Not many women in India venture into the manufacturing sector. But then, as the saying goes, there are no limits except the ones we place on ourselves.
Vinati Saraf Mutreja has over the past 15 years, proved women can belong anywhere, even in the manufacturing sector.
In 2006 Vinati joined the family business, Vinati Organics Ltd (VOL). she had to work really hard to turn it around and make it profitable. Since her joining the company profits revenues have risen from Rs 66 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
Since her joining Vinati Saraf and the company has received various awards:
i. The company was listed under Asia’s 200 Best under a Billion Dollar companies by Forbes.
ii. SME of the Year by the Business Standard Annual Awards 2019
iii. The Economic Times Family Business Awards nominated Ms. Mutreja as the Outstanding Woman Business Leader for 2019
iv. Ms. Vinati Saraf Mutreja was listed in The Economic Times annual ‘India’s Top 40 under Forty’ for 2019.
Vinati became the CEO and the Managing Director of the company after 12 years of joining VOL.
At a very early stage in her life she had exposure of business, she started accompanying her father on sales visits and board meetings This exposure led her to pursue chemistry, engineering and business at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2006 when Vinati returned to India, she joined VOL .
After joining, her biggest challenge was to turn around their ATBS plant. She turned around the plant from a loss-making unit into a world class facility that could take global competition head on.
She also succeeded in locking long-term contracts with global MNCs that gave the company sales visibility.
Until 2006, VOL was mostly selling in the domestic market but today about 75 percent of sales are derived from exports.
ATBS is the now largest product for the company and VOL is its largest manufacturer in the world.
The family held 26 percent of the shares of VOL in 1991, which has gradually increased to 74.01 percent.
Vinati in one of the articles quoted that “the manufacturing industry is all about delivery and numbers; if you can deliver then that is all that matters, and not whether you are a man or a woman. In fact she feels her gender/ age and personality all three make her an outlier in this industry but it has also made her a good listener”
In 2006, VOL had a market capitalisation of approximately Rs 20 crore and today it stands at over Rs 13,000 crore. Company’s vision is to grow at 20-25 percent year-on-year, essentially double revenues in three years.
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