
Innovation, Indian School of Business
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 67
 State O F tH e m Ba | i ntervi e w: J o nathan Le vi n
‘IndIa has all the
characterIstIcs that
fuelled amerIcan
entrepreneurshIp’
jonathan levin, dean of Stanford Business School, says the country’s
deep capital markets, pool of innovators and improving digital
infrastructure make it a perfect breeding ground for great businesses
BY Neeraj GaNGal
t
he Stanford Graduate
School of Business
(Stanford GSB) recently
launched its Seed
Transformation Program
(STP) in Chennai. An initiative of
the Stanford Institute for Innovation
in Developing Economies, the year-
long programme led by Stanford
GSB faculty includes eight months
of immersive management training
designed specifically for business
owners which is supported by trained
local facilitators. The STP aims to
create and activate a detailed action
plan to help entrepreneurs grow
and scale their companies. In an
interview to Forbes India, Jonathan
Levin, 45, dean, Stanford GSB,
speaks about the STP’s international
impact and the rationale behind the
entry into India. Edited excerpts:
Q Tell us about the Seed
Transformation Program.
How does it enable innovators
to formulate, develop and
commercialise their ideas?
The STP was developed for leaders
of small- and medium-sized
companies in emerging economies.
The motivating idea is that economic
development requires management
expertise—in particular, the ability
to scale small businesses into large
68 | forbes india January 19, 2018
companies, which in turn boosts
employment and economic growth—
and the Stanford GSB faculty has
the expertise to impart these skills.
The programme was launched in
West Africa (Ghana) in 2013 and in
East Africa (Kenya) in 2016. This
year, the STP has expanded to
India and we will move to firms in
southern Africa in January 2018.
We select companies based on their
potential for growth and ability to
create meaningful social impact. They
participate in an intensive year-long
programme. It includes four, week-
long education sessions with the
Stanford faculty. We send coaches,
in many cases Stanford graduates, to
work with the leadership teams of the
Seed companies. The companies pay a
fee to enrol for the programme, which
is heavily subsidised by philanthropy.
“We select
companies based
on their ability
to create
meaningful
social impact.”
Q What prompted you to
look outside the US?
If you had to pick the handful of
places in the world where great
businesses are going to be started in
the next 20 years, India would be on
anyone’s list. The size of the country,
the demographics, the growth
trajectory and the entrepreneurial
spirit are all part of the equation.
Q How far have you succeeded
in developing economies?
Since we started, Seed has invested
$9.6 million in research in 47
countries across Africa. The STP has
trained and mentored 565 CEOs and
senior staff of Seed companies with
a significant majority of these firms
seeing increased revenue and product
lines. Participating companies have
raised almost $11 million in funding.
We are eager to see the impact of Seed
on each new region that it enters.
Q Why did Stanford Seed
choose Chennai in India?
The programme is open to companies
across India and our first cohort
includes companies from Bengaluru,
Mumbai and Hyderabad as well
as Chennai and other cities. We
run the four, one-week sessions
in Chennai, and in between these
sessions, the Seed facilitators

jonathan levin claims
the Seed Transformation
Program has trained and
mentored 565 CeOs and
senior staff
travel to each company to work
with the senior leadership.
Q What does India lack
specifically vis-à-vis the US
when it comes to fostering an
entrepreneurial ecosystem
and triggering job growth?
India has many strengths: A large
market for new businesses, a
young population, a workforce that
is increasingly educated and an
entrepreneurial culture. It also has
an increasingly deep capital market
to fund new ventures, an increasing
pool of innovators and rapidly
improving digital infrastructure—
all characteristics that fuelled
recent US entrepreneurship.
Q Can management,
entrepreneurship and innovation
be taught? Is B-school education
still relevant when young ideators
seem competent enough to
draw investors based on their
ideas rather than experience
or academic degrees?
Absolutely. Graduates of the Stanford
GSB regularly go on to build highly
successful companies. Students in our
programmes become more strategic
and analytical, and develop into more
effective leaders and organisations.
They develop a network of peers that
they can rely on for guidance and
input, both at the GSB and for the
rest of their lives. People ask why it
makes sense to spend a year or two
studying in business school, but our
current students will spend 50 years
or more working. In the context
of such a long career, a Stanford
degree is a great investment.
Q Management education,
especially in the US, can be
expensive and exclusive. How
can developing countries
access the high-quality
education that institutions
like Stanford GSB offer?
There’s a pressing need to broaden
access to higher education in many
countries, specifically management
education. One of the primary barriers
to higher education is the lack of
affordability. At Stanford, we offer
fellowships and financial aid to ensure
talented students have access to
our programmes regardless of their
background or circumstances. We are
also expanding our online educational
programmes to increase the reach
and introducing programmes
such as the Stanford Seed in
India that are targeted at business
leaders in emerging economies.
Q Has the US government’s new
immigration policies affected
Indians seeking education and
employment opportunities
there? How do you plan to
counter any adverse impact?
There is a significant discussion
and debate in the US right now
around the immigration policy. We
are following it closely and taking
the necessary steps to ensure that
our students’ education is not
hampered. Amidst all this, our
philosophy has not changed. Stanford
GSB is committed to attracting
and admitting talented students
from around the world. We have
students at Stanford GSB from
more than 60 countries. We are also
committed to providing an inclusive
educational environment that
yields exceptional career prospects
for our graduates, regardless of
where their careers take them.
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 69
 State O F th e m ba | i ntervi e w: An jAn i jAi n
‘IndIan busIness
educatIon Is strongly
Influenced by the
amerIcan model’
anjani jain, acting dean of Yale School of Management, says
Indian management education is beginning to provide a more
global perspective to students
b
usiness schools are
never disconnected
from business practices
and the challenges of
leadership, says Anjani
Jain, 59, acting dean at the Yale School
of Management (Yale SOM). A winner
of numerous teaching awards, the
former faculty of the Wharton School
of the University of Pennsylvania is an
alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, and the
University of California, Los Angeles.
In an interview with Forbes
India, the India-born professor
speaks about management
education in the time of disruptive
technologies and anti-immigrant
sentiments. Edited excerpts:
Q What are the top trends
that have emerged over the
past few years in business and
management education?
The internet, coupled with advances
in mobile technologies for computing
and communication, and concomitant
developments in the capabilities of
software, is transforming businesses
globally and opening new possibilities
for both innovation and disruption.
While the pace of change has
perhaps increased in the last
few years, technological change
has been a persistent driver of
business for many centuries. For
70 | forbes india January 19, 2018
BY Neeraj GaNGal
instance, the advent of rail, mass
manufacturing, telephony and
television was no less consequential
to business in the last century.
What remains invariant is the
core of management education:
To understand both competition
and cooperation among firms, to
manage both people and operations
in organisations, to achieve goals
effectively and efficiently, to
understand customers’ needs
deeply and serve all stakeholders
well, to procure and manage capital
and other resources efficiently,
and to pursue strategies that seek
competitive advantage through
innovation, partnerships and a clear
understanding of both market and
non-market forces. The here-and-
now context continues to evolve,
but the need to understand the
fundamentals stays constant.
“Technological
change has been
a persisTenT
driver of
business for
many cenTuries.”
Q Lately B-school graduates
are aspiring to become early
entrepreneurs instead of
pursuing careers as high-
level professionals. How
are management schools
preparing for this change?
Most schools have augmented
their curricular and co-curricular
educational offerings related to
entrepreneurship. Yale is a good
example of this where the portfolio of
courses at SOM and the co-curricular
opportunities throughout the campus
for venture creation and incubation
have multiplied several fold in the last
few years [through initiatives such as
the Program on Entrepreneurship,
The Yale Entrepreneurial
Institute, and Tsai Center for
Innovative Thinking at Yale].
Q What needs to be
done to strengthen the
connection between business
education and practice?
Business schools are never
disconnected from business practices
and the challenges of leadership. The
faculty’s engagement with business
organisations through teaching
and consulting often informs their
scholarship and course development,
but business schools should not
make degree programmes mere
simulations of the business world.
The opportunity to understand the
conceptual foundations of decision
making in different domains of
business, and the role of business
in society at large, is uniquely the
province of business education
and should not be compromised.

Q As technologies such
as cloud and cognitive
computing are disrupting
businesses and services, how
much of ‘management’ in
the future would be that of
‘technologies’ than ‘humans’?
My answer to the first question states
my position on this. The only other
comment to add is that economic
growth throughout history has
been coupled with greater labour
productivity and the concomitant
shift of human capital to challenges
that require greater cognitive
ability, expertise and nuanced anjani jain
says economic
judgement. This shift may accelerate nationalism is
somewhat, but it is not fundamentally detrimental to
economic prosperity
different from what has occurred and peace
in the last several centuries.

Q How are B-schools making the
best use of digital technologies?
What more can be done?
Business schools will continue to
deploy digital technologies in their
design and delivery of educational
programmes, but this is not likely to
be at the leading edge of knowledge
creation. What will matter far more
is the faculty’s thought leadership.
Q How far have global eco-
political moves like Brexit,
protectionism and anti-
immigrant rhetorics affected
students’ interest in pursuing
management education in the
West, particularly in the US?
The rise of economic nationalism
and anti-immigrant sentiments,
regardless of their locus around the
world, are detrimental to economic
prosperity and peace. I hope this
will be a short-lived aberration.
Q What are the differences
between management education
in India and the US?
Indian business education has been
strongly influenced by the American
model and is of high calibre at
India’s top-tier institutions. There
are many prominent global business
leaders whose formal education has
been entirely in India. Increasingly,
Indian management education is
beginning to provide a more global
perspective to students because
both the faculty and students bring
more international experiences.
Q How can India improve its
management education to
match global standards?
The main role for the government
in higher education should be (1) to
encourage and fund research and
doctoral education (because there
is a serious shortage of faculty), (2)
to make it easier for both public
and private institutions in India to
attract top global talent, especially
on the faculty, and (3) make it easier,
with sensible regulation, for high
calibre international institutions to
have a greater presence in India.
Q What can B-schools in the West
learn from Oriental Thought?
I don’t think there is such a thing as
Oriental Thought. India has given
the world wise thinkers and scholars
and there are enduring works of
literature and philosophy that still
have a great resonance with our lives.
But I do not believe top-down
attempts to impose a particular
intellectual tradition on higher
education will be fruitful. Academic
programmes do reflect differences
in intellectual philosophy,
but this is best left to faculty
within the institutions.

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 71

Former Goldman Sachs
and Citibank executive
Vijay Pasupulati,
founder of GreyCampus
 State O F tH e m Ba | G r e yC am pus
RetuRn
to Campus
More and more professionals are ditching the
traditional MBA and turning to platforms like
GreyCampus, one of the fastest-growing providers
of online certification courses, to stay relevant
BY Manu BalaChandran
n
eena Kaur Suras, a
project manager at
Tech Mahindra for
nearly four years,
wanted to specialise
in her area of work “so that my
customers across the world know
that I can take care of my core area”.
But quitting her job for an
MBA didn’t seem worthwhile
for the 37-year-old, who already
had managerial experience. So
Suras turned to GreyCampus, a
four-year-old online certification
provider, for Prince2, a programme
in project management. “This
programme made more sense than
an MBA. I was already a manager;
this would add more value to my
current line of work,” says Suras.
GreyCampus is a Hyderabad-
based startup that provides online
training for professional certification
courses across areas such as project
management, complex data, service
management and quality management.
It develops the contents and modules
which are then empanelled with
GReyCampus eduteCh
pRivate Limited
headquarters: Hyderabad
Business: skills and certification training
provider
Revenue: ` 18-20 crore (estimated) in 2017
Funding: undisclosed amount from angel
investors; preparing for second round
global certifying agencies that
issue the professional certificates.
Founded by former Goldman
Sachs and Citibank executive Vijay
Pasupulati, the company has been
listed by consultancy firm Deloitte
among India’s fastest-growing tech
companies for the past four years.
In 2016, GreyCampus was India’s
fastest growing tech company with
an average revenue growth of over
1,622 percent between 2013 and 2016.
In 2017, it stood at the 13th position
with an average revenue growth
of 228 percent between 2014 and
2017. (The Deloitte rankings require
the companies to have operating
revenue in excess of $50,000.)
“Education is a $300 billion
industry and we believe there is
a significant gap in the levels of
current and required competency.
That’s what we are trying to address
through GreyCampus,” Pasupulati
tells Forbes India. “The current
higher education delivery that is
done through a one-time, two-year
course like a typical MBA may not
be the dominant mode in the years
HarsHa Vadlamani for forbes india
to come. I see higher education
evolving into a career education
solution where programmes would
be flexible, continuous and lifelong.”
F
or Pasupulati, who grew
up in a quintessential
middle-class family,
entrepreneurship wasn’t the first
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 73
 State O F tH e m Ba | G r e yC am pus
option. His father worked with
Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, while his
mother was the vice principal of a
school. A good student, Pasupulati
secured admissions to the prestigious
National Institute of Technology
in Telangana’s Warangal to pursue
his studies in computer science.
After graduating in 1996, he went
on to work with the Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS), India’s largest IT
outsourcing firm, and was posted in
Singapore as a program developer. A
few years later, he moved to Citibank
and then to New York to work for
the Zurich-based Credit Suisse.
While in New York, he also pursued
a part-time MBA at New York
University’s Stern School of Business.
His big break came in early-2005
when he was hired by Goldman
Sachs and was sent, along with nine
others, to set up the trading floor in
Mumbai. When he started to hire a
team, the lack of a modern curriculum
in the business schools came to the
fore. “While colleges had a fantastic
curriculum, many of them weren’t
updated and hadn’t kept up with
the growing needs of employers.
That’s when we felt that we could
fill the gap,” says Pasupulati.
In 2008, Pasupulati quit Goldman
Sachs and, along with his friend
and tech entrepreneur Sarath
Sura, set up WinZest, a finishing
school for engineering graduates,
in Hyderabad. A few years later,
the company also ventured into the
higher education sector where it
began training engineering students
through online content. The business
was doing well and Pasupulati
reckons that 30,000-odd students
were using the services. But a lack
of enthusiasm from engineering
colleges meant he couldn’t scale up
the business the way he wanted to.
In 2013, WinZest changed its
business model, raised an undisclosed
amount of money from a few
Hyderabad-based angel investors and
tied up with some of the world’s best
certification agencies to offer online
74 | forbes india January 19, 2018
training programmes. The company
also renamed itself GreyCampus.
“We wanted a brand name that could
appeal globally,” says Pasupulati.
“Grey has to do with the intellect
and campus meant a one-stop
solution for education. That’s how
we zeroed in on the name.”
It then went on to develop modules
and content in accordance with the
curriculum prescribed by certifying
agencies such as the International
Association for Six Sigma Certification
and the Project Management Institute.
Once it developed the module with
help from global experts, it got them
GreyCampus was
IndIa’s fastest
GrowInG teCh
Company In 2016
and stood at the
13th plaCe In 2017
approved by the agencies. GreyCampus
would, however, retain the intellectual
property rights over the content.
So far, GreyCampus has trained
about 30,000 professionals
across the US, Middle East, and
the Asia-Pacific regions; it also
operates a subsidiary in the US.
L
ike Suras, Kiran Kumar
Sammeta, an IT consultant
with TCS, had also taken
GreyCampus’s Lean Sigma
programme about two years ago and
believes that it played a key role in the
upward trajectory of his career. “The
certification programme provides help
in keeping up with the employer’s
needs,” says Kiran. “I took a project on
quality management and through such
specialised programmes, you learn a
lot on how we are expected to work.”
Experts agree that there is a
growing demand for professional
certification programmes now.
“The time has come for the industry
to get more and more involved
with education,” says Narayanan
Ramaswamy, the head of education
practices at consultancy firm KPMG.
“Such programmes are now easier
to do and, in the medium term,
make a remarkable difference in
employability. Things are only going
to get better with time now.”
Like GreyCampus, companies
like Great Learning, UpGrad and
Simplilearn, too, are running
successful programmes in this
space. Coursera, the California-
headquartered company that offers
over 2,000 courses, is perhaps
the best known in this space.
As GreyCampus now prepares
for its second round of funding, the
company believes that it has the
potential to grow into a `100 crore
company in 3-4 years. “We will
soon launch an enterprise variant
that will work with companies
to provide such certification
programmes,” added Pasupulati.
“India is at a crossroads now,”
says Aurobindo Saxena, the head of
education practices at management
consulting firm Technopak Advisors.
“Colleges are expected to become
redundant in the next 30 years. We
are talking about electric vehicles and
fleet management where we need
specialised experts. Companies such
as GreyCampus have the bandwidth
to offer such programmes.”
It also helps that India is in the
midst of an internet boom, led by
smartphones. Asia’s third-largest
economy is expected to have over
530 million smartphone users by
2018. By 2021, over 830 million
Indians are expected to have access
to the internet, providing a massive
opportunity for online certification
programmes. “Unlike a B-school, the
go-to-market time for GreyCampus
is much lesser,” adds Saxena. “And
with the growing internet boom in
India and the increasing participation
of industry, we are certainly seeing
a period of exponential growth for
companies such as GreyCampus.”
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I
love beautiful footwear and
my must-have essentials are a
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—As told to Sayan Chakraborty

76 | forbes india january 19, 2018

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Comfort is of prime importance and the shoes I wear
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january 19, 2018 forbes india | 77

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which I segregate based on formal
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darshan mehta: manoj patil

I have some 8 to 9 pairs of Onitsuka

shoes in different colours, including
yellow. For semi-formal, I love the suede
shoes by Fratelli Rossetti. And like to
team them up with coloured socks.
For running, I currently have a
pair of Adidas Zero Gravity shoes.
—As told to Anshul Dhamija

78 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 “My shoe closet is incomplete
without a pair of lace-ups or “My Nike Air Max
slip-ons for formal wear such as shoes are my go-to
trousers and shirts; moccasins ones every time
for most of my workwear—I pair I’m in a rush”
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sports shoes. They are made to perfection and are
value for money. Though what matters most is that
the shoes are of good quality and comfortable. My
go-to footwear is a pair of moccasins.”
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not been able to get rid of them.
—As told to Sayan Chakraborty

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 79

 Making of a leader:
Delving into
Promising Minds
Forbes India decodes how young scions
are steering old and new businesses

F
orbes India, in association with
BNP Paribas India, held the
By Salil Panchal
Thought Leadership Series on
November 30, 2017, bringing
together a host of young and successful Carvalho: Nadia, you are also being a `250 crore to almost a `4,000
business leaders to share their insights in a business that probably had crore company. Consumers today
on entrepreneurship. As part of a a growth phase in the 1990s are open to trying out new things and
discussion titled ‘The Rise of GenNext when the reforms began. How that’s a big deal in a category like ours
Business Leaders in India’, Forbes India has your business transformed because 95 percent is still dominated
Editor Brian Carvalho spoke with Anant in the last two decades or so? by a preference towards mango. The
Goenka, managing director of Ceat Ltd, Nadia Chauhan: Over the last 13 years, challenge is to bring in new products and
Nandini Piramal, executive director at we’ve grown by about 800 percent, from to be able to develop them. It takes a lot
Piramal Enterprises, Nadia Chauhan,
joint MD of Parle Agro, Zorawar Kalra,
food entrepreneur and founder-MD
of Massive Restaurants, Ankit Agarwal,
director at Sterlite Technologies, and
Joris Dierckx, CEO and country head,
BNP Paribas India, about how these
young business leaders are changing
the professional landscape. Excerpts:

Brian Carvalho: India’s business

environment is all about
opportunity, but there is also a
lot of competition, regulation,
disruption and uncertainty. What
are the growth opportunities and
is there a positive climate for new
ventures, diversifications and
even inorganic growth? Anant,
you are in a business that’s been
growing over the years and you’ve
added new life to it. How do you
see the road ahead from here?
Anant Goenka: As an industry, we
are at an exciting time. We have an
amazing demographic dividend in
the company. That’s going to give us
a competitive advantage for the next
20-25 years. And GST is an incredible
move despite what everyone says.

80 | forbes india January 19, 2018

 a

p r e s e n tat i o n

of time and huge investments because
there is such a dominant preference. The
other big factor in India is seasonality.
There is a mindset that you don’t drink
anything cold after summer or when it’s
raining or if it’s cold outside, unlike a lot
of other parts of the world where you see
people having ice cream even in winter.
Carvalho: Zorawar, you would
largely represent the consumer side
of the business. So, for you, it’s
probably a phenomenal change if
one looks at what your father built…
Zorawar Kalra: My father’s lifestyle
was kind of living out of hotels and
making great brands for the hotels. He
built brands like Bukhara, Dum Pukht
and The Great Kabab Factory but he
didn’t own any of them. That was a big
problem for me and I thought I needed
to do something. The sole reason for
me to go overseas was to be able to think
like a corporatised company because
even now, even though our industry
is almost $17 billion, over half of it
is unorganised. A change in mindset
about how we perceive the industry was
required. We have seen the impact of
demonetisation and then there was a
liquor ban. GST is not a negative thing.
But now, for the restaurant industry
alone, they removed the income tax
credit, which makes all my expenses
go up by around 10 to 12 percent. The
business becomes unviable entirely.
How do I mitigate that? By increasing
prices in a competitive environment?
So, for us, the business environment
is beyond our control. This has been
the toughest year for us. That’s why my
strategy shifted around March 2016 to
go overseas significantly. In the next 18
months, 50 percent of our business will
be from international restaurants. We
are opening in about eight countries
in the Middle East and in London
and Dubai. It’s a situation that needs
some kind of lobbying on our part.
Carvalho: Nandini, you have
chosen to lead a business that
was close to your parents,
something that they grew for a
long time in the ‘90s and 2000s.
Nandini Piramal: I do a lot of things
and not just pharma. I also lead risks
and HR. We’re doing a lot of things,
which require a lot more complexities,
like 70 percent of our revenues are
forex dominated, at least in pharma.
We also have an OTC business.
Carvalho: Ankit, commodities are
something that Sterlite is big on and
probably the cables business was one
of the earliest, started by your uncle.
It has come a long way since then
from copper to optic fibre, and now
there is 4G and 5G and beyond…
Ankit Agarwal: When we tried to
get into optic fibre, everyone thought
we were crazy because no one was
doing it in India then. We have fibre
optic technology that only five
companies in the world have. We
have technologies such that we go into
China. In the family, while growing up,
the advice was that we must be among
the top five in the world, and second,
if everyone has to die, we must die
last. The biggest transformation that
happened in India was to take optic
fibre to every village. Fortunately, we
have a forward-looking government
with Digital India, so there is a `10,000
crore project currently to connect every
village on optic fibre. We are getting into
deployment of the network itself. Our
toughest challenge is to bring network
connectivity across the country. We
decided to take up Jammu & Kashmir.
It’s probably the toughest terrain in
the world to deploy fibre optics due to
photographs: Mexy xavier

(Clockwise from left) Ankit Agarwal, director

at Sterlite Technologies, Nadia Chauhan, joint
MD of Parle Agro, Anant Goenka, managing
director of Ceat, Forbes India Editor Brian
Carvalho, Nandini Piramal, executive director
at Piramal Enterprises, Joris Dierckx, CEO and
country head, BNP Paribas India, and Zorawar
Kalra, food entrepreneur and founder-MD of
Massive Restaurants

January 19, 2018 forbes india | 81

 Forbes india Conversations

In the family, while growing My grandfather took decisions by

up, the advice was that we must be instinct. So I think taking decisions with
among the top five in the world less information is quite incredible
-Ankit Agarwal -Anant Goenka

terrain, weather, security concerns,
lack of manpower and few working
hours and in that we were doing
a 10,000-kilometre network.
Carvalho: Joris, how do you
see the business landscape
changing and more particularly
the business family landscape,
which, in India, is pretty sizeable?
Joris Dierckx: The business
environment has changed
enormously. A lot of issues that
were constraining economic growth
have been resolved by private sector
investments and private sector
initiatives. And that has given a
lot of dynamism to the economy
that was not there 20 years ago.
Carvalho: What was it like growing
up in a business family? Did you feel
like you want to be a part of this?
Goenka: It was pretty clear early on
that I would do that. While we have a
few different businesses in transmission
and tyres, for me, Ceat was always
something that I considered to be a
part of the family business more just
because it was more consumer-centric
and you could touch and feel a tyre.
Piramal: I joined McKinsey after
undergrad before business school;
we all had choices and we all
decided that this was better for us.
Chauhan: I am a big foodie, so I was
my dad’s favourite guinea pig. Growing
up, I tried the various products that
he could develop. I always knew that
this is where I’d be in my holidays or
weekends, time after school would
pretty much always be at office. I had a
space of my own, in my dad’s cabin.
Agarwal: I don’t know anything else
apart from this. I am just lucky that I get
to connect to every part of the country.
Kalra: Like Ankit, I didn’t want to
be in anything else. My father was a
professional consultant, but he wasn’t
in the business of restaurants. So mine
is a logical extension of what he used to
do. I realised that if we wanted to build
something of value for ourselves, it was
important to own the intellectual property.

We might look at food items in the In 18 months, 50 percent of our business

future, maybe dairy products will be from international restaurants
-Nadia Chauhan -Zorawar Kalra

82 | forbes india January 19, 2018


Demographic dividend is a huge factor.
[But] having the legacy and heritage
and building on it is also valuable
-Joris Dierckx
Carvalho: We in the media assume
that the founder of a business
typically has a lot of fire in his belly
that waters down as we come to
the second and third generation.
How true is that? How would you
compare your initiation into the
business as against your grandfather
starting businesses on his own?
Goenka: My grandfather started with
a spate of acquisitions and was able
to grow it fast. So, I had to establish
credibility first, starting off at a junior
position. I joined Ceat as a territory
leader (sales) for the Vashi region [in
Navi Mumbai], moved to looking at half
of Maharashtra sales and then over 7-8
years grew into the role that I am in now.
Piramal: I worked in the factory doing
operational excellence, so I know far
more about supply chains than I should
in a way. We are far more comfortable
in a global environment because I think
all of us started doing things overseas.
Chauhan: It’s been a 30-year journey
for the brand. In 1985, when Frooti
was launched, it was the first tetra pack
product in India. It was about teaching
consumers how to use the pack and
consume out of it. A few years ago,
our vision was extremely aggressive
and we wanted to get back to the No
1 spot, which we had lost after we sold
a lot of our brands to Coca-Cola. We
needed to breathe life into the brand
We are far more comfortable in a
global environment because I think all
of us started doing things overseas
-Nandini Piramal
and compete with our rivals. Today
we are the No 2 brand in the country.
In the next 30 years, we could see
segmentation in the beverage category,
as seen in fruit-based beverages. We’ve
just launched Frooti Fizz, which is an
extension of an existing category.
Carvalho: I read about this richest
family in Philippines… the grandson
started something totally different,
a self-service storage business.
Was that ever a temptation, to
start something completely new?
Goenka: Rarely, not so much,
but once in a while when it has,
I’ve always thought of it as being
under the family umbrella.
Chauhan: It could be anything, but the
largest part of our portfolio is fruit-
based. We might look at food items
in the future, maybe dairy products,
but right now, the opportunity in
what we are doing is so immense that
we are just enjoying the growth.
Carvalho: Joris, how do you see
the road ahead when you see how
young leaders like these think…
does it make you optimistic of being
in India for another 20 years?
Dierckx: Demographic dividend
and technology disruption are huge
factors. That being said, I think
having the legacy and heritage and
building on it is also valuable.
a
p r e s e n tat i o n
Carvalho: What’s the inspiration and
the advice that you remember from
your father or anybody in the family?
Kalra: I was told by my father early on
to figure out something that I wanted
to do for free and then figure out a way
to make money from it. The second
thing he said was whenever you try to
do something, try to be the best that you
can be; don’t play for second place.
Piramal: Do what you love; we
have to enjoy getting up every
day and going to work.
Chauhan: He [Prakash Chauhan]
always spoke about being passionate
about whatever you are doing.
Agarwal: For us, it has been what
is the bigger purpose and its impact
on society. We are a fairly mid-sized
company, but we are getting phenomenal
talent because we are able to connect
people with the bigger purpose we
are doing through our company.
Goenka: The learning is to respect
people and the second is the way
my grandfather took decisions by
instinct. We spent too much time
analysing an acquisition, but he
said he would have just decided a
month before us and closed it. So
I think just taking decisions with
less information is something that
has been quite incredible. ■
January 19, 2018 forbes india | 83
 new Year Special

A hAppy
yeAr
of new

A new year is always a good excuse to look

forward to new things: New books to read, new
films to watch, new places to go to, new food
to eat and new gadgets to possess. So here’s a
selection of all that holds promise in the coming
dozen months, and here’s hoping that they give
moments and memories to treasure
 new Year Special

Turn over
(many) a
new leaf
A selection of books to read in 2018

Compiled by JAsodhArA BAnerJee

The riSe and fall of
The emerald TigerS:
Ten YearS of re-
Search in The panna
naTional park
Raghu Chundawat
Speaking Tiger
from 1996 to 2006, raghu
Chundawat studied the tigers
of Panna in madhya Pradesh,
overseeing the revival of the
tiger population, and its eventual
decline. He recorded the
behaviour and movements of
a core group of nine tigers. He
also witnessed first-hand the
collusion between poachers and
forest officials, which resulted
in the end of his study. This
book presents his research,
alongside an insider’s account
of the problems that plague
wildlife conservation in India.
STrangerS no more:
new narraTiveS from
india’S norTheaST
Sanjoy hazaRika
Aleph Book Company
Sanjoy Hazarika explains
how and where things stand
in the northeast today. He
examines old and new struggles,
contemporary trends and the
sweeping changes that have
taken place, and asks whether
the region and its people are
still ‘different’ to the rest of
India, to each other and whether
they are destined to remain
so. Hazarika tells little-known red birdS
stories drawn from personal
experience and knowledge, of MohaMMed hanif
the way in which insurgents Bloomsbury India
operate, of the reality of border from the bestselling, prize-winning author of A Case of Exploding
towns, the pain of victims, and Mangoes, comes a powerful new novel about war, family and
the courage of fighters on either the things love makes us do. Simultaneously timely and timeless,
side of the ideological and red Birds explores war, refugee camps and the tensions between
physical conflict. america and the muslim world.
an ordinarY man’S guide To radicaliSm
neyaz faRooquee
Westland/Amazon
Journalist neyaz farooquee writes about his life after
September 19, 2008, the day of the Batla House encounter
that transformed his identity as an ordinary young man from
Bihar. an over-protected childhood, migration to Delhi for
education, and a shiftless adolescence were all flattened out
into one tiny slice of his status as a muslim.

do we noT bleed?
reflecTionS of a 21ST
cenTurY pakiSTani
MehR taRaR
Aleph Book Company
This is a passionate, illuminating
book about contemporary
Pakistan. Comprising original
profiles of diverse Pakistanis—
some internationally feted and
many others who are relatively
unknown—as well as essays that
examine the major fault lines
in Pakistani society, the book
offers the reader an insider’s
perspective on the state of affairs
in the country today.
race courSe road
SeeMa goSwaMi
Aleph Book Company
The ultimate insider’s political
thriller. Set largely at the prime
minister’s house, the rCr
complex, it revolves around the
assassination of a sitting Pm and
the battle for succession within
his family. as the search for the
murderer continues, sex scandals
surface, revelations about dodgy
arms deals rock India, and rival
Tv anchors spar while the
country undertakes one of its
most bitterly-contested general
elections ever.

86 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 liveS leSS
ordinarY
whY i killed murder in Seven acTS The list of biographies and
The mahaTma memoirs runneth over
kalpana • The Outsider: Autobiography
dR koenRaad elSt SwaMinathan of Yashwant Sinha, by Yashwant
Rupa Publications Speaking Tiger Sinha (Bloomsbury India)
It is common knowledge that “lalli was bent double, • Yada Yada hi Yogi: Math Se

mK Gandhi was shot dead in
1948 by nathuram Godse. lesser
known is Godse’s motive. until
now, no publication has dealt
with this question, except for
the text of Godse’s own defence
speech during his trial, which
contains substantive arguments
against the facile glorification
of the mahatma. Koenraad elst
compares Godse’s case against
tugging at something heavy
and unyielding. I couldn’t see
what for all that smoke. with
a tug that almost toppled her,
she pulled out something. at
that instant, the pall lifted and
I saw what it was. a flaming
The loTuS and The pair of legs.” Since Kalpana
Snake (graphic novel) Swaminathan’s first whodunit
The Page 3 Murders was
by appupen published over 10 years ago,
Rajneeti Tak (Hindi), by Vijai
Trivedi (westland/amazon)
(a biography of uttar Pradesh
Chief minister yogi adityanath)
• Na Bairi Na Koi Begana (Hindi
/ english), by Surendra Mohan
Pathak (westland/amazon)
(The first of a three-volume
autobiography of crime fiction
writer Surender mohan Pathak)
• Gurudev, by Bhanumati

Gandhi with criticisms voiced
in wider circles, and with
historical data known at the time
or brought to light since. It also
includes the views of political
leaders of divergent persuasions
and some new considerations
in Gandhi’s defence.
Westland/Amazon
a new age is dawning in Hala-
hala, as humans and machines
build a society that threatens
life itself. appupen brings his
masterful art and vivid myth-
building to this blistering indie
take on the superhero comic.
lalli—60, silver-haired and
tough as nails—has been one of
the most memorable detectives
in Indian fiction. She returns
in this brilliant page-turner, a
collection of seven stories, to
solve some of the strangest, most
complex cases of her career.
Narasimhan (westland/amazon)
(The first authorised biography
of Sri Sri ravi Shankar)
• Citizen Delhi: My Times,
My Life by Sheila Dixit
(Bloomsbury India)
• Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s
Greatest Thinkers, by Pavan K
Varma (westland/amazon)
• Ilayaraya, by Lalitha Suhasini

who me, feminiST? poonachi: (westland/amazon)

The STorY of a black • SD Burman: The Musician-

gayatRi jayaRaMan prince, by Aniruddha

Bloomsbury India by peRuMal MuRugan Bhattacharya (westland/amazon)
what is feminism here and Westland/Amazon • Being ‘Her’ in India, by Rana

now, in the Indian context? This is Perumal murugan’s first Ayyub (westland/amazon)
who am I as a feminist? work of fiction since his re-emergence (rana ayyub’s memoir)
using interviews with people into the world of the ‘living’. In one • Indira: A Graphic Biography

across several streams and
classes, from educated to
uneducated, scholars to
doers, this book examines
what feminism means to
them all, caught in the cross
currents of a changing India.
sense, it is just that: The story of a of Indira Gandhi, by Devapriya
goat named Poonachi, tracking her Roy and Priya Kurian (westland/
life from the moment she comes to amazon) (Part prose, part
live with an elderly human couple. graphic biography of former Pm)
on another level, it is a commentary
on the human condition, and on the
vulnerabilities of the artistic life.

decoding india’S unThinkable: an ex-

diSrupTive
TechnologY STorY
kiRan kaRnik
Rupa Publications
Three decades ago, India
witnessed unprecedented
transformation due to
ground-breaking research
and innovation. The book
talks about the genesis
and remarkable evolution
of the Indian technology
TraordinarY JourneY
Through The world’S
STrangeST brainS
helen thoMSon
Hachette India
Helen Thomson has spent years
travelling the world tracking
down rare brain disorders. In • Priyanka Chopra: From
bJp: from vaJpaYee Unthinkable, she tells the stories Miss India to Conquering the
To modi of nine people—from the man World, by Aseem Chhabra (rupa
who thinks he’s a tiger to the Publications)
Saba naqvi doctor who feels the pain of • Danny: An Authorized

industry through different Westland/Amazon others just by looking at them. Biography, by Priyanka Pereira
themes, and explains how a quintessential diary by one of Their experiences illustrate (rupa Publications)
disruptive innovation the seniormost women journalists how the brain can shape our (The first book on actor Tshering
neyaz: javed Sultan

played out in the context in India, tracing the journey of lives in unexpected and, in some Phintso Denzongpa, aka Danny)
of our everyday lives. the Bharatiya Janata Party, and cases, brilliant ways. Thomson • Memoirs by Montek Singh

It will offer insights the nation thereof, from the explains the workings of our Ahluwalia, (rupa Publications)
into the technological era of the stalwart atal Bihari consciousness, our emotions and • Biography of Mohan Bhagwat,
developments that had the vajpayee to present day Prime our creativity that allow us to by Kingshuk Nag (rupa
greatest impact. minister narendra modi. understand our own existence. Publications)

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 87

 new Year Special

It’s
showtIme,
folks!
The year’s movie lineup gives you all
the reasons to grab your popcorn

By Sayan ChakraBorTy

incredibleS 2
Release time: June
this is one of those sequels that take their time coming. more
than a decade after The Incredibles (2004) told the animated
story of, well, the Incredibles (the superhero family living
incognito among mere mortals) the second instalment will
see helen saving the world while husband Bob finds his
hands full with unexpected challenges—their three children.
And their youngest, Jack-Jack, springs some surprises of his
own. Given that the first film earned $633 million globally,
the second one has some super shoes to fill.
padman
Release time: January
Continuing with his films that address social issues, Akshay
kumar will now be championing the cause of menstrual
hygiene. his next film is based on the life of Arunachalam
muruganantham, the Coimbatore-based social entrepreneur
who started manufacturing low-cost sanitary napkins and
evangelised menstrual hygiene in small towns and villages,
while being the subject of much ridicule. Directed by R Balki,
who made Cheeni Kum and Paa, the film also stars sonam
kapoor and Radhika Apte.

padmavati
Release time: January
we shall all perhaps heave a
collective sigh of relief once
the movie releases. there is
little about the film—starring
Deepika Padukone, Ranveer
singh and shahid kapoor—
that is left to be told, except
its real story of course. After
holding our breaths (and our
heads) as the unending drama
continued over this period
film of sanjay leela Bhansali’s,
the film better not be a damp
squib!

thugS of
hindoStan
Release time: November
this one from Yash Raj films
has an ensemble cast that
includes Amitabh Bachchan,
Aamir khan, katrina kaif,
fatima sana shaikh and Jackie
shroff. Inspired by the book
Confessions of a Thug by Philip
meadows taylor, Thugs of
Hindostan reportedly has a
budget north of `200 crore.
while the makers have kept
the plot under wraps, the
movie, helmed by Vijay
krishna Acharya whohad
directed Dhoom 3, is
believed to be an action
thriller based on the lives
of a gang of robbers in 19th
century India. But why
must it sound like Gangs of
New York?
Kedarnath
Release time: December
Kedarnath, directed by
Abhishek kapoor of Rock On!!
fame, will mark the debut
of sara Ali khan—daughter
of saif Ali khan and Amrita
singh—opposite sushant singh
Rajput. with the film’s public-
ity machinery already in over-
drive, expect to get continuous
behind-the-scenes snippets of
the film which is based on the
2013 Uttarakhand floods.

88 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 Sanju
Release time: March
having made the immensely
successful munnabhai series,
director Rajkumar hirani
and producer Vidhu Vinod
Chopra turn the camera on
the life of their favourite
actor, sanjay Dutt. Playing
the troubled son of late
actors sunil Dutt and
Nargis is a beefed up Ranbir
kapoor. the film also stars
manisha koirala, Dia mirza
and sonam kapoor in
ocean’S 8 important roles. It is yet to
Release time: June
be seen how much of Dutt’s
this is the time for women’s-only versions of hugely
real life drama—and there
successful male-only originals. In 2016, there was the dhadaK
has been enough and more
all-woman Ghostbusters, which came in for much criticism Release time: July
of it ever since he was
from fans of the original, 1984 cult classic, but which went on trust Bollywood to pick up
arrested for illegal
to earn $229 million worldwide. In 2018, we will see a similar a hugely successful regional
possession of arms—will
version of the Ocean’s trilogy, the series where Danny ocean film and try to cash in on
find its way on to the reels.
(George Clooney) leads a team of bank robbers: Danny’s all that’s good about it. this
estranged sister, Debbie, leads an eight-member crew of remake of the 2016 marathi
women to pull off a bank robbery. Given its star cast—Cate readY plaYer one blockbuster Sairat will be
Blanchett, sandra Bullock, Anne hathaway, helena Bonham Release time: March the launch pad of two star
Carter, katie holmes and Rihanna—we are not complaining. this science fiction, directed kids: sridevi and Boney ka-
by steven spielberg, is poor’s daughter Jhanvi, and
expected to be a scorcher. It Neelima Azeem and Rajesh
Shah ruKh Khan’S unnamed film is the story of a virtual khattar’s son Ishaan. In the
Release time: To be announced reality world called oasis. usual hype that precedes
Anand l Rai, who directed Raanjhanaa, Tanu Weds Manu and Before dying, its creator chal- such launches, kapoor is
Tanu Weds Manu Returns, will be directing shah Rukh khan for lenges the oasis users to track being hailed as a style icon
the first time, as he plays a dwarf (brings to mind kamal hassan down an easter egg, promising and a favourite of the
in the 1989 film Apoorva Sagodharargal, though khan maintains a fortune to the one who finds shutterbugs. what remains
there are no similarities). the film also stars Anushka sharma and it. starring olivia Cooke, han- to be seen is if Bollywood
katrina kaif; the trio is coming together for the first time since nah John-kamen, tJ miller can stop itself from com-
Jab Tak Hai Jaan in 2012. Given the fate of khan’s past few films— and tye sheridan, this sci-fi pletely overwhelming (and,
Fan, Dear Zindagi and Jab Harry Met Sejal—at the box office, will from the master of the art will thus, killing) the raw charm
pulling the dwarf stunt be enough to draw audiences? be one movie to watch out for. that made Sairat so loved.

maze runner: the maniKarniKa

death cure
Release time: January
this is the third and final
instalment of the maze
Runner franchise—the first
one, The Maze Runner hit
the screens in 2014, followed
by Maze Runner: The Scorch
Trials in 2015—based on
the eponymous novel by
James Dashner. Directed by
wes Ball, this film will see
protagonist thomas, played
by Dylan o’Brien, embarking
on a mission to find the cure
for a disease called flare. All
eyes are set on this one, giv-
en the tremendous success
of the first two instalments,
which together earned about
$660 million worldwide.
Release time: April
Given the spate of
biopics flooding the screen,
the celebrated queen of
Jhansi definitely deserves
one of her own. Manikarnika,
directed by krish, stars
kangana Ranaut as the
queen who led her troops
to battle against the British
alita during the sepoy mutiny
Release time: July of 1857. And, as with many
two hollywood giants team up for this action adventure film. things Ranaut, controversy
Robert Rodriguez, the prolific producer of cult action films is not far behind: filmmaker
such as Desperado, El Mariachi and Machete, joins James ketan mehta has accused
Cameron, who thought up films such as Terminator, Alien, her of hijacking his idea,
Rambo and Avatar, to make Alita, where Rosa salazar plays claiming that he was nur-
the namesake character, a cyborg warrior. Notching up the turing a similar project for
star power even higher are Jennifer Connelly, Christoph about a decade and had even
waltz, michelle Rodriguez and mahershala Ali. You might discussed it with her. Ranaut
want to watch this with your seat belts fastened. denies any wrongdoing.

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 89

 new Year Special

Befriend your
fitness routine
This year, instead of taking your diet and exercise schedule
as an intimidating challenge, learn to love it

By Vijay Thakkar

L
osing weight
is on almost
everyone’s
agenda. But
how many of us take
that as the idea behind
staying fit too? Very few.
increased fitness level
is usually accompanied
with youthfulness, better
physical rigour and a good
body shape, whereby losing
numbers on the weighing
scale becomes a derivative.
shutterstock
Why do so many
people find it difficult to
either stick to a diet or
to an exercise schedule?
Being intimidated by it
and blaming it on the lack
of willpower are easy
ways out. often there
are practical, mundane
reasons why we fail in our
resolutions. Here’s how one
can ensure better fitness:
• Plan your meals: Most
of us believe that losing
weight is all about clearing
the fridge of all things that
will make us fat, instead
of focusing on the right
food types and groups.
Planning a meal is of utmost
importance, making it
imperative that the food
you eat for breakfast, lunch
and dinner is healthy,
and meets your daily
requirements of protein,
fibre, carbohydrates,
vitamins, minerals and
phytonutrients. skipping
meals and going on crash
diets have never been
effective ways to get fit.
it is crucial that you eat
more frequently and keep
the meals small in portion.
don’t skip a snack if you
are hungry; instead eat
something healthy. Choose
homemade food items
instead of takeaways.
Plan what you will eat in
a day, for every meal.

90 | forbes india january 19, 2018

• Know what to eat: A
popular belief is that to
attain an athletic body we
should blindly cut down on
calories. However, being
informed about food groups
and their constituents
enable us to make better
decisions. it helps achieve
our fitness resolutions
effectively, without feeling
deprived of good food or a
desirable lifestyle.
the magic mantra is
not only to cut down on
calories, but also to watch
the kind of food we eat.
food that not only provides
our body with the required
nourishment, but also
satiates our hunger.
including all food
groups in your diet plan
is important. refined or
simple carbohydrates
such as white flour, rice,
pasta, pastries, soda and
other sugary foods and
drinks should be limited
or eliminated altogether.
these carbs are short of
fibre and other nutrition
found in whole grains,
fruits and vegetables. the
processed ingredients in
fast food such as burgers,
pizzas, fries, cakes,
chips, cookies and other
confectionery items are
metabolised quicker by
the body, thus unnaturally
elevating blood sugar levels.
this compels the body to
aggressively release and
maintain dangerously
high levels of fat-storing
hormones and enzymes for
longer periods.
in the short term, they
may give an energy boost
and excite the reward
centres in your brain, but in
due course, it will lead to a
major energy slump.
• Eat out, but eat well:
eating out is an integral
part of our lives and is not
something that we can wish
away. But what we can do is
intelligently select our food.
so, you could pick a
clear soup to drink before
or along with your meal
instead of a sugary drinks
(it’s best to avoid thick
soups as they contain plenty
of corn flour, which adds a
lot of body fat). if you are
drinking alcohol, restrict
it to 120 ml (or two pints
if you are drinking beer) a
day and opt for non-caloric
additives such as water,
soda, sugar-free soft drinks
instead of sugar-rich soft
drinks, sugary juices or
sweetened energy drinks.
opt for unsalted variants
of nuts such as almonds,
cashews, walnuts or
macadamia to go with
your drink.
you can replace
deep fried starters with
grilled or shallow fried
ones made of vegetables,
chicken, seafood, sprouts
and nuts. opt for salads
with fat-based dressings
(mayonnaise, bleu cheese,
Caesar, ranch, mustard,
extra-virgin olive oil and
balsamic vinegar) instead of
carbohydrate- and sugar-
based dressings (such as
barbecue sauce).
for the main course,
choose a steak dish such
as cottage cheese, fish or
chicken because steaks
offer a balance of all food
groups such as protein,
greens and potato starch.
you should avoid liquid-
and gravy-based items,
n
while replacing refined
grains (white rice, naan)
with wholegrain (brown
rice, multigrain bread/roti/
paratha).
• Choose an exercise
routine that suits you:
the simplest strategy
for reducing weight and
staying fit is to follow an
exercise routine that fits
your schedule, lifestyle and
preferences. your workout
could be anything ranging
from a walk, a run, an hour
of yoga or Zumba. the
idea is to remain active.
do not think of exercising
as a chore. the exercise
should be something that
fits into your daily routine
january 19, 2018
without causing too much
disruption. the more the
disruption, the less likely
you are to continue with it.
if you enrol in a gym, try
out a plethora of activities.
the variations will help
you remain motivated and
accomplish your goal faster.
you could incorporate
weight training, core
strengthening, circuit
training, group exercise
classes and a lot more.
exercising has benefits
that dieting alone doesn’t.
it boosts metabolism, burns
fat faster, builds muscle,
increases muscular strength
and cardiovascular fitness
and improves body shape.
A workout also helps you
speed up weight loss,
improves the quality of
sleep, lowers cholesterol,
and reduces stress levels.
ow that you are
aware of what you
need to eat and
how to exercise, remember
to never underestimate
the importance of talking
yourself up. it could be
something as simple as
“i can do this!” to be able
to go on that run or hit
the gym. set up realistic
goals and join classes
if need be to achieve
them. rope in a partner
to keep you motivated.
All successful ventures
involve a plan that maps
out its mission and specifics
on how to achieve it. even
where fitness is concerned,
Leonhard Foeger / reuters
you will have no clue where
to start, how to progress,
and how to get where you
want to if you don’t have a
realistic plan.
The writer is founder and
CEO of 48 Fitness
forbes india | 91
 new Year Special

IN STEP WITH Mi power Bank pro

MODERN
and Mi power Bank 2i
A battery is an unpretentious choice to commence
a gadget wish list, but then, there’s no smartphone

TIMES
To keep your productivity resolutions
or just to enhance the quality of your
idle hours, these gadgets can be your
all-weather friends in 2018
user who hasn’t ever scrambled to a charging point.
My personal favourite among power banks is
the Mi Power Bank Pro’s 10,000 milliampere hour
(mAh) variant. It lacks the Mi Power Bank 2i’s
second charging port, but the type-C USB port for
fast charging makes it my preferred choice. Also,
included with the Pro is a cable and an adaptor that
can be used to charge micro-USB devices.
Both the devices provide low-power charging
with a double-press on the power button, which
can be used for charging devices such as a wrist
band, or a bluetooth earpiece. The 10,000 mAh
version of the 2i costs `799, whereas the same
power variant of the Pro costs `1,999.

By HaricHandan arakali

SonY SrS SerieS Bluetooth SpeakerS

All my music streaming experiments in recent times have been
with a smartphone connected to this bluetooth speaker set—the
Sony SRS-X2. Sony has more recently introduced versions with
enhanced bass such as the SRS-XB20, which is listed as ‘Amazon’s
Choice’ on the ecommerce website. The audio quality on either
won’t disappoint you, and if you drive an old car without a built-in
bluetooth option, like I do, then the X2 or the XB20 makes for an
excellent companion on a long drive. Since you can use them to
take calls as well, they’re convenient. And when you’ve reached
your destination, just push the box into your laptop backpack; it
adds less than 500 grams. My SRS X2 works great with both my
iPhone 5S and my Samsung A5 (2017). The X2 and the XB20 cost
around `6,500-7,000, depending on the retailer.

92 | forbes india january 19, 2018


JioFi 3 4G
wi-Fi router
This one has been a lifesaver
during work and vacations.
With a full charge, it lasts
for the better part of the day,
and can handle multiple
connected devices.
Just switch it on, place it
in a backpack and then forget
about it—you get Wi-Fi on
the move for all your devices.
I’ve used it to stream music
on smartphones and on long
drives—it works on many a
long stretch. You’ll need a
Jio SIM card to be able to
use it. I’ve got one with a
prepaid plan that I top up on
the go. The `2,000 device has
helped me work
seamlessly from railway
stations, hotel rooms, air-
ports, cabs, and even from
the hills—sending off that
last email to the boss before
switching to vacation mode.
the iphone Se and the
(ruMoured) iphone
Se 2
In a phablet-saturated market,
the iPhone SE is a standout
with its 4-inch screen. For
people who still love the small
form-factor, this is one of
Apple’s most sophisticated
products and that too at a
price that every smartphone
buyer will appreciate. A day
after Christmas, I found a
space grey version with 32 GB
storage for less than `18,500—
brand new and in-warranty.
The phone has nearly the same
specs as the iPhone 6S, barring
battery capacity and a couple
of other features that one
won’t miss. There are
reports that Apple will release
an iPhone SE 2 in March.
Mi BuSineSS Backpack
Now that we’ve listed the es-
sentials, it’s time to look at
the perfect business back-
pack to pack them all in. I
recommend the Mi business
backpack. It has a simple,
minimalistic design with two
main compartments and a
basic organiser, without being
bulky or heavy. And it even
offers a fair amount of water
resistance. I packed in enough
gear for a two-day trip, includ-
ing my Macbook Air, multiple
chargers, a spare smartphone,
the SRS X2, a two-in-one copy
of Salman Rushdie’s Haroun
and the Sea of Stories and Luka
and the Fire of Life, a bottle
of water (there’s a separate
mesh for inside a small zipper
pocket, but I prefer to shove
it in one of the compartments
itself ) and things like a hand
sanitiser, loose change, keys
(for which there is a nice
hook), pens, a notebook and so
on. It was pretty easy on the
shoulder. A grab handle’s there
too, which makes the `1,300
backpack close to perfect.
january 19, 2018 forbes india | 93
 new Year Special

What’s
a
re you ready to bite into 2018 with
zest and passion, and with fewer

for
pictures on instagram? the latter
probably won’t happen, we know,
but all signs point to a delicious year ahead.

dinner?
Liquid nitrogen-fuelled, drama-filled dishes
and drinks in lab apparatus (or hospital and
jailware) are finally behind us, while more real
and robust flavours await us. the flip side is the
Get ready for fresh flavours, new twists inevitable rise in competitive dining: everyone
and old favourites in 2018 is a critic and expert on food; the year ahead
will only see the tribe grow. the best thing
to do with food, however, is to ignore other
people’s opinion of it, and taste everything you
By Anoothi VishAl fancy for the sheer pleasure of it.

Haute tHai: it’s one fashionable. nara thai flavours. We now hear of an which was launched in
cuisine that’s never quite in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla ambitious modern thai diner december. so if you are
been trendy, despite being Complex set the tone a few coming up in the vicinity of travelling all the way to the
ShutterStock

popular and familiar. But months ago with its blue rice delhi’s Qutab Minar. thai capital for authentic fare,
this year, look beyond the (coloured by butterfly pea adding to the aura around expect more accent on luxury
green curry on generic asian flowers), layered desserts, thai cuisine is the inaugu- dining, while its influences
menus because thai is getting quality ingredients and soulful ral Michelin Guide Bangkok, wash up on our shores.

94 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 BowlS and tHaliS,
reinvented: Please don’t
ask why the Buddha bowls
are a big deal. But if you
must, it is an international
trend riding the instagram
wave. however, in india,
where people have always
eaten a melange of flavours,
textures and colours together
in every single meal, it is a
tad silly to tout it. neverthe-
less, look out for chic meals in
bowls (including poke bowls)
and thalis. a top chef who
can’t be named is considering
setting up a modern thali res-
taurant. You heard it here first.

piSco Sour: till about a year ago, the grape brandy (it is
rene redzepi
fresher in taste than the barrel-aged products from europe) from
the wine-making regions of Peru and Chile was hard to come by in
indian bars. now, the Peruvian embassy is serious about its pisco
promotion. increased availability plus a marketing push is set to
make light, fresh and frothy pisco sours go mainstream.

more oF wHiSkY:
Whisky is transcend-
ing its age-old image,
and gathering a fol-
lowing among the
women and the young.
Whisky cocktails, too,
are set to get more
popular as Millenni-
als and women warm Fermented FoodS: fer- younger counterparts such
up to old fashioneds. mentation is getting bigger in as abhishek Gupta (at the
ShutterStock; rene: YuYA ShIno / reuterS

there’s more to pick india. Chefs inspired by rene Leela in Gurugram) are turn-
from as well, with redzepi’s noma—with its core ing their kitchens into labs,
indian whisky brands philosophy of working with as flavours get intense and
getting more recog- fermented foods and a fermen- probiotics work their goodness
nition—Paul John’s tation lab—have been pushing on our guts.
Kanya was named the the envelope by curing, ageing expect to find more lacto-
asian Whisky of the and pickling seasonal, local fermented syrups, preserves,
Year by Jim Murray’s ingredients. top chefs such as fermented tomato peels, water
Whisky Bible—and Bengaluru-based Manu Chan- pickles, indigenous cheeses,
newer bourbons dra (of toast and tonic, and house-cured meats, kimchis
and ryes eying the olive Beach), Mumbai’s Vik- on your plates, and perhaps in
indian market. ramjit roy (of Poh), and their your cocktail glass too.

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 95

 new Year Special

Home-cHeF diSHeS
readY to Be Served in reStaurantS: studios,
pop-ups and meal experi-
these projects are still under wraps, but here’s ences by home chefs have
first dibs: Manish Mehrotra’s next after indian been trending, but what will
accent London at Gurugram’s one horizon be interesting to watch are
Center; relaunch of restaurants at the oberoi, the collaborations home chefs
new delhi, including a modern indian diner strike up with big restaurants
helmed by London-based alfred Prasad; ri- as the latter struggle to find
yaaz amlani’s new collaborative project under new ways to be inventive.
the social umbrella at Kamala Mills, Mumbai; early examples in 2017 were
anjan Chatterjee’s new asian brand in delhi restaurants like Mumbai’s
conceptualised by Vikramjit roy; Zorawar sodaBottleopenerWala and
Kalra’s new standalone in delhi. riyaaz amlani the Bombay Canteen putting
up special menus, festive fare
and bowls curated by home
chefs. in 2018, one such tie-up
go goa: Modern indian to watch out for will be Jamun,
food is no longer about plating celeBritY cooking: a trendy indian diner by PCo’s
drama but regional cuisines MasterChef australia judges rakshay dhariwal, which will
formatted in chic, casual ways. George Calombaris and Gary come up in delhi in January
so far the specialty of locally- Mehigan were almost a fixture and crowdsource its regional
loved small restaurants, Goan in india in 2017. the indian recipes. We also hear that
food is now going big with res- diner’s new penchant for inter- Mumbai’s the Bohri Kitchen
taurateurs such as Mumbai’s national food celebrities means is set to open a small format
o Pedro, and Bengaluru’s Lady there will be more pop-ups by restaurant in collaboration
Baga and nossa Goa, which famous chefs in 2018. though with a big restaurant company.
opened in 2017. there will be 2017 saw quite a line-up of star Watch this space.
more to sample this year as the chefs who came calling—from
trend gets rolling. dharshan Munidasa of sri
the other local flavours Lanka’s nihonbashi and the delHi Food in mumBai:
reaching mainstream will be Ministry of Crab, and Gaggan as restaurant brands from
massimo Bottura
from the northeast and north- anand to the revered Massimo the national Capital region
ern hills as chefs begin to play Bottura of osteria francescana of setting them up. it will be increasingly seek a Mum-
with these. Keep your taste in italy—the jury is still out on worth watching how much the bai audience, we will see the
buds ready for akhuni, jhakiya, the financial models of these price-conscious indian diner is likes of restaurateur Priyank
tenga and their ilk. pop-ups, given the high costs willing to pay for celebrities. sukhija, who ruled hauz Khas
Village, turning his gaze to
Lower Parel. More projects
are on the anvil, including res-
taurateur ashish Kapur’s the
Wine rack, which will be a
reworking of Gurugram’s the
Wine Company.
from top: prASAd GorI; tonY GentIle / reuterS; ShutterStock

milletS: interesting local

vegetables and grains have
been taking up more space on
menus. Millet biryanis, khich-
dis, breads and desserts will
be increasingly pervasive as
consumers get more aware and
chefs more experimental. Like
the quinoa salad a year ago,
you won’t be able to escape
millets in restaurants. and al-
though this is one fad we don’t
mind, we do need to watch out
against its over-marketing, as
was the case with the south
american grain.

96 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 new Year Special

All roAds leAd to

98 | forbes india january 19, 2018

memories Destinations to make your 2018
holidays truly memorable

By MaDhu Kapparath

wild and
decadent camping
Singita Sabora Tented
Camp, Grumeti
Reserves, Tanzania

safari lovers go to Africa

to see game, to walk in the
wild and to relax while
surrounded by nature. But
singita sabora, a dot of a
camp in the 350,000-acre
private game reserve in
tanzania, also supplies a
dose of the most decadent
old-school glamour. dur-
ing the Great migration,
the wooden decks of the
nine tents are surrounded
by thousands of animals,
bleating and harrumphing
making sabora the perfect
spot to soak up the wild.
the lavish tents are
lined with Persian silk
rugs and feather-stuffed
sofa, with sun-bleached
animal skulls, glossy
tortoise shells and giant
seedpods to examine. the
Courtesy singita sabora

vast tented bedrooms are

scattered with antique
mahogany carvings, silver
brushes and mirrors, and
are dominated by wooden
four-poster beds.

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 99

 new Year Special

Opulent plaYhOuSe
Opera House, Palais
Garnier, Paris, France

there is nothing quite like

watching a performance
at this opulent venue. the
Palais Garnier is arguably the
most famous opera house in
the world and for many it’s a
once-in-a-lifetime experi-
ence to attend a ballet or
opera here. its remarkable
Neo-Baroque structure was
designed by French architect
Charles Garnier and opened
in 1875 with 1,900 seats.
Arrive early, the archi-
tectural magnificence of this
building—the Grand Foyer
with its domed ceiling cov-
ered with mosaics, the grand
marble staircase, the gilded
statues and ornate foyers—
will take time to savour.

underwater
treaSure diveS
Red Sea, Egypt

Wreck diving in the red

sea is one of the best in
the world: Warm, clear,
blue water, colourful
reefs and a fascinating
story behind everything
you see. the reef of Abu
Nuhas in the northern
red sea is a ship’s grave-
yard, with four acces-
sible wrecks. Giannis d
is one such wreck where
divers can enter the
stern, swim through the
bridge and even enter
the engine room. the ss
thistlegorm is another
wreck, in the straits of
Gubal. the British vessel
was bombed and sunk in
1941 while carrying war
supplies. today, it is one
of the best wreck dives
in the world.

100 | forbes india january 19, 2018

 walking On air
Coiling Dragon Cliff
Skywalk, Hunan,
China

if you’re scared of
heights then don’t
read any further, be-
cause this walkway in
China is your worst
nightmare come
true. the fact that
it’s attached 4,600 ft
(1,403 m) up the side
of a mountain is scary
enough, but the fact
that it’s also made of
glass is nothing short
of terrifying.
situated on the
side of tianmen
mountain in Zhangji-
ajie National Forest
Park, the walkway
is 328 ft long and 5.2

CloCkwise from top left: Deagostini / getty images; VCg Via getty images; Courtesy soneVa kiri; barCroft meDia / getty images
ft wide. those who
brave the walkway
will be rewarded with
an utterly breathtak-
ing view that few will
ever experience.

treepOd dining
Soneva Kiri, Koh
Kood, Thailand

At soneva Kiri,
guests can savour a
meal while sitting
in an open pod sus-
pended amid trees in
the tropical island of
Koh Kood. ingredi-
ents for the gourmet
menu—including
the playfully-named
‘canapés in the
canopy’—are sourced
from the resort’s
organic garden or
from local markets.

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 101

 new Year Special

iriSh pub
The Long Hall, Dublin,
Ireland

one of the oldest pubs

in dublin, this one on
George’s street began
serving pints in 1766, just
seven years after Arthur
Guinness began brewing
at st James’ Gate. last
year, the long Hall cel-
ebrated 250 years of pull-
ing pints. it’s a calm place,
even on a saturday night.
try it on a mid-week
afternoon and you can
lose hours to your own
imagination. décor-wise,
think handcrafted wood
carvings, bevelled glass
and exquisite fittings.
Unusually for a Victo-
rian bar, it boasts plenty
of mirrors, partly to create
the illusion of a bigger
space, but also to poke
fun at the conservatism of
Victorian-era values.

handcrafted
heritage
Bazar Sábado,
Mexico City, Mexico

mexico is a coun-
try replete with
indigenous groups,
all of which have
their own fashion
and hand-crafting
heritage. this is why
handcrafted designs
are found anywhere
in the country, from
street-side vendors to
high-class boutiques.
A weekly open-air
market, the Bazar
sábado is one of the
best spots to hunt for
locally designed and
unique pieces or per-
haps even an antique
or two. the city’s
most innovative fash-
ion designers, such as
Carla Fernández, are
known to sell their
wares here.

102 | forbes india january 19, 2018

dancing SkY
lightS
Kirkjufell, Iceland

the ethereal Northern

lights (Aurora Borea-
lis) are visible for eight
months a year, from early
september to April-end,
and your chances of see-
ing the lights depend on
your luck, the clear skies
and solar activity. the
most common way to see
the Aurora Borealis is by
taking a guided tour. Au-
roras have been spotted
regularly from Kirkjufell
mountain on iceland’s

from left: eDuCation images / uig Via getty images; Courtesy the long hall; Courtesy the teCh museum; eD norton photography / getty images
west coast, and even from
the suburbs of reykjavík.
the ion Hotel’s
Northern lights Bar, close
to reykjavik, features
dimmed lighting and
wraparound windows, so
guests can watch the au-
rora with drinks in hand.

the muSeum
Of great ideaS
The Tech Museum of
Innovation, San Jose, US

A museum you cannot

miss—if you love science
and tech, that is. the tech
museum of innovation,
in the heart of san Jose,
California, has become
a landmark for visitors
seeking a glimpse of the
most inventive place on
earth—silicon Valley.
Check out the ‘Virtual
test Zone’, where real-life
science is demonstrated
by using virtual technol-
ogy. Get inside the mind
of a painter, or explore a
stage that demonstrates,
using immersive media,
how digital music works.
the museum also has
on display silicon Valley’s
spin on Body Worlds, the
display of plastinated
human bodies that have
sparked curiosity and awe
around the world.

january 19, 2018 forbes india | 103

 Thoughts
On new Beginnings
It is never too late to
be what you might
have been.
—george eliot

the beginning is the

most important part
of the work.
—Plato

you are never too

old to set another
goal or to dream a
new dream.
—cS leWiS
mary: Bettmann / Getty imaGes; John: shutterstock; lewis: wolf suschitZky/pix inc; seneca: Bettmann / Getty imaGes henry: Getty imaGes.
clockwise from top left: BarBara: lucas Jackson / reuters; oprah: shutterstock; mae : John koBal foundation / Getty imaGes;

Deep breaths are very

helpful at shallow
parties.
—BarBara
WalterS All discarded lovers should
For last year’s words
be given a second chance,
belong to last year’s but with somebody else.
language, and next —Mae WeSt Every new beginning
year’s words await comes from some other
another voice. beginning’s end.
The beginning is always today.
—tS eliot —Mary WollStonecraft Shelley —Seneca

you may have a fresh I think in terms

start any moment of the day’s
you choose, for this resolutions, not
thing that we call the years’.
‘failure’ is not the
falling down, but the —henry Moore
staying down.
—Mary Pickford
The first step
towards getting
somewhere is
to decide you’re
not going to stay
cheers to a new year
and another chance for where you are.
us to get it right. —John PierPont
—oPrah Winfrey Morgan

104 | forbes india january 19, 2018

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