Anand Mahindra Speaks About His Love of Film Making 34
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INNOVATING FOR GOOD AT TECH MAHINDRA 31 Mufaddal Choonia on Mahindra Racing’s new R&D centre 37 ANAND MAHINDRA SPEAKS ABOUT HIS LOVE ISSUE 4 • 2014 OF FILM MAKING 34 CONTENTS ME TEAM 2 COVER STORY ASSOCIATE EDITORS FORGING A GLOBAL PRESENCE ZARINA HODIWALLA The Mahindra CIE alliance establishes one of the top 25 auto component companies DARIUS LAM in the world, creating a supply base for Mahindra’s own globally expanding mobility business and also servicing the needs of global OEMs. AUTOMOTIVE DIVISION Bonita Fernandes, Rajeev Malik, INDUSTRY Nandita Sarkar, Pavithra Kamdadai, 7 NEWS 24 KVN Prasad, Venecia Paulose, SPOTLIGHT Neha Dalal and Anita Beri Updates from across sectors, including A focus on the Solar Energy space and launches, initiatives, awards and Mahindra Susten’s (formerly known as FARM DIVISION recognition. Mahindra EPC) position in it. Rujuta Nadkarni, Shruti Chhabra and Phiruzi Kasad TWO WHEELER 26 FOREIGN DESPATCH Priyanka Koijam DECIPHERING THE PUZZLE FINANCIAL SERVICES CALLED INDIA Charandeep Chawla, Sheetal Choksey, Matthew Wozny, a 2014 global recruit from Harvard Amit Agarwal and Ritesh Gaind University, shares his experiences of working at Mahindra and his impressions about India. AFTER-MARKET Geethu Menon and Mayank Maini SYSTECH 28 RISE FOR GOOD 33 SOCIAL STATUS Swapnil Soudagar Empowering the Adivasi Community at Tweets featuring the Mahindra Group MAHINDRA PARTNERS Araku Valley and Nurturing a Culture of from around the world wide web Desiree D’Cunha Innovation at Tech Mahindra with the sZenseEYE INFRASTRUCTURE & REALTY Rishika Mehrotra, Subrata Sengupta and Anurag Vijay AFTER HOURS 34 HOSPITALITY Deepali Naair EXPERIENCING THE WORLD IN 8½ MM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY From studying cinema to investing in films -- Vrinda Pisharody Anand Mahindra reminisces about his keen interest in movies. DEFENCE SYSTEMS Sanjit Tiwari 37 SPECIAL FEATURE SUSTAINABILITY Poonam Bagwe RACING AHEAD Mufaddal Choonia, Chief Executive Officer, Mahindra CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Racing, talks about the company’s new development centre Gilroy Correia and Santanu Bhattacharya in Italy and its growing ability to design racing motorcycles. Edited and Published by Mahindra Group Communications for Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, 40 VAIDY’S MUSINGS Gateway Building, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai 400 001. Editorial and Design Consultants: AICL Communications Limited ([email protected]) For employees of the Mahindra Group and for private external circulation only, through the Mahindra Group. EDITORIAL Dear Readers, 90 companies, 14 board meetings in 48 developments including the opening of their hours and 19 transaction agreements. brand new development centre in Italy, These were just some of the mind boggling which joins Mahindra’s neural network of numbers involved in the Mahindra-CIE deal, innovation along with other centres in India, one of the most complex M&A transactions Korea and the US. He also looks forward to DARIUS LAM ever executed in India. Our cover story in the 2015 season including the recent tie-up Associate Editor this issue takes a behind-the-scenes look with the renowned Aspar Team of Spain. at the strategy and passion which brought the two companies together. The coming Crossing the road, climbing a flight of stairs together of Mahindra and CIE has resulted and negotiating obstacles while walking in the formation of one of the Top 25 auto are things we usually take for granted. But component companies in the world. A true for the visually-challenged, these are often Rise story. herculean tasks. Kunal Bhat, Principal Technical Architect at Tech Mahindra is In a very special edition of After Hours, trying to make life a little easier for them with our Chairman, Anand Mahindra, spoke to sZenseEYE, the innovative goggles he has ME about his passion for cinema and its created for the visually impaired. You can profound influence on his personal and read all about it in the Rise For Good section professional life. on page 31. Our Foreign Despatch this time is from And don’t miss the incredible achievements India-based Matthew Wozny, a member of of the ‘Everest Twins’, Nungshi and Tashi Mahindra’s Global Recruit Programme. The Malik, the world’s first twins to scale Mount affable Matthew writes from the heart and Everest and the seven tallest peaks in seven with typical American candour about his continents, all for the cause of the girl child. experience of living and working in a country that never ceases to amaze him. After our last issue, many of you wrote to us, expressing appreciation for the new design From this issue, ME is delighted to introduce of your newsletter. A big thank you from the a new column by K. N. Vaidyanathan, EVP & editorial team to all those who sent us their Chief Risk Officer of the Mahindra Group, or valuable comments and feedback. Vaidy, as he is fondly known. Vaidy’s Musings on life, culture, economics, sport and various We hope to live up to your expectations with other topics are sure to enlighten and this issue as well! educate you. Darius Lam We also speak to Mufaddal Choonia, CEO of Mahindra Racing, about recent COVER STORY FORGINGA GLOBAL PRESENCE THE MAHINDRA CIE ALLIANCE ESTABLISHES ONE OF THE TOP 25 AUTO COMPONENT COMPANIES IN THE WORLD, CREATING A SUPPLY BASE FOR MAHINDRA’S OWN GLOBALLY EXPANDING MOBILITY BUSINESS AND ALSO SERVICING THE NEEDS OF GLOBAL OEMS. When Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara FINDING COMMON BONDS working out of an office. You have to get a feel (You Only Live Once) released in India back in Mahindra CIE’s alliance goes back to a time of the country and the pulse of the economy 2011, it proved to be a blockbuster hit. Zoya when an unflattering acronym, ‘PIGS’ was with supporting ‘field research’. And what Akhtar’s breezy coming-of-age comedy-drama coined to describe a group of countries, better way than taking two years to visit every which centred on a road trip by three friends including Spain, which were facing dire bar and restaurant in Madrid, Barcelona through some of Spain’s most picturesque economic straits and the wisdom of the and Bilbao before and after checking out locales captured the hearts and minds of Mahindra Systech team was questioned as it all the golf courses in the company of your viewers across the country. proposed an alliance and a cross investment prospective partners and their families! It between Mahindra and CIE. ensures pre merger integration!” As far as alliances go, the one between Mahindra and CIE has all the ingredients of The movie played an unwitting part in helping Just when the ‘couple’ thought that the worst a Bollywood blockbuster. Boy meets girl. Boy tide over objections. Inspired by the film that was over, Anton Pradera, the Chairman of woos girl. Boy and girl decide to tie the knot. has boosted Indian tourist arrivals into Spain CIE Automotive – and Mahindra’s biggest The families meet to discuss the alliance, but by 32%, Hemant Luthra, President, Systech supporter - fell ill, followed by Hemant who had there are many obstacles along the way that Sector quipped, “You can’t do Due Diligence to undergo a heart bypass surgery. Both were threaten the marriage. by relying only on lawyers and accountants out of action for several months, but were committed to each other, cherishing a 2 ISSUE 4 • 2014 COVER STORY CREATING A GLOBAL AUTO COMPONENTS PLAYER USA UK GERMANY CZECH REP ROMANIA Autometal Stokes forgings Mahindra Forgings CIE CIE Europe RUSSIA CIE FRANCE CHINA CIE CIE MEXICO INDIA Autometal Mahindra CIE Formed by the merger of Mahindra CIE Automotive, Mahindra Hindoday, PORTUGAL Mahindra Gears, CIE MUSCO Stampings & Mahindra Composites BRAZIL MOROCCO SPAIN ITALY LITHUANIA Autometal CIE CIE Metalcastello CIE MAHINDRA CIE common vision and values. Mahindra Systech The marriage, elegantly simple in terms of impressed with their efficiency and strengths and CIE waited patiently for each other till they strategy, epitomises the entrepreneurial in forgings and stampings. In fact, they have could finally be united in ‘Holy Matrimony’. spirit of the Mahindra Group and its growing never made a quarterly loss since inception expertise in complex M&A transactions. It in 1996,” says Vikas Sinha, Vice President “The time spent together helped to build showcases the group’s skills in building a – Strategy, Mahindra Systech who was then mutual trust and confidence to the point business from a clean sheet of paper through with the Office of Strategy Management at where we figured out that if there was a acquisitions, and then developing that into Mahindra. recession in Spain, the Spanish did not know a strategic partnership with a global auto about it ,” adds Hemant. He should know component supplier, resulting in strong “They first wanted to form a JV with just since he is something of a veteran in the financial benefits for both companies. our Stampings Division which didn’t seem M&A field, having orchestrated the landmark feasible to us. Things really changed when Essar Telecom - Hutchison deal in his previous “When CIE first expressed an interest in us, CIE Chairman, Anton Pradera met Anand avatar at Essar and having created the core we wrote back explaining our intent to create Mahindra. There was mutual admiration of Systech through a number of acquisitions ‘One Systech’ which included our European and respect on both sides which led CIE in line with the principles of ‘Anandnama’ i.e. companies which was actually not a part of to dramatically change its approach. They investing so as to gain access to Customers, their strategy. In November, they invited us decided to take a stake in One Systech while Technology and Management skills. to visit their plants in Spain. We returned, we took a stake in CIE,” Sinha explained.