1. Competent Agri Solutions Pvt Ltd -
Founded by him in August 2009 along with a like minded Gujarat based Agribusiness professional. Besides being a full service Supply Chain Solutions and Consultancy in fruit & Vegetable sector, contributing knowledge resources and cross linking opportunities towards improvement of fruit and vegetable trade both a backend and frontend, is the main mandate of Competent Agrisolutions. Lately, as Managing Director at Competent AgriSolutions Pvt Ltd, a supply chain solutions cum food & agribiz consulting company, he is donning role of a potent leader who is engaged in exponential multiplication of his expertise, knowledge and beliefs in transformation of primitive, traditional agricultural marketing systems into a modern, transparent and efficient platform thereby significantly contributing to the Indian economy.
(Current)
Managing Director - Location Delhi
-
As a team leader he has spearheaded following major projects since incorporation of this company. Some of recent domestic and International consulting and interim management assignments:
- In addition to above, within days of company incorporation, he organized vegetable growers in Delhi rural and adjoining States in India and set up farmers’ managed three Collection Centers to pool their fresh produce for onward supply to large retail chains including Big Bazar, Aditya Birla, Heritage and Bharti Delmonte, besides servicing some caterers and orders suppliers across India. Farmers were very happy with this direct farmer – market linkage initiative.
- Established a fresh produce processing and marketing company to minimally processed fruit and vegetables in an innovative manner and market same in hygienic customer friendly packs. Introduced trimmed shrink wrapped tender coconut, a runaway success, first time in India.
- Appointed as Mentor with ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) for the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators.
- Spearheaded company’s empanelment with SFAC (Small Farmers’ Agri-business Consortium) a premier institution set-up by Govt. of India for the promotion and development of small farmers’ agri-business activities.
- Became member of IFAMA, USA (International Food & Agribusiness Management Association).
- Development of an integrated fruit and vegetables supply chain and for an urban retail project in Dhaka, Bangladesh by Fresh & Safe Agro Limited. Project is modeled as an end to end farmer to consumer market linkage project with organic vegetable production and with developmental emphasis on gains to local farmers from integration process.
2. REI Six Ten Retail Ltd – REI Agro Ltd was established in the year 1994 with a vision to consolidate the fragmented basmati rice industry. In a short span of time it rose to the position of an undisputed leadership in the industry. REI Agro launched its 6Ten chain of retail outlets in last quarter of the fiscal of 2006-7 as part of its objective to get closer to end customer. With 371 neighborhood stores in 9 Indian States presently, 6Ten is a retail brand to reckon with. REI Six Ten Retail Ltd made a dream debut when the retail undertaking of REI Agro was demerged into REI Six Ten Retail Ltd and its equity shares of got listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange on April 27, 2009 on a turnover of Rs 1863 Crores. (1st April 2009 – contd.)
(1st April 2009 - August 2009)
Business Head (Fruit & Vegetables) - Location Delhi
- Established 5 new Collection Centers across the 5 Indian States for sourcing fresh produce directly from farmers. This brought down the procurement share of wholesale markets by 45% resulting in saving on product procurement cost by a whopping 20% plus. Substantial improvement in freshness and quality because of this action however can’t be quantified.
- Brought down the transport fleet size by 18% resulting in saving over Rs 2 Lakh a month on transport bill
- Reduced wage bill by trimming down manpower by almost 50% bringing down the manpower cost and tremendous improvement in people productivity.
- Just 14000 Sq ft warehouse used in servicing morning 6 AM daily deliveries at 185 plus stores in Delhi / NCR region.
- Changed the warehouse operations from ‘own’ to ‘outsource’ to wean out inefficiencies and rationalize manpower deployment.
- Implemented all together new Indenting, Pricing & Price Benchmarking, Logistics and reporting system in spite of good resistance from staff for maintaining status quo. Blending some fresh experienced talent with old staff and nurturing the blend as a supportive team made this possible in quick span.
2. Reliance Retail Ltd. – As a wholly owned subsidiary of
Reliance Industries ltd, RRL is gearing up to revolutionize the
retailing industry in India and is aggressively working on introducing
a pan-India network of retail outlets in multiple formats. A world
class shopping environment, state of art technology, a seamless supply
chain infrastructure, a host of unique value-added services and above
all, unmatched customer experience, is what this initiative is all about
(6th Oct 2006 –31st Match 2009.)
AVP (Agri.
& Food Supply Chain) - Location Gurgaon
Achievements – Starting
from zero base, launched fresh produce category at Reliance Fresh
stores in
flat two and half months by;
- Building capacity in
terms of
sourcing fresh produce
directly from farm production / supply areas by establishing Collection
Centers
across the 5 neighboring States,
- Establishing a
large warehouse complex to handle, process, consolidate fresh produce,
- Building / renewing
relationship
with hundreds of
stakeholders across the chain to feed / oil the supply chain
- Organizing a market
intelligence
network for price
benchmarking both at wholesale as well
as retail side,
- Logistics planning for
very
complex geography that
is NCR which falls in three States with many vehicle entry barriers and
restrictions.
- Category
merchandising, demand
planning and price / promotion
management at front end – a ticklish job considering price /
market spread in
retail at thousand unorganized retail markets.
- Building a strategic
team to
manage thin and lean
supply chain.
- Establishing a modern
fresh cut
vegetable facility
to cut, pack and distribute fresh cut vegetables – a first of
such unit for a
retail chain in NCR.
- Presently 130 stores
and 5
Hypermarkets are served fresh
produce on 24x7x365 basis for a 60 Crore plus per annum profitable
business
with net margins going up to 9%.
- Few of the low cost
warehousing,
distribution models
(Direct Store Delivery by cutting down distribution time) and techno
initiatives (market information system) undertaken by team are industry
first
in organized sector and have completely rebuild the supply chain value
proposition for perishable produce. Within Reliance Retail, these
models developed
by local team have been replicated all across India.
3.Subhiksha,
a Chennai based
supermarket and pharmacy discount chain, opened the doors of its first
store in 1997. With 140 stores and a turnover of Rs 278 Crore in 2004,
Subhiksha is planning to become a multi-city operator soon. The next
12-18 months will see Subhiksha setting up 180 stores in Hyderabad,
Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.
(26th Sept
2005 – 5th October 2006)
Head of Business Operation (Fruit &
Vegetable) – North Unit – Location Delhi
Achievements
- Quick establishment of
a supply
chain to fit into
Subhiksha’s overall discount retailing strategy.
- Quick roll out of 55
stores
operational all across
Delhi in just three months.
- Subhiksha, a hitherto
unknown
business entity in
Northern India gets a brand identity in Delhi before final launch of
supermarket and telecom business three month later.
- Unexpected customer
pull, good
business, and also a
good competition to already entrenched Mother Dairy’s Safal
retail outlets.
4.
Safal Auction Market, Bangalore, a brain child of the National Dairy
Development Board (NDDB) which has been established to usher in a new
chapter to the business of wholesaling horticultural commodities in
India.
(July 2004 - September
2005)
Business
Development Group – North / West / East operations –
Location Delhi
Achievements
- Strategic
Team Building – Built,
placed and
managed a team, practically from scratch, at potential locations across
his
territory to execute Safal Market’s supply objective in just two
months. Local
teams were effectively deployed to ensure regular supplies for auction
as per
Safal Market’s quantity, quality, packaging, delivery and price
requirements
from day one.
- Capacity
Building – In just 4 months he was able to build business alliances with
more
than 20 Cold / Dry store owners and users in Delhi, Haryana, UP,
Maharashtra to
achieve Safal Market’s supply chain objectives. Job entailed
designing and signing
of formal and informal MOUs, Agreements and Contracts.
- Institution
Development
– Facilitated
development of 10 growers’ institutions in HP, UP, Maharashtra
for exclusive
supplies to Safal Market in first 5 months. Integrated growers, exiting
growers’ organizations, institutions and traders as registered
suppliers.
- Infrastructure
Building
– Initiated
this exercise at 5 locations for direct / indirect productive impact on
supplies to Safal Market in near future. This would entail
establishment of
Sorting / Grading lines for Apples / Oranges / Potato / Kinnow and
modern dry
warehouse and cold storage for Onions.
- Relationship
Building – Revived,
refreshed and
made contacts with many old and new suppliers / buyers / APMCs in
Delhi, Pb.
Haryana, HP, UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, J&K
etc to
ensure smooth licensing for uninterrupted supplies / sales for Safal
Market.
- Promotion
and publicity of
Safal Market
concept at all suppliers’ / non-supplier meets / industry forums
with effective
use of IT tools and electronic media.
5.
Mother Dairy Foods Processing Limited,
owners and marketer of Mother Dairy, Dhara and Safal brands of dairy,
vegetable oils and horticultural products, Delhi, India. Current
turnover is over Rs 1500 Crore. The company is wholly owned by the
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) - an organisation of National
importance. (1987 - Contd.)
Strategy
Planning & Business Development Group (Agri-business)
(November 2003
– July 2004)
Achievements
- As a
wholesale markets expert with Market
Development department, he played a key role in successful
operationalisation
of Centralized Dutch fruit and vegetable auction at NDDB’s
prestigious Safal
Market in Bangalore. In addition to auction, three Cash & Carry
Stores for
wholesaling fruit and vegetables had also been successfully launched in
Bangalore city. In just two months of launch, Safal Market wholesaled
around
100 MT fresh produce daily.
- Within
a month of induction, he was able to
identify for NDDB, a local procurement and imports based food marketing
project
in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After extensive travel and studies in Sri Lanka,
a
pre-feasibility study has already been submitted and got approved.
Detailed
market survey to formulate a commercially viable project plan for the
identified project is in progress.
- Successfully
negotiated a long term lease of 24
Acre built up wholesale Food Market in Ernakulam (Cochin) with Kerala
Govt.
Supply Chain
Management Group
(August 2002
– October 2003)
Achievements
- In a
short span of just 4 months, he leveraged technology
to revamp communication and information systems for the group.
- A low
cost
transaction software & electronic data interchange system
integrated with main
server at Head Qtr, was placed at all C & F Agent locations. This
action ironed
out the major deficiencies in Inventory, Invoice & MIS processes.
- As a
step forward,
introduction of an enterprise level web application to replace above
with a
more agile online system was implemented.
- All
Operational
staff, suppliers, C & F Agents, transporters and other business
associates
were made to communicate through private and public networks only. A
minor
point but this action cut down the communication cost by more than 25%.
- In
view of logistical, cost and contractual
disadvantages, he rationalized Company’s C & F operations
across the
country by closing and scaling down 8 C & F operations in flat 4
months
without affecting the sales. (Cost cutting by 30%).
- A new
supply cum distribution model using Integrated
Logistics Service Providers was introduced for frozen products for the
first
time in the Country at few select locations. This move shall bring down
the
overall distribution cost by at least 15 %.
- Brought
down the cost of operations in surviving C &
F and transport contracts by 10 % by cutting down the storage space
requirement
and review of secondary transport arrangements.
- Drafted
new C & F & transport contracts to plug
numerous money draining holes.
- A low
cost centralized computerized and online Indenting
model was developed and deployed across the country to streamline
various
Supply Chain Management processes.
Planning
& Development Group
(4 Years)
Achievements
- Project
plan for Fruit & Vegetable Auction Market Project at Bangalore,
with a
project outlay of Rs 150 Crore, gets quick approval by NDDB. The plan
included
a detailed road map for the fruit & vegetable supply management
activities
within and outside Karnataka for the proposed market.
- Quick
acceptance of the Integrated Horticulture Marketing feasibility study
by the
Government of India.
- Prepared
a blueprint for horticultural Cash-n-Carry stores for company’s
Delhi Fruit
& Vegetable Unit.
- Spearheaded company’s marketing
drive to create
a niche for it's complete range of fresh products in hitherto untapped
wholesale and export markets. Exported huge potato quantity to
Srilanka.
- Introduced
wholesale branding concept for fruit & vegetables for the first
time in the
country in organized sector. Both exports and wholesale marketing are
now new
revenue streams for the company.
- Developed
CFB wholesale and retail packaging for ten fruits and vegetables for
the
company in just two months. Introduced indigenous Kiwi fruit in branded
packs
for the first time in Indian markets.
- An
alternate logistic plan developed by him is yielding rich dividend
currently.
- Represented
company at numerous Agri-business events, seminars, conferences and
presentations organized by various chambers of commerce (like FICCI,
CII,
ASSOCHAM), Central and State Govts
Procurement
Group
(10 Years)
Achievements
- Managed
a dedicated team of 60 plus professionals, to develop an extensive and
effective Fresh Produce contract farming
Sourcing network, practically all
over India, for round the year quality supplies of more than 150 fresh commodities at competitive
prices. The job involved round the clock coordination and monitoring at
various
levels.
- Brought 500 plus Hectares of vegetable area in 6
Indian States under production enhancement contract farming programme
using
state of the art production technology based on the principles of
precision and
uniformity and use of innovative but simple farm machines. Wide bed
production
technology propagated by his group for various vegetables, particularly
potatoes, have become a de-facto standard for progressive farmers
through out
Northern India.
- Strategic
reorganization
of procurement policies and procedures from
purchases at supply source at
local prices and terms, to, supplies at company premises in Delhi
without
declaring prices in production areas. This
change completely overhauled company's procurement structure and
resulted in
major savings.
- Reorganization
of purchases in wholesale markets from
outright purchases at company's
risk, to supplies at Project premises in Delhi on competitive biddings
basis.
This change resulted in major savings.
- Introduction
of 15 difficult fruit and vegetable items hitherto not retailed by the
Project.
- Arrangement
of
11000 MTs of produce, apart from regular supplies for company's retail
outlets
in six months, for wholesale trials at major Indian wholesale market.
- Developed
various contract formats for growers, transporters and wholesalers that
are
still being used
6.
Milkfed , Punjab - A
Federation of 10 Distt. Milk Cooperatives and owners of "Verka", a
well-known milk products brand in India. (1981 -1987)
Technical
Input Group
Achievements
- Planning
and execution of a fodder seed production programme on more than 500
Hectares
annually under contract growing.
- Management
of a 50 Hectares captive demonstration cum seed production farm as an
independent profit centre.
7.
Government of Punjab,
India (1979 -1980)
Ground Water
Cell
Achievements
- As a team leader, spearheded setting up of India's
first mobile soil and water testing laboratory in Punjab.
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