The loss of a dear one is always difficult to bear. When the individual happens to be your spouse, it can be tougher still. Yet there are those who manage to tide over these times. Muster the strength to carry on despite the odds. They are destiny?s children, favourite children.
For Urvi Piramal, chairperson of the Rs 1,000-crore Ashok Piramal group, this is all too familiar. She was a happy-go-lucky homemaker till fate dealt a cruel blow. She lost her husband in 1984. She was 32, with three kids and a business to manage. It wasn?t easy. But life had to go on.
She got into the business working closely with her brother-in-law Ajay ?the youngest of the three Piramal brothers. Ashok, Dilip and Ajay had taken over the reins of the business following the death of their father Gopikrishna Piramal. Soon, however, Dilip decided to chart his own course taking with him VIP Industries and Blowpast Ltd in the early 1980s. That left Ashok and Ajay to manage the group. But with the death of Ashok, Ajay was left on his own.
That?s when Urvi took the call to enter the business. These were difficult moments for the family. But Ajay and Urvi got down to the task of steering the group. Says Piramal, ?Not many women were in the workspace when I entered business. So the acceptance of me wasn?t easy. But I realised I could get past this with my hardwork and dedication. I am of the opinion that when you don?t know, you must ask. I asked.?
That meant a number of things ?learning on the job, understanding systems and processes. Piramal learnt finance ?a basic requirement in business. She travelled extensively to various manufacturing units of the group, spending considerable time at the factory floor. In short, she did everything required to be equipped as a businesswoman. ?At the end of the day, business is about common sense,? she says. ?Whether managing a household or a group, you need to have the knack, the ability to manage people, motivate them, get them to put in their best, anticipate situations, keep your head cool when responding to various circumstances etc. It?s exciting if you are prepared to go the whole hog.?
The whole hog she did go even attending an advanced management programme at Harvard Business School in the US in 1993-94. ?It was a fantastic learning experience,? she says. ?India was waking up to the idea of globalisation at that time. I got exposed to how other economies and companies functioned. I met different people, learnt different things. I came back with many ideas.?
But as Piramal made strides as a businesswoman, it was challenging to find time for her kids ?Harsh, Rajeev and Nandan. She managed, however, to fulfill her role as a mother. ?It?s a fine balance you strike between home and work. I did it. For instance, I would schedule my out-station trips in such a way that I would try and leave early in the morning and be back by the end of the day. I needed to spend time with the children. Ensure that they did not feel left out on account of my work. It helped that I had a very supportive mother. She would look after the kids in my absence. She was an amazing care-giver.?
The undivided Piramal group had diverse interests. Following the family separation, however, in 2004, textiles, engineering, auto ancillaries, retail, real estate went to Urvi. Ajay retained pharma and glass-bottle manufacturing. ?There is give and take in a separation. It?s never easy. I believe in total commitment, integrity and honesty in whatever I?m doing. But, it was time to move on.?
Moving forward she charted out a roadmap for the group under her control. ?The first task was to bring the companies in the group on a firm footing by bringing down their debt-equity ratio. Most of them were highly leveraged, with the debt-equity ratio as high as 29:1. This had to come down. Debt had to be cleared off the books, investments had to be done prudently, we took some tough measures in the process,? she says.
One such measure was the decision to move out of retail. Piramyd Retail Ltd, which had a mix of supermarkets and department stores, was sold to Indiabulls Wholesale Services Ltd, the retail arm of Indiabulls Real Estate, in December 2007. A year before, the group had sold the landmark Crossroads mall in the heart of Mumbai to Kishore Biyani?s Future group. Sold at a reportedly Rs 250 crore, it was the first mall to be set up in the country way back in 1999. The textiles business, also the oldest, was revamped to a certain extent prior to the separation. The fabric manufacturing unit of the group, for instance, was shifted from Mumbai to Nagpur to bring down costs.
Piramal says these initiatives were taken to ensure the group was leaner and fitter at the end of the day. ?We needed to focus our attention on a few areas,? she says. This strategy came in handy in auto components, where the group was manufacturing a wide array of products.
The focus paid off. The auto ancillary wing has been growing over the last two years. ?We completed two acquisitions ?one in Hungary and the other in the Czech Republic,? she says. The turnover of the division has increased to Rs 200 crore as a result of organic and inorganic growth. If combined with the turnover of the engineering company Miranda Tools, which is doing over Rs 100 crore, then the topline of the clutch is Rs 350 crore. ? We hope to take both textiles and engineering auto ancillaries to Rs 1,000 crore each in the next few years.?
It?s an ambitious target that Piramal has set for the two wings but she?s hopeful the companies would achieve it in the coming years. ?The current environment will not last,? she says about the downturn prevailing across the world, including India. ?I know demand is down in general. But this phase will pass. I am confident.?
Which is why Piramal is keeping the momentum going at her group despite the environment. In textiles, for instance, the group has moved up the value chain by foraying into garment manufacturing. ?We were traditionally into fabric manufacturing. Margins are low there. It?s much better as you move up. We needed to make that leap. Garment manufacturing was a good bet.?
In real estate, the group is looking to develop some 40 million sq ft of space across India. ?A lot of this will be townships,? she says. ?It?s in the planning stage, but we will take it through.?
Real estate development at the group spans residential, commercial and retail spaces. ?Our residential properties are represented by the Ashok brand. Commercial is represented by the Peninsula brand and retail is represented by the Crossroads brand. Contrary to perception, we haven?t given up the Crossroads brand name. We will utilise it for future projects. For instance, the townships will have a retail side to it. We could use it there.?
As Piramal?s vision drives the group, her sons are leading the charge at the company level. Harsh, 35, manages the textiles and engineering auto ancillary units. Rajeev, 32, manages real estate, while Nandan, 27, is in charge of newer initiatives ?hospitality and alternate energy ?at the group. In hospitality, plans are to set up business hotels in Tier I and II cities.
In her free time, Piramal loves to be with her grandchildren ?Shania, Diya, Nayantara and Siddharth ?besides reading, listening to music, making trips over the weekend to wildlife sanctuaries and indulging in photography. That?s a lot for a woman in her fifties, but Piramal enjoys it. ?Life offers you a lot. You have to be prepared to take it. You need to have the right attitude and mindset. That will take you through.?