MPW Debutantes: Bina Modi on why women can outshine men in every field

Bina Modi wears many hats. A restaurateur, fashion designer, and salon owner, she is also the Chairperson and Managing Director of Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), the country’s second-largest tobacco company.

While designing for her couture brand Bina’s Fashions remains a keen interest, Modi, who was recently re-appointed as GPI’s MD for five years, is putting in place a three-year blueprint for the tobacco manufacturer.

“I am trying to make a three-year plan, put the right people in place and make it run as a professional company,” she says, adding that GPI is also looking at export of tobacco leaves as well as expanding production. It is also looking to increase its market share to about 30% in the coming years (from around 14% now, per CRISIL).

Modi is also Chairperson of Modi Enterprises–KK Modi Group and Chairperson & MD of Indofil Industries, a chemicals firm. Ask her how it is to work in sectors traditionally dominated by men, and she says it’s all in the mind

But she’s no stranger to challenges. She took out a loan of `7 lakh on her own for a boutique when she embarked on her journey as an entrepreneur when she was around 40. “A friend said to me, half your life is over and what do you do with the rest of your life,” she reminisces, adding that that comment fired her to embark on her entrepreneurial journey.

Crediting her husband, the late K.K. Modi, for being a pillar of support, she recalls how they sat at her then still-to-be-opened Ego Restaurant and tried pizza recipes for three months to get the perfect pizza. That was not all. She went on to found and build several renowned brands including Dessange Salon and Beacon Travels. She has also served as Head of the Family Council for Modi Enterprises. 

Now, she spends the first half of her day at GPI and the second half at her boutique where she spends considerable time designing. In her downtime, she enjoys playing computer games.

“A woman can do anything a man can do and do it better,” she tells BT and clearly her professional journey is proof of that.  

@surabhi_prasad