High traction: Mallika Srinivasan
For Mallika Srinivasan, tractors are her passion, as is Tractors and
Farm Equipment, or TAFE, the company of which she is a director.
Mallika Srinivasan
51, Director, TAFE
(Number of times in BT's Most Powerful list: 7)
It is difficult to imagine anybody - man or woman - being obsessive about tractors. But, for Mallika Srinivasan, tractors are her passion, as is Tractors and Farm Equipment, or TAFE, the company of which she is a director. That passion is reflected in the huge strides taken by TAFE.
In financial year 2010 the Chennai-headquartered unlisted company became the third-largest tractor company in the world - only behind Mahindra & Mahindra and John Deere - a jump of two positions since a year ago.
One big contributor to that growth has been the success of the export strategy - TAFE sells to 40 countries, with exports accounting for 15 per cent of sales. Along with exporting out of India, TAFE has also put up a unit in Turkey to make tractors. And overseas sales are not a matter of out-of-sight, outof-mind, explains Srinivsan. "A tractor is not a product that can be sold and forgotten; it has to be serviced over a very long life cycle,'' she points out. That's where the passion comes handy.
-Nitya Varadarajan
51, Director, TAFE
(Number of times in BT's Most Powerful list: 7)
| Biggest achievement in 2010: Became the world's No. 3 in tractor sales Being a powerful woman is important because: I can bring everybody together to share my vision and make a unified impact on society Tip for work-life balance: Have an open mind, be flexible, choose an area of work you enjoy doing A workplace without women is like: A society without women |
In financial year 2010 the Chennai-headquartered unlisted company became the third-largest tractor company in the world - only behind Mahindra & Mahindra and John Deere - a jump of two positions since a year ago.
One big contributor to that growth has been the success of the export strategy - TAFE sells to 40 countries, with exports accounting for 15 per cent of sales. Along with exporting out of India, TAFE has also put up a unit in Turkey to make tractors. And overseas sales are not a matter of out-of-sight, outof-mind, explains Srinivsan. "A tractor is not a product that can be sold and forgotten; it has to be serviced over a very long life cycle,'' she points out. That's where the passion comes handy.
-Nitya Varadarajan
The 30 Most Powerful Women | |
| 1. Schauna Chauhan 2. Zarin Daruwala 3. Lynn de Souza 4. Tanya Dubash 5. Shyamala Gopinath 6. Vinita Gupta 7. Kaku Nakhate 8. Vedika Bhandarkar 9. Manisha Girotra 10. Lalita Gupte 11. Usha Narayanan 12. Akhila Srinivasan 13. Leena Nair 14. Vinita Bali 15. Chanda Kochhar | 16. Roopa Kudva 17. Naina Lal Kidwai 18. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw 19. Zarina Mehta 20. Zia Mody 21. Kalpana Morparia 22. Vishakha Mulye 23. Swati Piramal 24. Meher Pudumjee 25. Madhabi Puri Buch 26. Chitra Ramkrishna 27. Preetha Reddy 28. Shikha Sharma 29. Mallika Srinivasan 30. Sangeeta Talwar |
