Saroj Poddar Uncut

Fondly referred to as the JV Man, Mr Saroj Poddar, at 73 is one of the few who still repose faith in West Bengal and keeps expanding his unit in the state. Saroj babu helming a pan Indian industrial empire of $ 3 billion, in candid talk with Suparna Pathak.

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What made you go all out to bring Gillette to India?

It was the realization that customers needed products of global standard that led me to pitch for Gillette blades. We didn’t even have good quality shaving blades in India. And thus started my journey of bringing daily use products of global standard to India. Quality is something I set a lot of store by.

How did the JV come about?

I was a youngster when I applied for the JV with Gillette.

They asked me, “What is your credential? Why should we enter into partnership with you?” I told them, “I am young. While shaving I realized that blades available in the market are not good. There is a huge opportunity for quality shaving blades in the Indian market. I think, one day India will be an industrial power and now is the time to enter the market”. I also told them, “let us be very clear. I am not among the top business houses. I am not a Tata or a Birla.” Somehow they saw merit in me and my first JV started.

But eventually …

That’s a different story.

But it took nearly 14 years to see the project on ground!

Those days FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) and the Regulatory Regime, popularly referred to as the License Raj, acted as impediments for the industry and the growth of new ideas.

You were so young when you started. What was your dream when you started your business?

I certainly had a dream. When I was a student I used to dream of bringing global standard products for everyday use to India. Gillette was the first step in fulfilling that dream. I realized that items of daily necessity are critical. I still believe that items made in India in this field are not truly of global standard. And there is a need to upgrade Indian consumers by offering them superior products.