Mr. Sawhney graduated with a Masters in Mechanical Sciences from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, U.K. and M.B.A with distinction from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He was on the Dean’s list for all terms, came second in the University, and is a life member of Beta Gama Sigma.
Mr. Sawhney is a Past President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He was President in 1991/92 when India started its liberalization, and was instrumental in the change of the Confederation of Engineering Industries to CII. He has served on the Board of various public sector organizations and chaired Government advisory councils on Industry, Energy and Sugar. The Triveni chief recently received the highest civilian award, the “Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur” from President Chirac of the French Republic.
Mr. Sawhney takes a keen interest in education, was a Governor of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, and the Management Institute at the University of Delhi. He is currently Chairman of the Doon School, Dehra Dun, and is a Companion Member of the Chartered Institute of Management, U.K. He chairs the Board of Trustees of Delhi’s oldest private charitable hospital. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Evian Group, Switzerland (a Think Tank and a forum for an open multilateral trading system), Chairman, India Steering Committee of the World Economic Forum, Switzerland, Member, Indo-French Forum set up by the Governments of India and France, and Chairman, CII Agriculture Council.
Mr Sawhney spoke to Leading Lights on a recent CII visit to London at the St James's Court Taj Hotel, London.
He is an example of a Chairman leading the expansion of Indian companies internationally.
In the UK, Mr Sawhney told us, Triveni has four waste-to-energy facilities. He also revealed that he was thinking of buying a company “Or setting up a company to be close to our clients” but his decision would be set against “other competition in the UK and investment opportunities in Europe.”
The Asian Voice asked for a clarification. “You know Indian business has gone through a radical shift. By Indian business we mean the equity is held by Indian nationals or by foreign nationals. It means things that are manufactured in India but sales are not purely for the domestic market; they are for a global market. We are today exporting to 42 countries. So trade is only one part of our game; the second part is investment. For this you need to have facilities, you need to have companies, you need to have people, you need to hire local people, in places round the world. There’s a lot of competition for that. Other countries want you to come.”
The MD expanded by saying that in India, there is competition for investment from China. “China is very aggressive in India.” “Japan is extremely aggressive. They are building the Delhi-Mumbai corridor; they’ve put in large monies.” He also highlights the USA and Germany as being highly active in India.
Mr Sawhney stated that Triveni is examining the locations of its customer base and its global customer; “How best to service and be close to him. So you need an amalgam of people who are professional people, who are of a certain calibre to be in the country, backed by our own staff from our facilities in India.”
He mentioned that funding for investment is not a problem in India. It’s more about “how quickly you can get off the ground, and what markets are best served by that investment.”
The Triveni Chair said that the challenges to do with investment are mainly “the visa question. There is a differentiation between immigrant visas and visas for people to come and complete projects.” He said that Triveni is the proud owner of a project at London Waste in Edmonton. “A 40-year old facility. For their expansion we may have to take a larger chunk. We may have to have people here for nine months to a year. They may want the same person. They may want the same person to come back if something goes wrong. It’s not a question of visa- on- demand, or how quickly I can get a tourist visa. This is a business proposition. We need a combination of people from here who are good on the sales, service and manufacturing side and a complement of people from India. The natural movement of people does condition where you are going to put your money.”
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“The natural movement of people does condition where you are going to put your money.”
