For Pradeep Bhargava, 75, the biggest change in Pune is the fact that the city is firmly entrenched in the global industrial ecosystem. “Earlier, Pune's industry saw the country as a market. But now, with Pune firmly on the world map, the vision of the industry has changed,” he said.
Mr. Bhargava, who came to Pune in 1982, has now gone from running the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MCCIA) to sitting on the boards of several companies and spearheading various social-related initiatives for the industry. , has become a permanent fixture in the industrial sphere of Pune.
business without phone
Bhargava landed in Pune after 11 years of service in various central government agencies such as Atomic Energy Commission and Bharat Heavy Electricity Limited (BHEL), where he worked with influential people such as Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. It happened in 1982. “Bharat Forge was looking to diversify its portfolio and in 1982 Baba Kalyani asked me to head the newly created corporate planning department. Having grown up in a city like Phule, Pune didn't seem that strange to me,'' Bhargava recalled. . Pune is a city of bikes and scooters and Bhargava was set up off the road from the law college. “Our office is in Munhwa, and the four of us carpooled to the office from Law Boulevard, and it only took 20 to 25 minutes. It took ~35 minutes and felt like a long wait at times,” he said.
Mr. Bhargava, an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, led the strategic joint venture of Bharat Forge Sharp Corporation, which saw the forging giant enter consumer electronics. “In 1987, the joint venture was completed and Bhima established a production facility in a small village in Koregaon.
At that time, there was no telephone exchange in Bhima Koregaon and consumer durables companies manufacturing television sets had to coordinate with multiple vendors/dealers to avoid this problem,” he said. Bhargava said most of the traders are spread out between Bhosari and Mumbai. “There were times when my purchasing manager would leave for Bhosari to meet vendors and they would arrive at our office just minutes after he left. “We managed it pretty well,” he said. A trip to Mumbai meant the Queen of the Deccan, and Bhargava used to travel almost twice a week.
The Bhima Koregaon and young Bhargava production facilities were a new challenge. “As soon as I took over, I told the HR director to arrange a meeting with the village sarpanch and we went to the panchayat office to meet him,” he said.
At this meeting, Mr. Bhargava arranged for the employment of the girl in the factory and the sarpanch requested the local tanker owner to supply water to the factory. “I told the sarpanch that we don't need bodybuilders as our work is complex. But what the sarpanch said was an eye-opener. Most girls do it before they clear class 10. “He said he was married to ,” he said.
Bhargava says with some pride that the relationship between the company and the villagers is good. “The Pune-Ahmednagar road was a hotbed of political agitation. When it was announced that there would be a Rasta Loko at 2pm. I informed the sergeant, who immediately sent some young men to act as security guards and accompany the employees on the bus, so they could safely avoid the disturbance.'' Said.
Global and Indian templates
The journey from Law College Road to Bhima Koregaon took just 45 minutes as Waghori and Lonikand were not synonymous with traffic jams as they are now. After the Kalyani family withdrew from his joint venture in 1997, Mr. Bhargava moved to Bangalore and worked for a multinational company involved in electric lighting. “The company had a factory in Gujarat, but global management failed to recognize Indian sensibilities. As a result, many factory employees attended the wedding of a colleague's sister in a small village. When I wanted to attend, management was taken aback and advised against granting me time off. My advice was simple: If they weren't granted time off now, they would be left out at a time when the company needed it most. “I’ll take a vacation,” he said. The message got across.
After three years in Bangalore, Mr. Bhargava returned to Pune and joined Cummins India first as MD of the power generation business and continued to serve on the company's board until 2018 after retiring in 2012. “He spearheaded the establishment of India's first green factory at Cummins Ranjangaon,” he said.
charity work
Since 2012, Bhargava, who prefers to call himself an “educated unemployed man,” has served on the boards of several corporate and industry foundations. Thus, from the Lighthouse initiative that gave skill development to the youth to the Pune power model that freed the city from offloading, Bhargava has been involved in several initiatives aimed at bridging the gap between industry and society. Ta. “There is something about the soil of Pune. Here people discuss, deliberate, collaborate and plan for success,” he said.
Through four decades of experience in the industry in Pune, Bhargava said there are three main views. “Unlike in other cities, the second generation has often followed in the footsteps of their fathers, but speaking a different language and introducing technology to traditional businesses.Secondly, philanthropy is now very popular. “The work has been done professionally and carefully, and the various initiatives are well managed,” he said. Bhargava said the third observation is that Pune has a strong position in the global supply chain.
“We saw this during the coronavirus crisis: European companies called us to fill supply gaps,” he said. For Bhargava, this city is his home and his son and daughter have also settled here.
Bhargava said the most important aspects of the city's industrial ecosystem are tenacity and healthy competition. “So if a vendor can't supply a part, he brings in someone else who can,” he says. But in hindsight, he said, infrastructure has not brought justice to people.
Bhargava is leading several initiatives by the industry, but he says he has one unfulfilled wish. “The way the formal sector treats the informal workforce that works in it has to change. This is something I hope can be addressed,” he said.
