The Indian startup circuit is well known for the mighty figures who have revolutionized the world. Now, as there are millions of companies that have worked for the development of the society, the businessmen of India have made the most of the opportunities thrown at them.
Amongst the companies that have worked for the development of the startup circuit and providing employment, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group(RPSG) is a brand which is the most popular in the Indian subcontinent. The man leading this group is Sanjiv Goenka. He has been an influential person throughout his tenure and continues to do so!
| Name | Sanjiv Goenka |
|---|---|
| Born | Kolkata, India |
| Age | 59 |
| Citizenship | Indian |
| Education | St. Xavier's College, Kolkata |
| Title | Chairman of RPSG Group |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Net Worth | $1.6 Billion |
Background of Sanjiv Goenka
Sanjiv was born on 29 January 1961. He pursued his graduation from the prestigious St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and has a net worth of $1.8 billion. Sanjiv is a former member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry. Presently, he is serving as the chairman of the Board of Directors of Woodlands Medical Center LTD.
Apart from making a mark on the business sector, he has also taken interest in the world of sports. Sanjiv is the owner of the ATK Football Club in the Indian Super League. He was elected as the president of the All India Management Association in 2009-2010. Apart from that, he is the chairperson of the prestigious Indian Institute of Kharagpur.
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Transforming RPSG Group into a Conglomerate
Sanjiv has always guided his team. This is the reason that RPSG has become a conglomerate with diverse revenue streams.
Whenever a visitor visits his office, three small identical glass bowls of snacks are served to the visitor. Two of them comprise of snacks from the Goenka group. While the third snack has a popular fried snack from the third company. Sanjiv then challenges his guests to taste the contents of the three bowls and identify the one which is the in-house products. You might wonder why he does this kind of activity. The reason is he wants to get feedback from every visitor to his office.
Although the group’s entry to the FMCG snacks business is new, Goenka has been bullish about its future. He monitors the INR 500 crore FMCG operation, tastes most of the new products himself, and also makes sure that the visitors check out the foods. This attitude of Sanjiv has helped him expedite his wish to make the INR 26,000 crore group an even division of the regulated and non-regulated business.
The RPSG Group used to be dependent on the power sector. The main reason being that the power sector comprised of 80% of its revenues. Well, today, revenues are evenly distributed and matched between power and other business.
Formation of the RPSG Group
RPSG Group was created by Sanijv Goenka in 2010-2011. This company is named after his father, Late Rama Prasad Goenka. His brother, Harsh Goenka leads the Mumbai-based RPG Group while Sanjiv heads RPSG Group. The major part of Sanjiv Goenka’s group was the power generation and distribution company CESC Ltd. Hence, to match the power revenues, the junior Goenka has to make his other business grow faster. He had to unlock some of the value which had been trapped within the flagship CESC Ltd.
This company-owned business like retail and real estate. Three businesses in the group have turned around in the past years. These groups are carbon black, music, and film content. Sanjiv Goenka entered the BPO circuit with the purchase of Firstsource Solutions in 2012.
In October 2018, the flagship CESC was split into three parts. These parts were power generation and distribution business, retail business, and CESC Ventures. The CESC Ventures included IT and FMCG. According to Sanjiv, to turn the business around, the company decided to stop doing business for the sake of top-line, and hence, the team started to focus on profitability.
Sanjiv’s turnaround efforts at Saregama has put the company on track. He had brought in new management to the company that was a relatively smaller member of RPSG Group. It had an annual turnover of INR 356 crore in 2017-2018. The company has rights to music content in various Indian languages, has changed very much in one year! This is all due to Sanjiv’s efforts in remodeling the company.
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Investments made by RPSG Group
| Announced Date | Organization Name | Lead Investor | Funding Round | Money Raised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 2018 | True Elements | Yes | Seed Round - True Elements | ₹50 Million |
Acquisitions made by RPSG Group
| Acquiree Name | Announced Date | Price | Transaction Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editorji | Jul 15, 2020 | N/A | Editorji acquired by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group |
| Apricot Foods | Jul 31, 2017 | $68.6 Million | Apricot Foods acquired by RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group |
Increased Sales of RPSG Group
In December 2018, Saregama had posted a jump of 66% in sales to INR 400 crore from INR 200 crore. Sanjiv expects Saregama to make around INR 560-570 crore in upcoming years. The product named Carvaan has been very popular in the Indian subcontinent. The product’s look is inspired by an old Murphy radio that was lying in the company headquarters in Kolkata.
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Carvaan and Profit
Saregama’s product Carvaan now accounts for half of its revenues. Presently, more than a million products have been sold. Hence, due to its success, Goenka has launched smaller hand-held products targeting the younger generation, this hand-held music device has internet connectivity to stream music.
According to Sanjiv, Carvaan was targeted at an older generation. But, the new edition will attract the younger generation too.
Carvaan Go is also available at the company’s online store. The credit for the success of the product also goes to Vikram Mehra. He had worked with different big brands like Tata Sky and Star India.
Goenka as an Inspiration
Setting up a brand and making sure that the quality of the products never decreases is quite a difficult task. But, Sanjiv Goenka has proved the business critics wrong. With perfect planning, he has been successful in expanding the company. Under his leadership, the company is now taking giant strides in the food sector too.
The introduction of Carvaan has enabled the older generation to relive the past. His perfect business tactics have been replicated in the introduction of Carvaan Go. His products have been of high-class quality and are giving a stiff competition to the rival brands. His deep interest in investing in football, a sport that has been unable to attract the masses shows his determination to help the sectors which have been left behind. Truly, Sanjiv Goenka has been an inspiration for many budding entrepreneurs.
Author: Gorish Dua
Source : https://startuptalky.com/sanjiv-goenka-rpsg-group/
Date : 2020-09-03T06:05:53.000Z