|
Excerpts from the book 'Thought Leaders'
The Source Code of Exceptional Managers and Entrepreneurs
(Tata McGraw-Hill) By Srinivas Pandit.
| Pramod
Chaudhari
"The Customer must prosper as a result of taking
my solutions and project."
CLINCHING THE DEAL
Says Pramod: "I spent my childhood in the sugar
factory area of Koparwadi in Phaltan, Maharashtra. So
I grew up in a rural background. I had seen my father,
farmers and factory workers working with their own hands."
What then prompted him to opt for the shop floor? Pramod
explains: "Although I graduated from IIT, my rural background
made me keep my feet firmly on the ground. I was not very
clear how to build a career, but one thing came to me
naturally, to work hard where things happen."
|
|
THE VOYAGE BEGINS
Says Pramod, "I established my technical competence. I
must say help came rushing in. The then Pune commissioner, V P
Rane, Mr. Late in Delhi and some others offered help."
Vikram Singh Ghatge of Shri Shahu Sugar Mills in Kagal provided
another opportunity.
To consolidate his position, Pramod scouted for private sector
customers. He saw an ICICI advertisement offering venture capital
assistance for technological development. He approached them and
some of the officials were very helpful. A real mentor emerged
in N Vaghul, their legendary chairman. Pramod says he inspired
the power of visioning, in terms of raising finance and expanding,
and by painting a vast canvas of unfolding opportunities. There
was an element of nationalism in his talk.
Pramod is clear about his goals. He is not going for growth
in size. He wants Praj to matter as an organization internationally
recognized for quality supply of alcohol and brewery plant and
equipment, with service that satisfies the customer.
Testimonials from the cover story on PRAJ published
in Ambrosia, Vol.11 April'03.
 |
Mr.
Vijay K Rekhi, President, The UB Group, Spirits Division.
"Our decade-long association with PRAJ has brought
in economies and innovation in our operations. We look
forward to replying on them for future technical up gradation".
Mr. Kalyan Ganguly, President, Breweries
Division The UB Group.
The brewing industry in India is evolving into
a dynamic industry and our association with PRAJ has always
been very rewarding in terms of new ideas they bring to
the table. It is in their open culture and their willingness
to listen to their customers which sets them apart from
many others".
|
Mr. Pradeep Gidwani, MD Foster's
India
"Foster's came into India a few years
ago with a view to set up a Greenfield state of the art brewery
to international standards. PRAJ was identified by our technical
team to help us with the set up of the brewery. We must say that
PRAJ delivered to us the international quality brewery we were
looking for. Today we have been brewing the best quality beer
at this brewery for last four years to our complete satisfaction.
PRAJ has also been involved in the subsequent expansions of our
Aurangabad facility. The team at PRAJ is dedicated and truly committed
to quality."
Mr. Federico Schults Caceres, General Manager, Distillerias
Unidas S.A., Peru
"The overall performance of PRAJ in terms
of quality of engineering standards, workmanship, response and
support was satisfactory".
Mr. Aspi Bapuna, Chairman Bapuna Group
"PRAJ has given a cutting edge distillery
technology for Gwalior Distilleries molasses and grain plant as
well as state of the art brewery for Tripti Alcobev".
Article published in BUSINESS
TODAY, December 22 2002 on the Leadership.
| The
Third Eye
Pramod Chaudhari, Praj Industries Limited.
THE TRUE TEST OF LEADERSHIP COMES ONLY in times of
adversity. I strongly believe in Martin Luther's famous
words: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he
stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands in times
of challenges and controversy." The true test of a leader
lies in his ability to guide his ship through rough weather. |
|
|
Positive leadership is about keeping the team's morale
high, while retaining one's own, in times of despair.
In fact, the ability to transform adverse situations into
opportunities makes all the difference between being a
defeatist or an optimist. I prefer to be an optimist and
this philosophy has seen me through my company's fledgling
days, its turnaround process, and more recently, its globalising
phase.
Another test of leadership lies in whether a CEO has faith
in the abilities of his or her people. A basic realization
that every person has the potential to grow, that every
person can demonstrate extraordinary performance given
the opportunity to do so, is something that is absolutely
essential if any leader is to be effective. It is also
the leader's job to understand the strengths and weaknesses
of each team member and bring out the best in each. A
good leader tailors his motivational techniques around
the needs of individual team members.
Leadership is akin to having a third eye that gives an
entirely different, and enlightening, perspective to a
difficult situation. Leaders should be able to notice
things that others often don't and capitalize upon them.
This 'third eye' also helps leaders define a vision that
is aligned with the long-term interests of the organization,
sustainable, and achievable over a period of time.
|
Excerpts of an article published
on Praj Industries in BUSINESS INDIA, July 21 - august 3, 2003
on page 62.
Praj-ect smart
By Sekhar Seshan
 |
A doubling
of operating profits and a n order book bigger than its
turnover has got this Pune-based alcohol technology leader
bubbling."
Turnover numbers are less important
than the gross value addition, says praj Industries Ltd.
Chairman and Managing Director Pramod Chaudhari. "We are
now operating as a combination of bricks and mortar, biotechnology
and information technology. |
| Thu thrust
on research and development has yielded great results,
Chaudhari says. Matrix, the company's technology development
arm, has contributed three new technologies which Praj
has already commercialized. Matrix is Rs 1-Crore R&D
Center, the only facility in India dedicated to biofuels,
is also working on 'power crops' like tropical sugar beet,
sweet sorghum (a cane-jowar hybrid) and tapioca to produce
ethanol, besides improving the economics of producing
ethanol from sugarcane and beverage-grade alcohol. It
has undertaken other programmes, too, to enhance the profitability
of its customers, especially the ailing sugar factories.
Matrix and other new developments totaling around 2 percent
of Praj's turnover.
Increased interest from the international
market is encouraging Praj to further enhance its global
reach. We have a reasonably good presence in three geographies,"
says Chaudhari. "We plan to have our own offices in Hong
Kong and Johannesburg. We are also looking at Singapore
and Colombia." "It is, he feels, time to "explore and
attach" developed markets like the US and Europe, and
hopes to set up US office in a year's time.
|
|
With an order book brimming over
with more than Rs. 100 crore and the demand for alcohol growing,
Praj is confident of surpassing its target of 25% growth in performance
for another year. This includes potable alcohol: good reason to
say "Cheers!"
Varun Soni - HT Estates, Delhi,
August 23 2003
 |
The
implementation of CNG might have helped reduce air pollution
levels in Delhi - a city that figures in the list of the
most polluted metropolises in the world - but it has not
eradicated pollution completely. In fact, many consider
that an impossible task. But, not anymore - Fuel Ethanol
promises to provide a solution.
Bio-fuels like Fuel Ethanol have been attracting worldwide
attention for quite some time now. It basically caters
to the conscious consumer who wants a cleaner fuel that
can lower the risks to the environment and health. The
good news is that ethanol vehicles have received high
marks in performance, driveability and reliability tests.
As a matter of fact, power, acceleration, payload and
cruise speed are all comparable with those of equivalent
gasoline-fuelled vehicles. In fact, virtually all US automakers
will be offering ethanol vehicles in the coming years. |
Taking a cue, the Union Ministry of
Petroleum in India had also made it mandatory for nine States
and four Union Territories to blend five per cent ethanol in petrol
from this year. Pioneering the production of this fuel is Pune-based
Praj Industries Limited, that recently successfully commissioned
the first molecular sieve-based plant in Uttar Pradesh for production
of Fuel Ethanol. The plant operates using the latest instrumentation
and process control systems.
Says the company's Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Pramod Chaudhari,
"With the petrol consumption touching 600 crore litres in these
regions, it means 30 crore litres of ethanol per annum is required.
This would mean additional facilities for dehydration units. These
units may be complete distillery plants or could be existing plants
with add-on dehydration units. The requirement would double when
the government introduces 10 per cent blending, for which it has
already announced pilot trials. It would grow multi-fold when
diesel blending comes into force.
He adds, "It is, however, a situation that Praj can competently
handle. The company has entered into a technical collaboration
with Delta T USA, a year ago. Till date, we have successfully
commissioned two plants in India (incidentally, the first two
plants in South/South East Asia to be operated on Molecular Sieve
Technology). Four more plants are under various stages of execution
and many under finalisation."
Praj has also expanded its R & D centre (perhaps the only
one in the private sector dedicated to a future energy resource
like ethanol) called MATRIX - The Innovation Center in Pune. The
R & D centre works with renewable agro-based resources like
sugarcane molasses, cane juice, sweet sorghum (a new variety of
sorghum) and tropical sugar beet for production of ethanol.
Here are a few FAQs to help you understand the advantages
of Fuel Ethanol.
What is Fuel Ethanol?
Ethanol (also called ethyl or grain alcohol) is based on sugars
derived from starches and cellulose in plants. Ethanol when used
as part of the fuel, by blending with petrol for a motor vehicle,
is called fuel-ethanol. Fuel ethanol or anhydrous alcohol is produced
by dehydration of rectified spirit or extra neutral alcohol.
How does it help in reducing pollution?
Use of ethanol in place of tetraethyl lead or MTBE, that acts
as an anti-knocking agent, will prevent dangerous and poisonous
emissions containing lead or MTBE from petrol.
Can the engine get damaged by using Fuel Ethanol?
Ethanol has, apart from carbon and hydrogen, oxygen. This oxygen
acts as an oxygenating agent during combustion in the IC engine
of petrol cars, two-wheelers and three-wheelers, thus preventing
the formation of carbon monoxide. Gasoline with ethanol as an
anti-knocking agent will not cause any damage to the engine.
What are the advantages of Fuel Ethanol?
It has several advantages as a vehicle fuel:
It is made from renewable sources like agricultural crops. It
can also be created from agricultural waste (bio-mass) that would
otherwise be thrown away.
It burns more cleanly than conventional fuels, which results in
fewer tailpipe emissions: as much as 30 per cent less carbon monoxide;
12 per cent fewer volatile compounds; 30 per cent fewer toxic
components, such as benzene and toluene; and three per cent less
nitrogen oxides.
It can also reduce greenhouse emissions. Ethanol cars emit less
carbon monoxide than gasoline cars. In turn, the plants used to
make ethanol transform carbon dioxide into oxygen as they grow
in the fields.
|
