ABG -Taking India to the World-Prasad Saindane #IIM Trichy
With a history of more than 160 years, the revenue of $44billion and successful ventures in steel, non -ferrous metals, cement, telecom, fashion, finance along with other domains, ABG has come a long way from its humble beginning. My first encounter with ABG was quite unusual. As a kid, I used to play near the godown of UltraTech cement, without realizing this very product has held dreams of millions of Indians together for decades. This brand has penetrated every Indian household. During my school days, I came across the contribution of Late Shri GD Birla in the Independence movement and his close association with Mahatma Gandhi. Now when I look back, I realized ABG has always followed its tagline of Taking India ahead.
As a grew up I came across Hindalco’s Freshwrapp – over the years which has become essential in every household. When I took the first mobile choice of sim card was obvious - “Idea” and still using that card. ABG has directly or indirectly touched no of lives and created a positive impact on society. As I entered into graduation, Pantaloons was the only store came in mind for fashionable and trendy clothes. With limited pocket money and unlimited desire to rock weekend parties People, India’s first fashion youth brand, became my savior. More was synonymous with low-price high-quality groceries.
When I entered into the corporate world with the first job,Peter England was the one-stop solution for formal clothing Whenever there is a need for business attire Van Heusen, Allen Solly always served the purpose with a wide variety and right pricing. As a student of an MBA college with a strong interest in the finance domain, I closely follow Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. With presences in 34 countries worldwide ABG has put up India on the world map.
How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life so far.
I grew up in a humble middle-class Marathi family staying in the Eklahare village of Nashik district. When I was in 3rd standard, I witnessed a felicitation ceremony congratulating achiever in Scholarship exam conducted by the Government of Maharashtra. I told this to my parents and they told me you can achieve anything in life if you work hard and put in sincere efforts. Though I did not understand life part well at that time those words made a mark on me. When I got a chance to appear for the same exam, my only objective was to go on stage for receiving an award which I saw last year. Because of parent’s encouragement and my hard I received State scholarship though I was not the First rank holder. I was on cloud nine when I finally went on to the stage to receive an award. But my parents made me realize that this is just beginning not a destination and I have a lot to achieve in life. With an aspiration to become an engineer, I choose science as specialization and stood among the top 3 percentile in the state entrance exam. Coming from vernacular medium, standard 11th was a nightmare for me. For the first few months, I did not understand much but soon realized that I need to cope up with English and again worked hard to able to ace it.
During my engineering days, I read about Steve Jobs and how he created Apple Inc and decided to start my own company with no prior knowledge and no awareness about what is exactly the difference between the Kirana store and company. As I kept reading and experimenting with small ventures I learned about more things. I saw the problem faced by my friends and decide to build an E-commerce startup around that. As a start-up, we had a lot of issues right from money crunch to legal documentation. I understood the importance of network and having a mentor in this process. Though that company did not last long I learned valuable lessons in my life.