Yaswant Mishra: An Archetype of Modesty, Diligence & Passion
Yaswant Mishra
President (Corporate) & CFO
Since he plunged into the world of industry very early, he wasn’t able to dedicate time for his family business. Nevertheless today, Yaswant is infused with profound professional experience & expertise, and stands as an inspiration to all emerging professionals. He has always been a modest yet diligent worker across all his roles at diverse fields, while bubbling with the same, unadulterated passion for work even today. Moreover, Kolkata has always been Yaswant’s home, as he was born there and has spent a significant amount of his career time in the city.
In an exclusive interaction with CEO Insights, Yaswant has spoken in detail about his professional journey along with his personal life.
Brief us about your stints at EY and Kesoram Industries, prior to joining Mangalam Cement.
Before plunging into EY, I pursued Bachelor of Commerce at Jaipuria College and was later inclined to study MBA. But I eventually ended-up as a Chartered Accountant. Right at the beginning of my CA course,I was scouting for opportunities to pursue articleship and later got selected by EY. It was here I was bestowed with multiple opportunities to work with diverse industries, which helped me in learning a great deal and also gain variegated experiences.
Besides amiable work environment, great sense of discipline and topnotch solutions at EY, I was extremely fortunate to have worked with senior partners R.K. Agarwal
and A.C. Chakrabortti. Nonetheless, I had the most intriguing moments during my stint here with our typists when computers were not there. Being well experienced in generating reports, they used to suggest us intricate details we missed out and also guided us on new sections that could also be added.
Post this articleship at EY, I moved-on to Kesoram Industries, a part of B K Birla Group of Companies. I take utmost pride in not just being the integral part of the Group for almost 25 years, but also in working closely with Respected Basant Kumarji Birla, who was a veteran industrialist and my biggest source of inspiration. It was indeed profoundly exciting and motivating to have worked with him for a period of over 16 years. During the initial 11 years of my tenure with the group, I was engaged in various roles, and during 2006-13, I was assigned the role to head the Marketing & Finance functions of the Cement division and also headed its Cement Division for few years. At the same period, being in the same group, I was also given the responsibility of marketing & commercial functions of Mangalam Cement. Today, it’s my honour to be in charge of the firm’s corporate affairs as well as finance functions. Altogether, it is a cheerful and exciting journey so far!
Share with us the various milestones Mangalam Cement has bagged in the recent times under your leadership.
With the prime aim to seek differentiation, Mangalam Cement has been endeavouring to optimize and innovate with minimal disruption to its operations, partners and customers. Thanks to its large investments in Industry 4.0 digital technologies and approaches, we have been able to deploy the might of IIoT and data to evolve into an agile, leaner, profitable and customer centric organization today. In fact we have successfully implemented an intelligent and effective enterprise management solution across all our facilities, which include four manufacturing plants, two captive power plants, 13 windmills, two captive mines and 55 distribution centres. We also have a new, single integrated IT platform in place for finance, marketing and operations that is helping us make
Yaswant is infused with profound professional experience & expertise and stands as an inspiration to all emerging professionals
Post this articleship at EY, I moved-on to Kesoram Industries, a part of B K Birla Group of Companies. I take utmost pride in not just being the integral part of the Group for almost 25 years, but also in working closely with Respected Basant Kumarji Birla, who was a veteran industrialist and my biggest source of inspiration. It was indeed profoundly exciting and motivating to have worked with him for a period of over 16 years. During the initial 11 years of my tenure with the group, I was engaged in various roles, and during 2006-13, I was assigned the role to head the Marketing & Finance functions of the Cement division and also headed its Cement Division for few years. At the same period, being in the same group, I was also given the responsibility of marketing & commercial functions of Mangalam Cement. Today, it’s my honour to be in charge of the firm’s corporate affairs as well as finance functions. Altogether, it is a cheerful and exciting journey so far!
Share with us the various milestones Mangalam Cement has bagged in the recent times under your leadership.
With the prime aim to seek differentiation, Mangalam Cement has been endeavouring to optimize and innovate with minimal disruption to its operations, partners and customers. Thanks to its large investments in Industry 4.0 digital technologies and approaches, we have been able to deploy the might of IIoT and data to evolve into an agile, leaner, profitable and customer centric organization today. In fact we have successfully implemented an intelligent and effective enterprise management solution across all our facilities, which include four manufacturing plants, two captive power plants, 13 windmills, two captive mines and 55 distribution centres. We also have a new, single integrated IT platform in place for finance, marketing and operations that is helping us make
fast, better informed decisions via realtime and data driven insights more in tune with supply chain & manufacturing operations, besides gaining increased operational efficiencies and transparency. We could convert 100 percent of our 16 weigh bridges from manned to unmanned ones. In the years to come, depending on market conditions, we hope to expand our current cement capacity of four MPTA (two cement plants) up to nine MTPA, for which necessary clearances are already in place
What are your thoughts on the significance of efficient teams in an organization?
I strongly adore and follow the saying ‘Tough times do not last, tough teams do!’ Regardless of tough times, I foster my team to work efficiently and always deliver their best even when odds might have been against them. Today, every organization is on the hunt to generate maximum output at optimal costs. Achieving this is a piece of cake only if the organization hones and retains a strong team of talented professionals.
What do you do during your free time?
Besides living my hobbies, I ensure to help my wife in managing her educational venture on Business Analytics. It is here we both collectively strive to develop talented students with phenomenal academic excellence, so that they become future-ready and outshine in the industry.
Key Management:
Yaswant Mishra, President (Corporate) & CFO
Having worked for diverse organizations and served multiple roles in B.K.Birla group, Yaswant currently spearheads the overall corporate affairs and financial functions of Mangalam Cement.
Achievements:
•CFO Innovation Award 2016 for Excellence in ERP Transformation on Asia’s Platform
•Participated in the Event Series ‘Art of the Possible’ at SAP Australia in 2017
Hobbies: Watching classic cinema, listening to music & reading books
Favourite Books: Hindi classics & fiction and Munshi Premchand’s works
For the Budding Professionals:
“Investing requisite amount of effort and inculcating the inquisitiveness to learn are extremely vital. At the initial stage of your career, work with a single-minded focus. This will help you enjoy both work and life all along!”
What are your thoughts on the significance of efficient teams in an organization?
I strongly adore and follow the saying ‘Tough times do not last, tough teams do!’ Regardless of tough times, I foster my team to work efficiently and always deliver their best even when odds might have been against them. Today, every organization is on the hunt to generate maximum output at optimal costs. Achieving this is a piece of cake only if the organization hones and retains a strong team of talented professionals.
What do you do during your free time?
Besides living my hobbies, I ensure to help my wife in managing her educational venture on Business Analytics. It is here we both collectively strive to develop talented students with phenomenal academic excellence, so that they become future-ready and outshine in the industry.
Key Management:
Yaswant Mishra, President (Corporate) & CFO
Having worked for diverse organizations and served multiple roles in B.K.Birla group, Yaswant currently spearheads the overall corporate affairs and financial functions of Mangalam Cement.
Achievements:
•CFO Innovation Award 2016 for Excellence in ERP Transformation on Asia’s Platform
•Participated in the Event Series ‘Art of the Possible’ at SAP Australia in 2017
Hobbies: Watching classic cinema, listening to music & reading books
Favourite Books: Hindi classics & fiction and Munshi Premchand’s works
For the Budding Professionals:
“Investing requisite amount of effort and inculcating the inquisitiveness to learn are extremely vital. At the initial stage of your career, work with a single-minded focus. This will help you enjoy both work and life all along!”