KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA

Every year, since he took charge in 1995, has been eventful for Kumar Mangalam Birla, but the Chairman of the Rs 27,000-crore A.V. Birla Group would easily rank 2003 as one of the more happening. It was the year in which Birla succeeded in acquiring L&T Cement, after a prolonged slugfest with the "professional" management of Larsen & Toubro, headed by MD A.M. Naik. The Birla camp's contention has always been that his group and L&T made a perfect fit because his management was as professional as the one that existed at L&T. Finally Naik did give in, and Birla today is one of the country's largest cement manufacturers. It was also the year in which Birla pulled off a cross-border deal by acquiring a 46,000-tonne copper mine Down Under. He's done 12 acquisitions in eight years, and it's this stress on inorganic growth that has helped him grow at a cumulative average rate of close to 18 per cent over the past eight years.

NIALL BOOKER
The Underdog Has His Day

Pre-2003 HSBC wasn't exactly perceived as an aggressive bank relative to most of its foreign siblings, and certainly not a candidate to acquire local private banks in a hurry. So, at a press-conference in Delhi, when Niall Booker announced his bank's Rs 306-crore spend for a 14.7 per cent stake in UTI Bank, it took everybody by surprise. The 45-year-old banker, who took over the Indian operations in November 2002, has been touring his company offices across the country and making presentations to employees on HSBC's performance in relation to its more aggressive rivals. Booker doesn't rule out further acquisitions and a foray into insurance is also likely. It's another matter that his golf handicap has slipped from an envious six to nine.

Y.V. REDDY
Ready And Willing

Continuity with change. That's the mantra of the 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the 60-year-old Yaga Venugopal Reddy. If you're wondering what that means, well for one, you could interpret it as status quo as far as interest rates go-for soon after taking over, the newly-anointed governor chose not to tinker with rates.

Prior to taking over at the RBI's helm, Reddy did a six-year stint as deputy governor in charge of monetary policy and internal debt management departments. This 1964 batch Indian Administrative Service officer, with a brilliant academic background, spent the first phase of his career drawing up plans for his home state Andhra Pradesh. He also served at the International Monetary Fund as an Executive Director. Perhaps the V in his name also stands for Versatility.

JASWANT SINGH
FM Shining

When the 65-year-old cavalryman finally completed his first Union Budget speech earlier this year, 135 minutes had elapsed since it began. It caught many by surprise-and if one may dare say, lulled quite a few to sleep too. Apparently it was supposed to be a 40-minute quickie, but if you're the fm you're entitled to go on and on. The capital market's initial reaction was tepid, but nonetheless the budget had something for everyone and Singh had then expected industry and trade to "stand up and seize the opportunity". Well, now the market is on a high, growth rates have picked up, forex reserves are booming, disinvestment is getting a second wind and Singh has commissioned a campaign suggesting India is Shining. However, the fiscal deficit continues to be uncomfortable and with the elections round the corner Singh will have to do a balancing act in his second budget. For now, he shines, along with most of India.

VIJAY MALLYA
Let The Good Times Roll

Almost every Friday evening, Vijay Mallya, member of the Rajya Sabha and Chairman of the UB group of companies, takes a flight out of Delhi and heads towards his Kingfisher Villa in North Goa. Over the weekend, he puts his feet up, and enjoys the Goan sunset, after partying Saturday night in his discotheque within the villa. On Monday morning, Mallya is back in Parliament. He doesn't have to worry too much about his liquor and beer companies, which are run by competent professionals. Probably the best brand ambassador the UB group could ever have is its Chairman itself.

GAUTAM SINGHANIA
Speed King

Mumbai's chattering class-all of 1,500-are probably still talking about Gautam Singhania's party on the third Saturday of December, which of course was duly lapped up by Page 3 content packagers. But the Chairman of the Raymond group of companies is much more than just another common party animal. Speed thrills Singhania. Whether he's on the fast-track or on water, he's got the insatiable desire to step on the gas. His two sports cars-a Lotus Elise and a Honda S2000-are now a regular at the increasingly-popular drag races around the country. And on an evening outside Mumbai's Gateway of India, you just might get a glimpse of Singhania at the wheel of one of his speedboats, opening up the throttle up to 40 knots an hour. Ask Singhania about his flamboyant lifestyle, and he'll promptly tell you: "I work hard for it too." The Chairman of Raymond certainly does, and is currently scouting for acquisitions in textiles and the branded menswear segment.

SCOTT MCNEALY
Messiah Cometh

It was his first visit to India. And he did it in style-right from making sales pitches for Sun, to that inevitable baiting of Microsoft, and the even more inevitable mega donation. In four days, the 48-year-old Chairman, President & CEO of Sun Microsystems covered New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai, and was at his sparkling best. When a journalist asked him about the future of Linux, he did his best to confuse him. "I don't know why you are getting so fixated on a piston (Linux). We sell cars (Solaris-sparc). In an interview with BT, he thundered: "We'll change the way people buy software." Amen.

AVANTI BIRLA
Woman On Top

We see her on page 3, we know she's the wife of industrialist Yash Birla, but what on earth does Avanti Birla do?" That may be your second question, because the first could well be: "What on earth does Yash Birla do?" But this piece is about Avanti Birla, and if you are one of the clueless masses who've been pondering over this very relevant question, BT has the answer. She runs a designer furniture store of her own, called Yantra. And that's not all, we can assure you. She also has an outfit called Birla Lifestyle, which operates a coffee shop called Coffee Mantra, a personal grooming advisory called Image Inc, and a hair salon called riah (hair spelt backwards, don't ask why). So if you don't see too much of Avanti Birla prancing on Page 3, you know where to find her.

VINOD SETHI
Lightning Moves

After 11 years with Morgan Stanley, and managing over $24 billion of investments in India at the time of leaving, Vinod Sethi decided it was time to do a few different things. So he founded Sethi Capital Inc., a New York-based private equity firm that would invest in companies of the future. Now you'd expect Sethi to know a thing or two about such companies; he was the chief investment officer and the day-to-day portfolio manager of the Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund. His investments include a mineral water maker (in which he holds a controlling stake), a waste management firm, and a software solutions provider listed in Scotland. Sethi's most exciting passion, as of May 2003, was Kung Fu. One wonders what he's up to now.

M. DAMODARAN
Miracle Man

He's the man with the magic touch. Pre-2003, the Unit Trust of India (UTI) looked like an entity whose future was bleak, its end near. The portfolio looked ragged, the reputation was tattered, and a mention of the brandname tended to get people abusive. By July 2003, the turnaround was in place: UTI MF, now a SEBI-compliant AMC, was able to mop up Rs 1,000 crore with its first scheme in just two days. The problem scheme, US 64, was given a decent burial in end-May. Today, UTI looks shipshape to take on the future. Damodaran, meantime, has taken charge of IDBI, where his task is rather simple: Perform another miracle.