It?s difficult to slot 54-year-old Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice-chairman, Mercury Travels into a bracket. He is an entrepreneur, avid sports buff, social activist, art collector, orator, music composer, Francophile? the list is endless. Peers are in awe of Kakkar?s multiple facets. At a gathering in 2007, for instance, Nadir Godrej, chairman, Godrej Agrovet, spoke eloquently of Kakkar, and that too in verse. And present on the occasion were more than 500 guests including the consul general of France, Fran?ois Pujolas, who was newly appointed at that time.
This kind of adulation is not uncommon to the man. He has many admirers. And it is not difficult to gauge why. Kakkar, in many ways, has demonstrated the limitless possibilities of the mind with his diverse interests and activities. He is a mechanical engineer, who majored in finance from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He holds a management degree from INSEAD, France, and has studied law from the Government Law College, Mumbai. ?Academically I was brilliant and constantly won scholarships,? he says. ?My parents encouraged me to study as much as I could. My father would say that he would give me as much money as I got from the scholarship over and above the fee. This was a good incentive for me to study.?
But Kakkar did find himself going against the wishes of his family when he opted to pursue his studies in engineering rather than medicine. ?I come from a family of doctors. There are over 40 doctors from three generations in my family. Therefore, I was regarded as a bit of a black sheep when I opted for engineering. My grandfather, in particular, was very upset. To him I was wasting the knowledge of medicine in my genetic code. And he said it as much. I did manage to set these feelings aside to a certain extent by doing well in my engineering studies,? he says.
Ironically, Kakkar never really turned his back on medicine despite his decision to be an engineer. His family environment ensured that he was constantly in touch with medical terms and concepts equipped enough to speak at length with doctors, in their language. ?A number of times, I am mistaken to be a qualified doctor,? he says. Kakkar, incidentally, is putting this knowledge to good use today as he helps his ailing mother battle her illness.
His thirst for knowledge as well as his desire to excel is visible in his professional life too. Kakkar?s beginnings were humble. He started in the finance department of Otis Elevator Company in Mumbai about 27 years ago. He was a receivables assistant then with the task of collecting money from those who hadn?t paid up for the services rendered by the company. It wasn?t easy by any stretch of imagination. But Kakkar was firm, holding his ground and collecting dues from people. He subsequently got into sales at Otis becoming the sales manager for the western region of the company. After a five-year stint with Otis, Kakkar moved to Philips India, where he was the commercial manager for the appliances division. His job involved a lot of research, which he enjoyed thoroughly. Kakkar subsequently went to Holland for a year-and-a half on deputation, coming back to India to take charge of the video division of the company. His next stopover was General Electric, where he began as a business development manager. His job took him to places such as Pennsylvania and London. He was subsequently made the managing director of a GE International group company, GE India Ltd, which was the holding company for GE?s joint ventures and initiatives in India. He moved to Thomas Cook in 1996, where he was inducted on the worldwide board of the company, in charge of the Asian region. During his tenure, he took Thomas Cook India, the only listed entity in the region from a situation of little or no profit to a scenario where it was making $20 million in profits a year. Kakkar also started operations of the company in new places such as Mauritius, and revamped existing operations in a few other places. But eventually, he says, the India operations became so valuable that Thomas Cook Worldwide decided to sell it. ?It was sold at a 40 times price-earnings multiple. However, in early 2006, I decided to quit the company for good.?
Kakkar then became an entrepreneur, acquiring a 74% stake in Mercury Travels, a subsidiary of East India Hotels, which runs the Oberoi group of hotels, in July 2006. He has now incubated another company called VIA, which is into mobile commerce. He hopes to ride the boom in the travel business with both these vehicles. Mercury Travels, for instance, is targeted at the ?cash-rich, time-poor? customer, while VIA is aimed at the ?time-rich, cash-poor? customer. This model, he says, ensures nobody is left out. ?The world is fast diverging into these customer types. I think it?s imperative we target them with the right product and the right platform.?
So VIA has three spokes to the wheel?a website, a call centre and a mobile platform for those who wish to book air tickets or hotel rooms or get a fix on car rentals at reasonable price points. For the high-end customer, there are a slew of options available through Mercury Travels. Says Kakkar, ?The first thing I observed when I took charge of Mercury was that it was not a full-line service agency. There were gaps in the business. For instance, the company was neglecting foreign exchange, foreign insurance, outbound travel, etc. We decided to convert Mercury into a full-line service agency. We then went in for a brand revamp, changing the logo. After that the challenge was to expand our footprint. We did that over the last two years, taking our presence from 5 to 17 cities in the country. We?ve also added some three/ four offices internationally, which means that we have a more global presence now. The technological platform of the company has also been revamped.?
The result of these efforts is that the turnover of the company has grown from under Rs 200 crore in 2006 to over Rs 1,000 crore now. Kakkar?s gameplan is to take Mercury to about Rs 2,000 crore in turnover by 2010. For VIA, he?s targeting an ambitious figure of about Rs 3,900-4,000 crore. ?Given the way mobile penetration is growing in India. I see this as an achievable target. However, it?s not lost on us that VIA will essentially be a high-volume, low-margin business, while Mercury will be a low-volume, high-margin game.?
Despite his hectic schedule as an entrepreneur, Kakkar finds time for allied activities such as working with paraplegics, and campaigning for better infrastructure in Mumbai as a member of the board of Bombay First, an initiative which began a few years ago when he was president of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry. ?The movement has gained ground over the years and it is doing good work,? he says.
Born in Mandi-Dabwali, a small village near the Rajasthan-Haryana border, Kakkar has lived in different parts of the country including Mumbai. But his love for the city has been abiding. ?I came here in the late 1960s and have seen the city evolve into a metropolis over the years. I am of the opinion, though, that we deserve much more in terms of infrastructure.?
A vegetarian, Kakkar prefers leading a disciplined lifestyle. This, he claims, actually helps him balance his many interests and activities. ?If you have the will, you will find a way out. I set specific time schedules in my life. This way I am able to do the things that are dear to my heart.?
One thing that is very close to Kakkar?s heart is his love for sports. He swims regularly at the pool located at Bombay Gymkhana. He was a member of their hockey team till about 2006. He loves sports, particularly football. ?Sports has been an integral part of my life. I am passionate about sports,? he says.
His love for France and all things French is also known. Kakkar, in fact, has worked for over 25 years in various capacities to foster better ties between India and France. This work was recognised last year when he was awarded the Ordre National Du Merite, the equivalent of the Padma Vibhushan, by the French Government. ?It was a big moment in life,? he says. ?I?ve worked at various levels, be it commerce, industry, trade and education to build a better relationship between India and France. It felt nice to be recognised for this effort.?
Kakkar?s restless soul continues to seek new challenges. ?I have a few initiatives on the anvil,? he says. But nothing is forthcoming from the man just yet.