Rakeshn Markhedkar: A Leader Concocting Revolution in EPC Industry
Rakesh Markhedkar
Chairman & Managing Director
With over 31 years of experience in managing business in Power and Infra Sectors across the areas of Power Generation (Coal, Hydro & Gas), Power Transmission (Transmission line and AIS & GIS Sub-Station upto 765KV) and Power Distribution Segment, Rakesh has successfully executed Power Distribution reform projects for reduction in AT & C losses, feeder separation, RGGVY, RAPDRP & BRGF projects for various Power Distribution Utilities in the country. Owing to his industry rich experience and performance Rakesh has been recognized as industry's ‘Turn‐around Expert’ as per the Strategy Report (Jan’14) of Ambit Holdings for turning around four companies in quick succession. CEO Insights magazine got an exclusive opportunity to interact with Rakesh, wherein heshares his journey from CEO of four firms to finally starting something of his own and setting a niche in itself.
”Putting ourselves in almost all aspects of the project execution like timely delivery of the projects, earning the credential and choosing very prestigious projects is really helping us to improve our market position”
Throw some light on your educational and professional background. How are you leveraging these elements to yield better results for your company?
I’m an Alumni of IIM Bangalore and BITS Pilani, having pursued my Graduation in Engineering from Bhopal University and Masters from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani followed by General Management Certification from IIM Bangalore. On completion of my education from these reputed institutes, I started my professional journey with L&T. I have worked in the EPC profession, wherein I have executed the Power Infra Plant Projects and gained a lot of knowledge from my corporate experience at various organizations, viz., L&T, British owned MNC, EMCO, KEI and Bajaj Electricals. I was the first Indian to become a CEO in a British owned MNC at the very young age of 37. I have had a blend of learning right from British company to Indian companies and finally a very old Indian company which has a very rich culture, Bajaj Electricals.
My education has been in both Technical and Management background, along with learning from various organizations. Since I was the CEO for four companies before having launched my own venture, I have putforth a rich blend of knowledge skills set and competence experience in dealing with stakeholders and customers across the
globe. This has given me a very positive momentum to start my own venture ie., VIKRAN Engineering & Exim. With my years of experience, I have bagged strong network of customers, business associates and also employees who are professionals from across the globe along with the contractors and whatever that is required to form and execute a business after 28 years of rich experience in good conglomerate. These things have really helped me turn my vision into reality.
What is it that motivated you to establish VIKRAN Engineering & Exim? How does your vast experience help you out to chalk out business operation for the company?
Over the years, I have developed good business skills and competence which are a key role player in the beginning of a company and for the growth of any business. Having done this and then reaching the top of my career as a CEO at the very early age of 37, after 10 years of being a corporate leader, I always think about what to do next because that enthusiasm and the desire for growth and the hunger to learn more never stopped within.
The performance drive, the drive toachieve something, drive to create your own platform of performance and the drive to create a performance where the performers can join and deliver their best of the career, my wife Kanchan Markhedkar who has backed-up my every decision and, in this case, joined VIKRAN as Director - HR has helped me bring my vision to reality, which eventually led to the setting-up of the VIKRAN Engineering and Exim. Today, I’m responsible for complete management of VIKRAN Engineering as the CMD and wish to implement the best of the industry practices which I learned in my professional journey including British company where I was the first Indian to become a CEO at the British company at the young age of 37.
All these events gave me a lot of confidence, and having worked for the overseas company, it really helped me to understand the international laws, international labor laws, international clients, technological trends and executing international projects. So, implementing best practices and technology that I have gained from my previous organization has been a game changer. Also, the implementation of SAP S/4 HANA Private Cloud Edition at VIKRAN will help the company to enhance Time-to-Value, optimize tracking and management of activities in production environment, increase transparency across the Supply Chain Processes, improve Project Management, and streamline Financial Systems. This robust solution framework has been designed to optimize our business processes. Hence, it has enabled increase in efficiencies and quicker decision making.
Throw some light on the challenges you encountered during your professional journey? What are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and as a Managing Director?
My journey at VIKRAN Engineering has been quite interesting and worth cherishing over the last five years. Although we have completed half a decade, practically, we are only four financial years closers. Some of the initial challenges that we encountered were with reference to team building, technical and financial hurdles in terms of qualifications to build the projects, acquiring the basic banking facilities & banking limits, and bringing the business associates with you along withall theirsuppliers'and subcontractors, because getting these people and companies to join hands of a bigger business is a big challenge.
So, owing to my previous relationships, I knew my competence level and my past clients knew my performance driven personality. Hence, it was not very difficult to bridge the gaps. When I started VIKRAN at the age of 49, I started from zero and building from zero to a Rs.500 crore company in just over four years was not a cake walk, but it has been an experience in its own. From last years to Rs.600 crores and beyond, with our current speed of project execution capability, we have been able to stabilize the system in place and the highest level of recognition and on-top of that, customer satisfaction, it really gives me a lot of happiness, and I think this is the most satisfactory thing that I can count on.
Overcoming all the stumbling blocks in our way, today, we have come a long way and achieved numerous milestones. Bagging an award is one thing, but we are able to place all the systems, processes, ethics, value driven culture in the organization, which is steering VIKRAN Engineering towards a performance driven work culture.
What are the key strategies that you have adopted to execute the operations of the firm?
We are very proud of the projects that VIKRAN Engineering has been executing, which most of the top EPC companies have been reluctant to show their interest in. Today, we are exhibiting projects across 13 states, and while this is challenging task, we have a highly experienced top management. Between me and my brother Avinash Markhedkar, we have a combined experience of more than six decades in various sectors and countries. We are able to leverage this experience and come-up with strategies that have resulted in VIKRAN successfully executing projects upto seven months ahead of the schedule. We have already executed projects in 14 districts of Bihar and have a presence right from Jammu & Kashmir to Telangana. In our short journey till now, we have successfully executed about 13 projects which were executed in very short duration of time.
All these events gave me a lot of confidence, and having worked for the overseas company, it really helped me to understand the international laws, international labor laws, international clients, technological trends and executing international projects. So, implementing best practices and technology that I have gained from my previous organization has been a game changer. Also, the implementation of SAP S/4 HANA Private Cloud Edition at VIKRAN will help the company to enhance Time-to-Value, optimize tracking and management of activities in production environment, increase transparency across the Supply Chain Processes, improve Project Management, and streamline Financial Systems. This robust solution framework has been designed to optimize our business processes. Hence, it has enabled increase in efficiencies and quicker decision making.
”We make a conscious choice to always face problems with a 'we shall overcome'attitude, which keeps the morale high and encourages solution centric approach”
Throw some light on the challenges you encountered during your professional journey? What are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and as a Managing Director?
My journey at VIKRAN Engineering has been quite interesting and worth cherishing over the last five years. Although we have completed half a decade, practically, we are only four financial years closers. Some of the initial challenges that we encountered were with reference to team building, technical and financial hurdles in terms of qualifications to build the projects, acquiring the basic banking facilities & banking limits, and bringing the business associates with you along withall theirsuppliers'and subcontractors, because getting these people and companies to join hands of a bigger business is a big challenge.
So, owing to my previous relationships, I knew my competence level and my past clients knew my performance driven personality. Hence, it was not very difficult to bridge the gaps. When I started VIKRAN at the age of 49, I started from zero and building from zero to a Rs.500 crore company in just over four years was not a cake walk, but it has been an experience in its own. From last years to Rs.600 crores and beyond, with our current speed of project execution capability, we have been able to stabilize the system in place and the highest level of recognition and on-top of that, customer satisfaction, it really gives me a lot of happiness, and I think this is the most satisfactory thing that I can count on.
Overcoming all the stumbling blocks in our way, today, we have come a long way and achieved numerous milestones. Bagging an award is one thing, but we are able to place all the systems, processes, ethics, value driven culture in the organization, which is steering VIKRAN Engineering towards a performance driven work culture.
What are the key strategies that you have adopted to execute the operations of the firm?
We are very proud of the projects that VIKRAN Engineering has been executing, which most of the top EPC companies have been reluctant to show their interest in. Today, we are exhibiting projects across 13 states, and while this is challenging task, we have a highly experienced top management. Between me and my brother Avinash Markhedkar, we have a combined experience of more than six decades in various sectors and countries. We are able to leverage this experience and come-up with strategies that have resulted in VIKRAN successfully executing projects upto seven months ahead of the schedule. We have already executed projects in 14 districts of Bihar and have a presence right from Jammu & Kashmir to Telangana. In our short journey till now, we have successfully executed about 13 projects which were executed in very short duration of time.
As a part of diversification of business, the key strategies adopted were: we will continue to focus on Power T & D Projects up to 765 kV SubStation, Transmission lines & Power Distribution Projects in India as well as Overseas. Also, we are building our strength to cater Railway Electrification Projects and are successful in bagging one order. We are all set to enter in Smart Infra structure project and water distribution segment and will be focusing in 4-5 states in the country. We successfully tied-up with technological partner for execution of renewable Energy and Solar EPC project up to 100 MW.
Since we are very much cost conscious, we always ensure that our projects should not exceed the allocated budget. Procurement of material plays a very vital role for keeping costs in check, and under the leadership of Nakul Markhedkar, we have a very well oiled system that ensures timely delivery of material at sites which matches the pace of execution. At the same time, we are vesting our focus on the quality and safety parameters as well. In our journey so far, we have been able to successfully push ourselves forward. The target turnover is one thing but putting ourselves in almost all aspects of the project execution like the timely delivery of the projects, earning the credential and then choosing very prestigious projects is really helping us to improve our market position in the domain.
What will be your advice for upcoming young aspirants who are eager to build their career across this domain? Are there any mentors that you look up to for inspiration?
I always advise my youngsters, the managers andthe aspirants to focus on their strengths, utilize this strength to overcome their weaknesses, focus on effective methodology, proper planning and system and processes effectively to ensure desired results.
About motivation and inspiration, I belong to a very religious background. Hence, I bank on principles derived from Sadhak Sanjivani (written by Swami Ramsukhdas) a holy book that describes and elaborated about Bhagavad Gita in detail. My main inspiration comes from Bhagavad Gita. I strongly believe that there is always a steering power which is guiding us continuously based on our Karmic Cycle and inspiring us to choose the correct path based on principles.
Apart from my experience, my family even plays a vital role in development of VIKRAN on the whole. With all their support, operations of VIKRAN level company becomes smooth. The philosophy behind our execution is based on our Mantras viz., Distributed Leadership, Hand Holding, Collective Wisdom, Together We Will, and Speed.
Being in the Project business, every day brings in a new problem in the face of perpetual adversity. We make a conscious choice to always face problems with a 'We Shall Overcome' attitude, which keeps the morale high and encourages solution centric approach. This also instills a culture of collaborative functioning because challenges can’t be overcome alone. Many companies are moving away from old structures that involve top down leadership in favour of a newer approach called distributed leadership. Adding elements of distributed leadership to your organization’s way of functioning will revolutionize the organization.
Having stakeholders from all levels of functioning is a great way to identify the different variables at play at the project site and helps in having a more holistic picture. This way, the use case of the middle management is increased with which he will leverage his experience by hand holding his team and act as a pilot, resulting in execution of project much more efficiently and smoothly. This will ensure consistency in quality execution and would be the most efficient way to utilize precious resources.
What are the emerging trends that you have identified that could affect networking and hardware industry? What is the future roadmap for VIKRAN Engineering & Exim?
Today, the world is very dynamic; increasing technology adoption and digitalization are the key aspects to remain in the business. I keep myself constantly updated about the changing trends of the industry through various journals and research. I’m also voluntarily participating in the seminars as well as the trade fairs. This is helping me in staying updated with the advancements in the industry.
For the years to come, apart from power and railway metro, we want to become the most premier EPC company in the country. Irrespective of our size, we're also aiming for people to know VIKRAN Engineering as a quality company which values its money and is a one stop solution for all the medium sized projects as a background engineering. We are positive about our approach and are constantly striving to work in this direction!
Since we are very much cost conscious, we always ensure that our projects should not exceed the allocated budget. Procurement of material plays a very vital role for keeping costs in check, and under the leadership of Nakul Markhedkar, we have a very well oiled system that ensures timely delivery of material at sites which matches the pace of execution. At the same time, we are vesting our focus on the quality and safety parameters as well. In our journey so far, we have been able to successfully push ourselves forward. The target turnover is one thing but putting ourselves in almost all aspects of the project execution like the timely delivery of the projects, earning the credential and then choosing very prestigious projects is really helping us to improve our market position in the domain.
What will be your advice for upcoming young aspirants who are eager to build their career across this domain? Are there any mentors that you look up to for inspiration?
I always advise my youngsters, the managers andthe aspirants to focus on their strengths, utilize this strength to overcome their weaknesses, focus on effective methodology, proper planning and system and processes effectively to ensure desired results.
About motivation and inspiration, I belong to a very religious background. Hence, I bank on principles derived from Sadhak Sanjivani (written by Swami Ramsukhdas) a holy book that describes and elaborated about Bhagavad Gita in detail. My main inspiration comes from Bhagavad Gita. I strongly believe that there is always a steering power which is guiding us continuously based on our Karmic Cycle and inspiring us to choose the correct path based on principles.
Apart from my experience, my family even plays a vital role in development of VIKRAN on the whole. With all their support, operations of VIKRAN level company becomes smooth. The philosophy behind our execution is based on our Mantras viz., Distributed Leadership, Hand Holding, Collective Wisdom, Together We Will, and Speed.
Being in the Project business, every day brings in a new problem in the face of perpetual adversity. We make a conscious choice to always face problems with a 'We Shall Overcome' attitude, which keeps the morale high and encourages solution centric approach. This also instills a culture of collaborative functioning because challenges can’t be overcome alone. Many companies are moving away from old structures that involve top down leadership in favour of a newer approach called distributed leadership. Adding elements of distributed leadership to your organization’s way of functioning will revolutionize the organization.
Having stakeholders from all levels of functioning is a great way to identify the different variables at play at the project site and helps in having a more holistic picture. This way, the use case of the middle management is increased with which he will leverage his experience by hand holding his team and act as a pilot, resulting in execution of project much more efficiently and smoothly. This will ensure consistency in quality execution and would be the most efficient way to utilize precious resources.
What are the emerging trends that you have identified that could affect networking and hardware industry? What is the future roadmap for VIKRAN Engineering & Exim?
Today, the world is very dynamic; increasing technology adoption and digitalization are the key aspects to remain in the business. I keep myself constantly updated about the changing trends of the industry through various journals and research. I’m also voluntarily participating in the seminars as well as the trade fairs. This is helping me in staying updated with the advancements in the industry.
For the years to come, apart from power and railway metro, we want to become the most premier EPC company in the country. Irrespective of our size, we're also aiming for people to know VIKRAN Engineering as a quality company which values its money and is a one stop solution for all the medium sized projects as a background engineering. We are positive about our approach and are constantly striving to work in this direction!