RASHMI SALUJA'S SUCCESS: THE DOC WITH A MAGIC WAND

Saluja rose from obscurity to lead the turnaround of Religare. How did she do it?

- Ranjani Raghavan

On 21 October, Rashmi Saluja arrived at the Taj Santa Cruz, in Mumbai, for a meeting with Mint. Dressed in blue denims, she looked far younger than 50 years, her current age. As she posed smilingly for photographs, she held the stance of an athlete.

Turns out, the executive chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd, a company that offers financial services through its subsidiaries, is also connected with the world of sports. In 2019, she was the president of the Indian Curling Federation. Curling isn’t popular in India and just in case you didn’t know, that’s a sport where two teams take turns to slide stones made of granite towards a target. Saluja is also listed as a promoter of the Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling Academy in Haryana in many Religare filings. Dutt was an Olympian in 2012.

Over the past few months, Saluja has been engaged in wrestling matches in a different arena. The board of Religare is opposing a takeover proposed by the Burman family, which owns Dabur India Ltd. The Burmans, who already own 21.5% in Religare, are looking to pick up a majority stake for about ₹3,400 crore through an open offer. And in recent weeks, charges and counter-charges have flowed liberally from both sides. The offer is awaiting regulatory approvals.

While this wrestling match promises to be engrossing, what is equally fascinating is the fast rise of Saluja in India’s corporate world from relative obscurity. She was appointed the company’s chairperson in 2019 but had little to do with the world of finance before that. She was a doctor in Delhi. Even till about a year back, she wasn’t widely known.