India's Best CFOs

BEST CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Y.M. Deosthalee, 64,
CFO and Member of the Board, Larsen & Toubro

MY BEST PRACTICE
Decision-making is meticulously objective. I am willing to learn from anyone, including juniors

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Hypocrisy, a political environment in the office. I try to defuse or avoid such situations

HOW I UNWIND
Singing light classical music. I love Hindustani music

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
Steve Jobs and Apple, for their ability to innovate and come back after failure

SUSTAINED WEALTH CREATION (LARGE SIZE)
Ravi Sud, 57,
Senior Vice President & CFO, Hero Honda

MY BEST PRACTICE
Openness and transparency. Be as open as possible to all stakeholders. Do not make anybody an insider

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Rumours and rumour-mongers

HOW I UNWIND
On weekends, I sit at home and relax

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
Why go abroad? The CFO that I admire the most, and call 'guru', is T.V. Mohandas Pai (former CFO of Infosys)

SUSTAINED WEALTH CREATION (SMALL SIZE)
Sangeeta Gulati, 45,
Chief Financial Officer, Educomp Solutions

MY BEST PRACTICE
Strike a balance between social and financial objectives

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Indiscipline, delays and unprofessional behaviour

HOW I UNWIND
Painting, watching movies

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
Mohandas Pai (as CFO of Infosys), because it is a challenge to create a sound financial structure at the startup stage, on which the company builds subsequent growth. Steve Jobs for his innovation.

REMARKABLE LEVERAGE MANAGEMENT (LARGE SIZE)
Akhil Gupta, 55,
Deputy Group CEO and MD, Bharti Airtel

MY BEST PRACTICE
Being conservative in my actions and my projections

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
The inability of people to see the big picture

HOW I UNWIND
I play tennis every weekend

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
None

REMARKABLE LEVERAGE MANAGEMENT (SMALL SIZE)
Muniswamy Srinivas, 53,
Head, Finance, Opto Circuits

MY BEST PRACTICE
I prefer verbal communication more than e-mails

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
If work is not completed within the stipulated time

HOW I UNWIND
Playing cricket

GLOBAL CFO/ CEO I ADMIRE
N.R. Narayana Murthy. He inspires youngsters to take on challenges

CONSISTENT LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT (LARGE SIZE)
Ajay Seth, 51,
CFO, Maruti Suzuki

MY BEST PRACTICE
Keep challenging the status quo. Continue to innovate and bring in best practices

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Laid-back attitude, complacency

HOW I UNWIND
By listening to music, especially classics - bands such as the Carpenters and the Beatles

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
N.R. Narayana Murthy, because he ran his company like a professional, and stepped down at the right time

CONSISTENT LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT (MID-SIZE)
R. Rajendran, 66,
Director, Finance, Lakshmi Machine Works

MY BEST PRACTICE
Never leave money idle

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Customer or vendor queries not being immediately addressed

HOW I UNWIND
By spending time at the school run by LMW

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
N.R. Narayana Murthy

TRANSFORMATION AGENT (MID-SIZE)
Mehernosh Kapadia, 56,
Senior Executive Director, GSK Pharmaceuticals

MY BEST PRACTICE
I believe in integrity and trust. I focus on team work.

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
I like people to be quick. They should also be punctual

HOW I UNWIND
By spending time with family, listening to music and going for long walks

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
Jack Welch. Our current CEO, Andrew Witty

ENHANCING COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH M&As
Uday Phadke, 60,
President, Finance, Legal & Financial Services Sector, Mahindra Group

MY BEST PRACTICE
Document every decision exhaustively, with details for references in docket form

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Unpunctuality and unpreparedness

HOW I UNWIND
Listening to old Hindi film songs and Indian classical music

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
There is so much talent within the company. Why look outside?

GLOCAL CFO
V. Balakrishnan, 47,
Executive Director and CFO, Infosys

MY BEST PRACTICE
I try to reply to all my emails daily before going home

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Convoluted arguments to support a bad case

HOW I UNWIND
By spending time with my eight-year-old daughter Shweta

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
N.R. Narayana Murthy, because he leads by example

BEST CFO OF A PSU
D.K. Sarraf, 53,
Director, Finance, ONGC

MY BEST PRACTICE
When I take a business decision, I put myself in the shoes of the company's owner

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
Roundabout answers

HOW I UNWIND
Mornings by walking, evenings by watching TV with the children

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
N.R. Narayana Murthy, former chairman of Infosys

BEST TREASURER
Indrajit Banerjee, 55,
Executive Director and CFO, Cairn India

MY BEST PRACTICE
Trust, transparency and timeliness

WHAT GETS MY GOAT
I work in Gurgaon and live in Delhi. The drive home puts all my nerves to the test

HOW I UNWIND
By travelling to a remote place where my BlackBerry doesn't work

GLOBAL CFO/CEO I ADMIRE
Anil Agarwal, Executive Chairman, Vedanta Resources