Over a career spanning more than four decades, Seshagiri Rao has been much more than a mere caretaker of balance sheets. He has played the roles of negotiator, strategist and peacemaker and his ability to fight against all odds has found him a seat at the high table. The Group CFO and joint managing director of JSW Steel recalls the tough moments in his career and how he has always been able to move ahead.
At one time JSW Steel’s debt-equity ratio was 6:1, thanks to a sharp jump in iron ore prices following the ban on mining in Karnataka, forcing the Vijayanagar plant to operate at just 30% of the capacity. Rao says it took all his goodwill with the bankers to get the necessary credit lines to keep the production going. Despite the ups and downs of the steel business, close to 35% of JSW Steel’s growth in the last two decades has been inorganic. No matter how tough the situation, he has closed around 10 acquisitions, including those of SISCOL in 2008 and Bhushan Power & Steel in 2020.
If the stress doesn’t show and he has managed to stay slim and trim, the reason is a regular regimen of yoga and a brisk morning walk. An agile mind needs an agile body – that’s the lesson he learnt as a young boy when he used to cycle 5 km to school every day in his village Gudem in Andhra Pradesh. His ability to stay calm in difficult times – he never raises his voice – has helped him win over contractors and bankers. Rao recalls the nightmarish situation during the global financial crisis when getting dollar credit to import coal was nearly impossible and how he persuaded banks to help out.
Rao’s need to stay fit – he sports an Apple watch – isn’t only because the job demands it. He has a sweet tooth and while he misses his mother’s ‘ariselu’, a Sankranti speciality, he makes up for it with gulab jamuns and ice-cream. The IT-savvy Rao came into finance only because the difficult financial position of the family forced him to study commerce. “My elder brother studied commerce, so I didn’t need to buy the books,” Rao recalls. The love affair with numbers grew when he studied at Vijayawada’s KBN College. He ended up as a rank holder.
Inspired by the late YM Deosthalee, former Group CFO at Larsen & Toubro, Mohandas Pai, former CFO at Infosys, and Indra Nooyi, former Pepsi chief, Rao says CFOs must take on additional responsibilities and strive to move up the learning curve. Among his favourite books is Stephen Schwarzman’s What it Takes, but Rao is also drawn to the scriptures. He has been reading Chinmayananda’s commentary on the Gita. At 63, he is clearly in no hurry to hang up his boots. But before he takes on another acquisition, he plans a second honeymoon, a promise he made to his wife some years ago.