Entrepreneur India – July 2019

32 l ENTREPRENEUR l JULY 2019

>> Rama is a

national level

basketball player.

>> She is also an

author with a

published journal

in the field of

medicine.

>> She was a

member of flying

club and chess

club in her college.

>> She is passionate

about wildlife

conservation.

T

he fifth generation entrepreneur,
Rama Sanjay Kirloskar hails
from the influential Kirloskar
family, the owner of the legendary
$2.1-billion Kirloskar Group. She
feels the responsibility of taking the
company forward and doesn’t think her
gender is any hindrance in achieving
the same. “Two pre-requisite qualities
for being a leader are confidence and
competence. As long as you have both
of those, leading an organization will
not be difficult,” she asserts. Kirloskar
is the Managing Director of Kirloskar
Ebara Pumps, a joint venture between
Ebara Corporation, Japan and Kirloskar
Brothers, the parent company of the
130-year-old Kirloskar Group.
“Family businesses have a very
ingrained culture. Changing with the
times can be slightly difficult for old
companies,” confesses Kirloskar. She has
been working towards bringing in new
technology and digitizing operations
of the company. ”We are trying to
streamline operations to monitor
productivity, look at where the product
is in the entire supply chain and make
processes more efficient by bringing
some kinds of automation in the plant,”
she says. Kirloskar holds a double major
in Mathematics and Biology from Bryn
Mawr College, USA. “The interdisciplinary
approach has given me a different
perspective on the business. Today is
all about being multidisciplinary,” she
explains. Kirloskar Ebara Pumps already
has operations in the United Kingdom,
the Netherlands, Egypt and Thailand,
among other countries. “We want to be
a global brand. Penetrating into other
markets of strategic interest is on our
radar,” shares Kirloskar.
She joined her family business in

2014. She has worked as the General
      Manager and Head of Product Portfolio
      Management at Kirloskar Brothers Limited.
      Later she shifted to Kirloskar Ebara Pumps
      Limited, a new venture by the company.
      “After seeing my work in the Kirloskar
      Group my father felt that I was ready to
      take up a new role,” she shares.

RAMA KIRLOSKAR, Managing Director,
Kirloskar Ebara Pumps

THE PUMP

MODERNISER