Baba Kalyani
Baba Kalyani
Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani is an Indian businessman who served as the chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, the flagship company of the Kalyani Group and the world's second-largest forgings manufacturer after ThyssenKrupp of Germany...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth7 January 1949
CountryIndia
build business call capable challenged colonel companies defence heads indian programme prove
We passionately set up a programme that we call the Indian gun programme. I challenged Colonel Bhatia, who heads our defence business, that let's build an Indian gun. There's a belief that Indian companies aren't capable of this, and we want to prove them wrong, as we did in components.
barrel field indian length longer similar
We've made two products; one is a 155 mm 52-calibre gun with self-propelling and towing capability. This is a field gun - the mainstay of the Indian army like the Bofors guns. Our gun is similar but of a longer range. That was 39 calibre; this is 52. The calibre denotes the length of the barrel and the range.
business grow institute patience returned running technology via
When I returned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, my father was running a forging business with a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore. But I had no patience and wanted to grow the business via exports.
became companies gained globally imperative strategies
With liberalisation, Indian industry gained international exposure because of which it became imperative for companies to rework their strategies to become globally competitive.
industrial model
We should have an inclusive growth model in India. Agro-interest is also as important as industrial interest.
country
Which country in the world has the kind of talent India has in numbers?
forged
You cannot make an aircraft without forged components.
became companies entering examples natural similar steel
Bofors was a steelmaker that became a forgings company and then went on to build guns. Companies like Krupp and Thyssen were in steel and forgings before entering defence. There are similar examples in the U.K.; it is a natural progression.
apparatus controlled creates everywhere good including minister policy prime problems running six trade whether
Everywhere in the world, whether manufacturing, trade or whatever, it is controlled by one apparatus and one policy perspective. Here we have one prime minister with good intentions, and six ministries running their own empires. This creates problems including the import culture.
companies customers design discerning exports global higher motivates products results scale supply
From an operational perspective, exports challenge companies to design, develop, manufacture and supply products to discerning customers in global markets. This, in turn, motivates companies to scale up the value chain, which results in higher realisations.
aerospace business components jet landing large parts structural three
Fundamentally, we have broken our aerospace business into three parts - large parts which go into the wings and fuselage, components for jet engines, and specialised structural components for landing gear.
companies everybody indian money mouth process sick technology tells tired trying
I am sick and tired of the process where everybody tells you that Indian companies don't have the technology and capability. We need to put money where our mouth is and make things happen, and that is what we are trying to do.
bad country doubts inclusive indian leadership party political
I don't think one party has a bad vision over the other party. I have no doubts that every Indian and every Indian political leadership would like to see this country get to a much better level. We would all like to see inclusive growth.
bikes collection harley largest riding
I have what is probably the largest big bike collection in the city: a Fat Boy, a sportser Harley Davidson and two Yamahas. All these are 1200cc-plus bikes. Riding these bikes is something I still do and some trekking as well.