NANDAN NILEKANI: the chosen one

Now that Nandan Mohan Nilekani is moving into the corner room at India's most-watched software company, Infosys, the question that must be asked is this: just how exactly will things change at the poster-company? Our reading: not too significantly. Sure, the 46-year-old Nilekani is sauve, believes in living it up (he's got a swank bungalow in upmarket Koramangala unlike N.R. Narayana Murthy's middle-class Jayanagar house), and is more cut-and-dry. But don't forget one thing: when it comes to business philosophy, he's cast in the same mould as Murthy. That's only to be expected. Both are a product of IIT (Nilekani, Mumbai and Murthy, Kanpur), both met up at Patni Computers, where they decided to co-found Infosys. Also don't forget that for a few years now, it was Nandan-as the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the company-who had been leading Infosys, while Murthy devoted his time to various government bodies and chambers of commerce, brainstorming larger issues facing the industry and economy. So, in a way, Murthy has already made sure that there are no major changes when he finally steps down as CEO on March 31, 2002.

N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY: time for a new role

If there's anything that daunts Nilekani, it is having to fill in his celebrated colleague's shoes. ''Given (Murthy's) near-iconic status, that is not going to be an easy task,'' he says. ''But,'' he points out, ''he is not going away anywhere.'' That's right. In fact, Murthy is even keeping his room. While his new role as Chief Mentor might mean him having to expend more energy on the Infosys Leadership Institute (and potentially even relocate to Mysore, his home town), he will certainly continue to be part of Infosys' think-tank. The core team too-comprising the other five founders, and senior executives-is intact.

Besides, there's good reason why Murthy chose Nilekani. The latter cut his teeth in markets like the US, where he was in charge of worldwide sales and marketing between 1981 and 1986. Within the company, he's known to be a perceptive strategist and an outstanding communicator. And if Infosys ever needed those qualities in its CEO, it is now.

Watchdog To Supercop

D.R. MEHTA: will it be a kick upstairs?

An all-embracing super-regulator for the financial sector has been talked about for a while now. But what the industry didn't expect was the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman D.R. Mehta to be in the race. No, not because Mehta doesn't have the needed profile. In fact, as the stockmarket watchdog he should be the obvious choice. Rather, it is his poor showing in handling a series of high-profile stockmarket related scams-including stock price rigging in 1998, and insider trading-that weighed against him. Mehta himself, though, is pretty clueless about the goings-on at North Block. Says he: ''Neither did I approach anybody nor did anyone approach me regarding this subject. So where is the question of becoming a super-regulator?'' Just the same, the rationale for a super-regulator is compelling. Financial sector firms typically have inter-related businesses, which is why developed markets like those of the UK and Japan have a single regulator. For instance, the London Financial Services Authority regulates banking, capital markets, housing societies, and NBFCs. But in India will Mehta be the one? Watch this space....

Predator's Problem

N. SRINIVASAN: a change of heart

Three years ago he shocked the conservative corporate circles in south by mounting a hostile raid on his one-time friend B.V. Raju's Raasi Cement and Sri Vishnu Cement. Now it seems the soft-spoken predator and CEO of India Cements, N. Srinivasan, had some trouble digesting the takeovers. Last fortnight he sold his stake in Sri Vishnu to rival Zuari Cements, which is an equally-owned joint venture between Italcementi's Ciments Francais and K.K. Birla's flagship Zuari Industries. The problem? To finance the acquisitions, Srinivasan had taken on expensive debt. At last count, India Cement's books showed Rs 1,800 crore of debt. The Rs 385-crore deal will lighten the company's burden to some extent. Sri Vishnu's 1-million tonnes of cement capacity going out of India Cements' fold will also downsize Srinivasan's ambition of being, one day, the largest cement producer in the country. But Srinivasan obviously thinks that it's better to be small than dead.