CEO Insights Magazine

Agriculture plays a vital role in the economic development of a country; healthy growth in the agriculture system helps Agri industries to grow while providing a better life for the farmers. Founder & CEO of Balwaan Agri, Rohit Bajaj has a similar objective of promoting healthy agricultural practices and the use of appropriate and affordable farm equipment by educating farmers. With over seven years of experience in the Agritech ecosystem, Rohit has been able to touch the lives of two lakh farmers through simple, innovative, lightweight, and affordable farming products. As a result of his leadership, Balwaan has sold 60,000+ farm equipment so far and is present in 18 Indian states with dedicated service centres and multilingual farmer advisory centres. It has been Rohit's extensive interaction with farmers and frequent mandi visits which have helped him develop need of the hour products and create value for farmers. The majority of his knowledge of the Agri sector has been gained from his practical experiences. He is a mission driven entrepreneur with a passion for improving society and the agricultural sector. Let’s hear it from him.

Could you tell us about Balwaan’s impact and presence across the agriculture domain?
Balwaan provides affordable, lightweight, and gender friendly products for both men & women farmers. They are easy to operate and increase the human working capacity by 15 times. We have been directly impacting farmers’ lives by significantly saving their time & reducing production costs by making them acquainted with the latest equipment, and enabling them to embrace a better yielding of their crops. This initiative has also helped reduce drudgery and keep the farmers highly motivated.

What keeps you motivated?
I am a mission driven business leader and am passionate about creating a significant social impact at the ground level. There fore, bringing a difference in people’s lives, creating employment opportunities, and benefiting society through my endeavours satisfies me and motivates me to walk the extra mile.

What are the fundamental factors you consider while formulating corporate and growth strategies?
We offer our consumers a seamless product-buying journey and do not compromise on the consumer buying cycle. We are always open to two-way communication with our customers and make sure to solve all their queries in one go. We also take a close eye on reviews & feedback from our clients and try to develop products or upgrade the existing model according to their suggestions. In our organization Farmer First is our mantra, and we put ourselves in farmers' shoes while formulating growth and corporate policies.

What major challenges did you experience in your journey so far and how did you overcome them?
We work for small and marginal farmers who contribute nearly 80 percent of the farmer community and the key challenge of working with them is to make them aware of the evolving technologies and convince them about the benefits of using the latest tools & equipment. To help the farmers understand the importance of innovation in farming and overcome awareness problems, we introduced the Balwaan Kisaan Call Center facility where our support team assists farmers with the latest farming techniques and speaks the regional language to help farmers understand the operations better.

Tell us about your leadership approach and the success mantra that has been helping you to arrive at positive outcomes in your professional journey so far.
My approach to management is situational leadership in which I adjust my management style to meet the needs of each unique situation of the business. By being flexible, I am able to adapt a leadership style that empowers my people and brings out their best. The second reason is that I am somewhat ambivert, leaving me to intervene only when necessary for the operation to go smoothly. This allows me to delegate responsibilities, which allows me to spend more time thinking about the company's vision. Learning fast and implementing faster has been my mantra on my journey to success.

What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Balwaan aims to provide not only innovative products but services as well. We are working very closely with leading banks to provide financial inclusion to farmers through the Balwaan Kisan Credit Card and empowering farmers to buy equipment at an easy EMI. Our tech team is working on the Balwaan Smart App where consumers would be able to easily track the usage pattern and predictive maintenance of the equipment they own. Balwaan is envisioned to become one of the top innovators in the Agritech sector and looks forward to bringing innovation and uniqueness to its stakeholders and being ahead in the race.

Rohit Bajaj, Co-Founder & CEO, Balwaan
With an Economics Honours degree from St. Xavier’s College and an MBA in Finance & Marketing from TAPMI School of Business Jaipur, Rohit is currently leading an agriculture machinery company and is making technology accessible and affordable for rural India.

Favorite Cuisine: Rajasthani
Favorite Book: Romancing the Balance Sheet by Anil Lamba
Favorite Travel Destination: Cold regions