YOUNG GUN

After a baptism by fire, 34-year-old Abhyuday Jindal, MD of Jindal Stainless, has proved his mettle by helping the company overcome its supply chain worries

- Nidhi Singal

ENGINEERING PROFICIENCY IS essential in the steel industry. It's no wonder, then, that the Jindal family places a premium on an engineering degree. But 34-year-old Abhyuday Jindal, the MD of Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL), deviated from that script, opting out of engineering when he was 17.

He did initially plan to pursue mechanical engineering at Boston University, but just before joining college, Jindal took time to understand the intricacies of stainless steel at the company's plant, participating in the induction of new hires, who were mostly engineers, for a year as an associate manager in 2010. That stint led Jindal to question the value he would bring to the company, which boasted of stellar engineering talent. After discussions with his father and advisors, Jindal decided to study economics and business instead. "Being an engineer adds tremendous value to the business, but there is so much more-other than technical aspects-that, if I were an engineer, I could never learn," he says.

That quest for a deeper understanding of business led to a one-and-a-half-year stint as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) after his degree, before he joined JSL as its Vice Chairman in November 2015. It was at BCG that tremendous learning occurred, and Jindal is still trying to embed some of those insights into his company. "I was part of different industries and a different discipline-in the cement industry, the focus was on sales and marketing; in wind energy, on project execution; and then in auto components, on vendor management." But as he was preparing for an MBA course, he was called back home. JSL had hit its lowest market capitalisation level, so he joined the company. "It was a real tough time when I entered... it was baptism by fire."