UDAY KOTAK: He's got the banking licence, but now he must think like a banker

Sometimes, good things in life take time. Uday Kotak, 44, knows that only too well. Sixteen years ago, when he set up his financial services company, he knew that one day he would be a banker. The wait has proved a long one, but Kotak isn't complaining-now that he has received the final approval from the RBI. ''The RBI approval is a significant step towards the realisation of our vision,'' says Kotak, whose Kotak Mahindra becomes the first finance company ever to get a banking licence. The Kotak Mahindra Bank will commence operations shortly, with a net worth of Rs 500 crore and a paid up capital of Rs 60 crore. But running a bank is a completely different ballgame, as Kotak will soon discover.

Job Well Done

Four years ago, 'milk man' Verghese Kurien fought to install his protégé Amrita Patel as the Chairperson of National Dairy Development Board. He won. But today the maker of Amul must be ruing his victory. For, the 59-year-old Patel is moving double quick to strike joint ventures with other state cooperatives to take on not just private sector competitors, but Amul. Patel has even managed to convince the Prime Minister to make suitable amendments to the Company's Act to give state co-ops greater freedom. Kurien thinks co-ops should remain co-ops and not turn corporate. Although Patel seems set to clinch this battle, Kurien may win even in his defeat. After all, he taught her how to win.

D.S. BRAR: In search of a new horizon

Moving Country?

Not yet, but don't be surprised if he does. For now, though, Ranbaxy CEO D.S. Brar will divide time between his home in New Delhi and a new one in the US (it could be in New Jersey). The move follows Ranbaxy's growing focus on the American market, which currently accounts for more than a third of its revenues. A five-member team there will help Brar with M&As and global licensing. MNCEO?

YASHOVARDHAN SABOO: He's got muscle

Clock Wise

Fine, the Swiss make the best watches. But did you know that one of the world's four independent watch-hand makers is based in Parwanoo? The distinction for that goes to Yashovardhan Saboo, 44, the CEO of the Rs 40-crore Kamla Dials and Devices. As recently as 1994, Saboo was a hosiery-needle seller, and forayed into watch hands in 1996 because it was "not a viable business for big companies''. Now he plans to set up a chain of watch stores across the country under the Ethos brand. Watch this man.

AMAL GANGULI: Bidding adieu after a long innings

Goodbye To Bean-Counting

When Amal Ganguli joined pricewaterhouse's Delhi office three decades ago, one had to wait 10 years for a telephone connection, eight to buy a Premier Padmini, and the most advanced computing device one could buy in India was the comptometer (huh?). As the 62-year-old Ganguli prepares to step down as PWC (the Coopers bit came much later) India's Chairman on March 31, he's seen the world change like few have. Post retirement, Ganguli wants to help change the "erosion in perception" that the accounting business has suffered from recently, although he doesn't have a plan yet. Besides, he wants to get a degree in English literature, learn Sanskrit, and potter around in a newly acquired farmhouse near Manesar, Delhi. After years of beancounting, finally bliss.

INDRA NOOYI: Full of fizz

Closing In

So is she finally going to become PepsiCo's CEO? Don't bet on it yet, but things are headed in the right direction for the Coimbatore-bred Indra Nooyi. In a recent move, the cola and foods giant has put more on the 47-year-old's plate. In addition to being PepsiCo's President and CFO, Nooyi will be responsible for directing major cross-divisional moves in portfolio innovation, productivity and systems. She's already proved her mettle by helping engineer multi-billion-dollar deals, leading many Pepsi observers to believe that she is the next ''general-in-waiting'' (Forbes even said so in a cover story recently). But for Nooyi herself, more responsibility equals business as usual.

-contributed by Suveen K. Sinha, Abir Pal, Moinak Mitra, Seema Shukla, and Debojyoti Chatterjee