Dr Pawan Goenka
Executive Director & President
Automotive, Farm Equipment & Two Wheeler Sectors
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd

His two decade journey at the Mahindra Group so far can be considered as one of the brightest chapters of Indian manufacturing. Of course, the journey goes on and it will continue to have a huge positive impact on both the Group as well as the industry as Dr Pawan Goenka finds a fine balance between Group businesses that are as small as only about Rs20 crore and are as large as Rs30,000 crore.

In fact, the next phase will surely add a new dimension to his career as he is more keen to focus on the smaller businesses in the Group. "In terms of the entire AFS (Automotive, Farm Equipment & Two Wheeler Sectors) P&L, what the 20 crore business does should make no difference even if it makes 100 percent profit or 100 percent loss. But then, that business is our future growth and therefore to keep a proportionate focus is a challenging part."

He believes this works very well in the Mahindra philosophy of management where the senior most management, starting from Anand Mahindra gives higher focus on new upcoming businesses.

Of course, reasserting the Group's dominating position the overall UV segment is something that continues to drive him. That's why Mahindra will have two compact SUVs launched in 2015 calendar year. "Our focus is now on the compact SUV segment because we are the UV player. We are ‘the UV brand' in India and we need to ensure that we remain at top of the UV segment," he says.

Endearingly referred to as the father of the Scorpio - the game changing SUV - Goenka is also leading the AFS's evolution through an initiative called Crusade that aims to create primarily a consistent delightful customer experience by focusing on both the product side as well as the experience side.

While this alumnus of IIT-Kanpur, Cornell University and the Harvard Business School is considered as one of the finest global scientist-manager, he is equally at ease in enjoying Bollywood movies or playing cards.

(Star List 2015 continues on the next page)