Sumant Sinha, CFO, A.V. Birla Group:, Masterminding strategy

Till a few years ago, a finance chief at an archetypal Indian corporation was a bit like the white cobra guarding the king's treasure in Kipling's Jungle Book. His agenda was single-point: To ensure that nobody but the owners put their hand into the till. Sometimes, as in the Jungle Book story, the finance head would become the fall guy: When the cobra attacks Mowgli (Kipling's child protagonist) for attempting to pick up a golden elephant goad, Mowgli with some help from Bagheera (the black panther) grounds the snake into the ground. White Hood loses his poison tooth. He's become old, but harmless-just like many of those finance heads, who were more of storekeepers and glorified accountants slithering sinuously all over the lala's cash box till hell's tyrant struck (either the lala or the storekeeper).

It's a bit different these days. The finance honcho for starters has been rechristened the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at most organisations. But that's just the surface. Scratch it a little, and you'll discover his entire role has changed. No more is he the beancounter in the background, reporting financial numbers to the boss. If yesterday the finance officer's role was to support decision-making, today he's the one making the decisions, pitchforked into the deep end of corporate strategy. If he isn't negotiating an M&A deal, he's either wielding the axe on costs, or pushing for an exit from non-core businesses, or seeking to cost-effectively raise capital internationally for growth, or managing risk, or feeding information to investors, even as he maintains that sensitive balance between investments and expenditure. To carry the Jungle Book analogy to its conclusion, the CFO is now a combination of Akela the wolf, Baloo the bear and Bagheera: He's a leader, he knows the law of the financial jungle, as well as all the mystifications of corporate life. As Vadlamani Srinivas, 43, CFO, Satyam Computer, points out: "The task has shifted from counting to growing the beans."

Anil Singhvi, Gujarat Ambuja M&A Maniac For the past five years, Anil Singhvi, Executive Director, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, has been on one mission: raising capital. "That's essential to fuel growth, either via fresh capacity or via acquisitions." His agenda for the next three years is fairly predictable: More acquisitions, as Ambuja targets the No. 1 perch in the cement sweepstakes. D.D. Rathi, Grasim Dyed in the Fibre If promoters envy Kumar Mangalam Birla, it's more for the depth of talent he enjoys than his commodities' capacities. Whilst there's Sumant Sinha in charge of the A.V. Birla group's finance function, he's got his trusted, experienced lieutenant, D.D. Rathi, at flagship Grasim. To Rathi must go the credit of transforming Grasim from a highly-diversified behemoth into a sharply focused cement and viscose staple fibre-maker. Mahesh Gupta, RPG Group, Low-profile Performer After close to 20 years with Ajay Piramal, Mahesh Gupta took charge as CFO of the RPG group a little over a year ago. Whilst Piramal is known for his nose for acquisitions, it was Gupta who was the behind-the-scenes planner. Those skills will resurface at RPG. "M&A will be critical at RPG too," avers Gupta. Ishaat Hussain, Tata Sons Likely Successor He's one of the four members of Tata's group executive office, handles the group's finance function and is also Chairman of group companies like Voltas and Tata Finance. Hussain's been at the vanguard of the restructuring aimed at giving the group a 'new' economy bias. D. Sundaram, HLL Against All Odds That Hindustan Lever has been able to squeeze out profits even as its key markets remain flat is thanks to the never-ending initiatives of its Finance Director, D. Sundaram on the cost management and supply chain fronts. Just one example: If Lever is saving all of Rs 1,000 crore in packaging costs, it's thanks to Sundaram, who firmly believes cost-reduction isn't a "cul-de-sac". Amen. Praveen Kadle, Tata Engineering Axe-man The Indica may have contributed to the turnaround at Tata Engineering, but don't forget the efforts of the finance team, lead by Praveen Kadle, ED (Finance & Corporate Affairs). In two years, the company was able to cut costs by Rs 630 crore. Think what would happen if the economy turns around, sales boom, and Kadle continues to wield the axe... Suresh Senapaty, Wipro (Big) Numbers Man Azim Premji's numbers man is a part of the charmed inner circle at Wipro. Since taking over as the CFO of the group in 1995, 46-year-old Suresh Senapaty-a Premji loyalist for 23 years-has seen market cap spurt from less than half-a-billion dollars to around $6 billion today. He was also the pivot in getting Wipro listed on the NYSE. Mohandas Pai, Infosys Transparent Troubadour Infosys is known for blazing a trail, and in finance, T.V. Mohandas Pai, the tall, well-built 45-year-old CFO has done his bit by setting standards in transparency. In a recent conversation with BT, Pai had mentioned that "the emerging role of the CFO is that of an advisor to the CEO on strategic issues". Touche. Ravi Sud, Hero Honda Market (and wealth) creator There may be a question mark hovering over Hero Honda sustaining the heady growth it's been used to, but here's what kick-started the process. In 1998, Ravi Sud, VP (Finance), tied up with Centurion Bank to provide motorcycle finance. This was done at a time when motorcycles were sold against a waiting period. Result: the market exploded, and Hero Honda raced to the top. It's time now for another brainwave from the gutka-chewing Sud. Arun Duggal, HCL Technologies Trendsetter In September 2002, Arun Duggal pushed for stopping the issuance of corporate guidance, a practice that had come under fire after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. The idea was finally accepted by the board after a long debate, as there was a risk of inviting the wrath of the investors and analysts. Another first for Duggal. Vadlamani Srinivas, Satyam Computer Services Bean-grower The task has shifted from counting to growing the beans,'' asserts Vadlamani Srinivas, 43, peering over his IBM Thinkpad. Heading a 100-strong team, Srinivas has through timely maneuvers changed Satyam's investor profile. "Now, 60 per cent is held by these discerning FIIs and foreign investors who cannot be fooled.'' V.S. Vasudevan, Dr Reddy's Financial Physician At 32, he joined as financial controller. Today, he's 51, with an 80-people finance team, and an IPO, a GDR and an ADR behind him. Today, V.S. Vasudevan has moved on from what he was doing 19 years ago-financial reporting and jaw-jawing with regulators. As lynchpin of Dr Reddy's management council, the greying-at-the-edges CA is looking ahead, gauging the industry outlook and valuing intangibles that an R&D-driven company possesses.

At India Inc today, the CFO brigade is a treasure trove mix of the old and the new-fashioned. Whilst stalwarts like Anil Singhvi of Gujarat Ambuja Cements, D. Sundaram of Hindustan Lever, Ravi Sud of Hero Honda and Suresh Senapaty of Wipro have emerged as proven strategists of their respective companies, a new breed of young, savvy and dynamic CFOs are beginning to call the shots at some of India's hottest, high-profile corporations. There's Sumant Sinha, the 36-year-old former New York-based debt capital markets specialist from ING Barings putting together the corporate finance blueprint at the A.V. Birla Group (he also happens to be the son of India's External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha). N.S. Kannan, CFO, ICICI Bank, has his eye on the new "windows of opportunity" that keep opening up. Ravi Ramu, the 44-year-old CFO of Jerry Rao's Mphasis, relies on his exposure in Amsterdam and the UK with KPMG to give the company a global profile. And Deepak Ghaisas, who besides being CFO of i-flex is also CEO of the India operations, spends half of his time negotiating with international clients in over 30 countries in a bid to convince them to buy his products.

The CFO's Quiver

Clearly, the CFO today has to be at the cutting edge of his company's growth ambitions. And that's why, more than accounting and storekeeping qualifications, the most effective arrow a CFO can have in his quiver is a comprehensive understanding of the business. That's why stints in other departments of the company matter a great deal. Consider S. Mahalingam who took over as CFO of TCS early this year. Now Mahalingam is no spring chicken at India's it services pioneer, having spent decades across various functions-both in India and overseas-including consulting, marketing, education and human resources. He's also been one of the key drivers in the expansion of TCS' offshore development initiatives. "A background in business and a grounding in industry are imperative for a CFO today," says Mahalingam, whose primary mandate currently is to see through TCS' impending initial public offering. The 38-year-old Kannan of ICICI Bank too points out that "exposure to business lines" is vital. He should know. Not only has he moved across the liability and assets sides of ICICI Bank's business over the past 12 years before taking over as CFO in April, he also did a shopfloor stint pre-ICICI, which holds him in good stead. Ghaisas of i-flex says "basic qualifications matter only at the entry level. After that aptitude-for technology in my case-along with common sense, focus and passion matter."

For companies chasing growth, acquisitions, divestments, cost management and raising capital will always be the key prongs of business strategy. Up close to those game plans, along with the CEOs, are the CFOs. Consider M&A. Grasim's audacious bid for Larsen & Toubro is being marshalled by Sinha. Head-on competitor Anil Singhvi, Executive Director, Gujarat Ambuja, is looking forward to three years of hectic takeover activity, after spending the past five years growing capacity via a judicious mix of greenfield projects and acquisitions, including the (in)famous "strategic alliance" with acc.

It isn't just studying valuations and the viability of an acquisition that's the role of the CFO. He also needs to raise the money to buy out the target. Zubin Dubash, when CEO of Tata Financial Services (he's now ed, Finance, at Indian Hotels), was the moving force behind the largest acquisition-a cross-border one, to boot-made by an Indian company. When Tata Tea pocketed Tetley for £280 million, it was Dubash who had to study the risks involved in raising £210 million from the debt markets (the Tatas could invest only £70 million as equity). It wasn't easy, but Dubash's negotiation skills with lenders came to the fore, and eventually triumphed.

Ramu today plays advisor to CEO Jerry Rao. When Mphasis zeroed in on the Shanghai-based Navion Software, Ramu urged Rao to make the acquisition as it would help Mphasis get a redundancy centre outside India as well as access to a huge resource base Ravi Ramu, CFO, Mphasis

Raising finance also helps the CFO earn his spurs when the company is still a fledgling. Take, for instance, the challenge that stared Akhil Gupta, Joint MD, Bharti Enterprises, in the face, when he joined the company as Director (Finance) in 1994. Sunil Mittal was taking aggressive steps into the big league by implementing 24 telecom licences. Required at that time: finance in any form, be it equity or term loans or via JVs or an IPO. Gupta did all that. And more. He raised $175 million in the primary markets, and more recently $500 million via overseas project financing. In the past two years, the group has raised $1.2 billion in equity. But the deal closest to Gupta's heart is the $58 million he pouched from Telecom Italia in 1996. "We were small then. That money laid the foundation for our subsequent growth."

In-house Investment Bankers

It's such consummate deal-making abilities that promoters today are looking for in a wannabe CFO. That's one good reason why the Goenkas of RPG Enterprises roped in Mahesh Gupta as finance honcho a little over a year ago. Gupta has spent close to 20 years with Ajay Piramal, piloting his acquisitive binge from behind the scenes. Now Gupta is attempting to repeat that magic at RPG, after spending close to a year analysing the group's portfolio. He set the ball rolling by restructuring tyre company Ceat: The rubber plantations of Harrisons Malayalam have been merged into Ceat even as unremunerative investments have been shed off the balance sheet.

Indeed, if acquisitions are now part-and-parcel of a CFO's repertoire, divestments aren't far behind. When reviewing the RPG portfolio, Gupta also took the view that businesses that are "small" should be exited. Result? The Goenkas are now on the hunt for a buyer for pharma business, RPG Life Sciences. In his earlier stint with Ivega, Mphasis' Ravi Ramu decided to hawk its legacy as/400 maintenance and training activities. "Even in 2000 when companies were taking on any and all kind of work, I was clear that we had to focus on certain niches to grow. The legacy maintenance business did not have substantial margins. I, therefore, advised the management that it was time to sell that business," recollects Ramu, who you could say has finance running through his veins: His father was Managing Director of LIC and his uncle CFO of the Tata Group in the early seventies.

When i-flex was founded in 1993 (as CITL then), Ghaisas had $1 million as capital, a Rs 3-crore overdraft, a Rs 8-crore loan, 2,500 sq feet of office space and 25 people. Today, he has 2.5 lakh sq feet, 2,500 people and a Rs 500-crore balance Deepak Ghaisas, CFO and CEO (India Operations), i-flex

M&A might be one way to add value for India Inc, but in times when demand conditions are trying and growth proves elusive, squeezing out inefficiencies from manufacturing processes and systems are one surefire way to keep earnings afloat. Praveen Kadle of Tata Engineering and D. Sundaram of HLL know a thing or two about this art. If Lever has been able to show double-digit profits in flat markets, it's thanks to the cost-management efforts of Sundaram. For instance, he's saved Rs 1,000 crore on packaging alone, and is efficiently managing working capital by connecting into 80 per cent of his stockists. And cost-rationalisation is a never-ending exercise for Sundaram. Ditto for Kadle, who's saved Rs 630 crore in two years by keeping a tight rein on material costs, and restructuring working capital and debt.

In today's environment, where shareholder is king, such efforts don't count for much if they aren't communicated to shareholders. And that's why investor relations has become a core responsibility of CFOs today. As Kannan of ICICI Bank points out: "Pressure on performance of CFO has increased. Investor awareness has increased, and investors are more broad-based. For instance, we have to ensure we meet expectations of an investor in Luxembourg or London, or from some widow or orphan fund overseas."

CFOs are doubtless the CEOs' foremost henchmen today. The reliance on the CFO by the chief also gives the finance honcho a very realistic shot at the top slot. Few finance chiefs of India Inc have made it to the top, but that might soon change. T.V. Mohandas Pai, CFO, Infosys, is one of those tipped to be Nilekani's successor. At i-flex, Ghaisas is also CEO of the India operations. And at the Tata Group, Ishaat Hussain, one of the four members of the elite group executive office who's at the vanguard of the effort to give the group a new-age focus, could well take over the reins from Tata once he signs off. That's the CFO for you today: In the thick of things, and soon on top of it all.

additional reporting by Suveen K. Sinha, Sahad P.V., E. Kumar Sharma, Venkatesha Babu

Mahalingam's background in operations allows him to take a pragmatic long-term view when it comes to investments vs expenditure. For instance, when cutting costs he's careful to check that he isn't sacrificing revenue-generating potential S. Mahalingam, CFO, Tata Consultancy Services	Kannan sees himself as the bridge between the internal and external environment of ICICI Bank. Internally, he focuses on value management, process improvements, effective deployment of capital and risk management. Externally, stakeholder accountability is the buzzword N.S. Kannan, CFO, ICICI Bank	According to Gupta, the only change in the CFO's role is that his canvas has become wider. Earlier, for instance, an Indian CFO's financing options started and ended with ICICI, IDBI and IFCI. Today, he can borrow from virtually anywhere in the globe Akhil Gupta, Joint MD, Bharti Enterprises