IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence Behind his octogenarian facade, L.D. Mittal, Chairman of Sonalika Group, is a shrewd and insightful young man. He speaks to angshuman paul about the past, present & future of his tractors, farm equipment and MUV dreams
He has crossed the ripe old age of 77, but has the responses of an aggressive teenager, when you start talking about his favourite topics viz. tractors, utility vehicles farm equipment and Nishabd. Yes, you heard that right! His favouite movie is the Big B and nimble nymphet starrer Bollywood flick and get this... he is very “inspired” by its theme. “Age should not make people give up,” says L.D. Mittal, Chairman of the Rs.50 billion Sonalika Group. We certainly hope that he is not referring to the lovely lass in the film, but then, Mittal has the youthful heart of a young lad and a shrewd mind, trapped in the body of an aging patriarch. This one’s certainly no pushover, instead, if anything, he’s a multifaceted leader, with contagious energy levels.
On one hand, he’s the aging boss-man of India’s leading tractor manufacturing company, International Tractors Ltd. (ITL), a subsidiary of Sonalika Group; and on the other, he’s the youthful entrepreneur, not afraid of venturing into virgin, demanding territories. His deft moves to move in quickly with the Rhino, to fill in the gap left by Toyota’s withdrawal of its successful Qualis from India’s fast-growing Multi Utility Vehicle (MUV) segment, is standing testimony of Mittal’s dexterity. According to SIAM data, in the MUV segment (seven passengers plus), International Cars & Motors Limited (another subsidiary of the Sonalika Group) has sold 583 Rhinos in the period April 07’-May 08’, overtaking General Motor’s highly successful Tavera in the segment, by a neat 179 units. ICML, in fact, has plans to spend another Rs.700 crore by 2009 on product development and increasing utility vehicle manufacturing capacity at its plant in Una, Himachal Pradesh.
And to think that the man behind it all - L.D. Mittal - actually began his corporate journey as a Branch Manager in Life Insurance Corporation of India. Armed with his corporate experience, a few years later, Mittal joined the family business of tractor manufacturing and there’s been no looking back ever since, as the group proliferated from tractors to engines, farm equipment and MUVs. However, the road to diversification and expansion were filled with speed breakers. “Challenges where always. Innovation is the survival mantra in business, but we focused only on innovation that had the ability to improve agriculture and benefit farmers,” Mittal affirms. So, even as rivals (read: Mahindra Group) were busy focusing on the mass market, Sonalika created an edge with its niche positioning. Customising tractors to individual needs was Mittal’s brainchild, for which he feels that he bagged the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year award a few years ago.
Having carved his place in the Indian tractor, MUVs and farm equipment market, Mittal is now gung-ho on auto components manufacturing and real estate as the next big growth opportunities. “If and when, we diversify into real estate, it will be again limited only for the rural economy,” adds Mittal. For now, with demand relentlessly moving up, the group has to run 2 to 3 shifts in its existing manufacturing plants at Hoshiarpur & Una, which, according to Mittal, has enabled them to “maximum resource utilisation and cost savings.”
And here’s the million dollar question. Given their capacities and expertise, why isn’t Mittal venturing into the small cars segment? Specially when giants like Tata are gung ho with their ultra cheap Nano. Here’s Mittal’s take: “I don’t think Ratan Tata’s Nano would work in India as the future is in big cars. Even in rural areas, where people can’t afford big cars, it’s being used as a public vehicle. So, when we do venture into car manufacturing, it will be with big cars.” For the record, earlier this year, Mittal had announced plans to launch a “world car” (including SUVs and high-end luxury cars) by 2010, in technical collaboration with Italian car designer Pininfarina for design and process engineering.
Mittal seems to think he has the pulse of the Indian market and he may be right for all we know. He believes a true entrepreneur should not only think of his business but also the welfare of the society and his people. “Leadership cannot be commanded, it has to be earned and that can be earned only when you are concerned about your people. We in Sonalika have adopted various models where we make sure that both the organisational goals and at the same time employees development is achieved,” explains Mittal, adding that the vision has actually enabled him to achieve his dreams, among them manufacturing virtually zero-defect tractors.
But in spite of his busy schedule, he manages time for himself and the secret lies in following a strict daily routine, which starts from yoga. Affirms Mittal, “If you plan, you can have time for everything. I start my day with meditation and yoga and make sure that I have time for everything,” he says, adding that he makes it a point to visit lesser known destinations across the globe. A firm believer in simplicity, Mittal argues that, “deep down, every human being is simple and if you deal with them honestly, they understand you. This belief has helped us at Sonalika to always work as a team.” Down to earth and straight from the heart, he is no Ratan Tata of the Indian auto mart. But then, L.D. Mittal is doing what he does best... connecting brilliantly with rural India and leaving others of his ilk nishabd... literally!
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