Ajay Harinath Singh Greatest Brand Leader 2018-2019

Anoop Kumar Saxena
Cementing Bonds of
Trust, Hope & Aspirations
Efficiently contributing to the thriving cement industry of the nation under the capacity of CEO of Vicat
in India, Anoop Kumar Saxena is driving the organisation to uncharted territories of success by virtue of
his rich experience of more than 3 decades in the cement industry, dynamic leadership qualities, strong
business acumen, clear vision and passion
As the second largest producer of
cement in the world, India has a lot
of potential for development in the
infrastructure and construction sector and
the cement sector is expected to benefit
immensely from it. The latter is a significant
part of its economy, providing employment
to more than a million people, directly or
indirectly. Since its deregulation in 1982,
the Indian cement industry has attracted
huge investments, both from Indian
as well as foreign investors. One such
foreign investor is Vicat Group, a French
multinational company, which entered the
Indian cement industry in 2008 with a
joint venture as a part of its international
expansion strategy. For further expanding
its footprint in India, Vicat acquired a major
stake in Bharathi Cement Corporation
Private Limited in 2010.
Anoop Kumar Saxena started
spearheading Kalburgi Cement (a 100%
subsidiary of Vicat Group) as Director
in March’12. Instrumental in setting the
first Greenfield project for Vicat in India,
Anoop not only made it a huge success
but also established a strong market
footprint within a short span of time and
took Kalburgi Cement to greater heights.
He was the one who launched the brand
‘Vicat’ in India. In January’13, he took
the responsibilities as Chief Operating
Officer of Vicat India operations and since
July’17, he has been successfully heading
the organisation in the capacity of Chief
Executive Officer.
Carrying Forward a Legacy
The rich history of Vicat group dates back to
the nineteenth century when the founding
father of Vicat Group, Louis Vicat invented
artificial cement in 1817 and his son
Joseph Vicat established the first cement
factory in 1853. Today, the group has a
strong presence in 11 countries namely
France, US, Turkey, Senegal, Switzerland,
Egypt, Italy, Mali, Kazakhstan, Mauretania
and India with more than 30MT cement
capacity. The group has 7,700+ team
members across the globe striving towards
delivering superior quality cement. The
last decade saw the group’s rapid growth
by commissioning of multiple plants and
making ‘Vicat’ a renowned cement brand
across continents.
To carry forward a legacy is no child’s
play. More so when it is a 199 year old
unmatched legacy of an international group
with varied interests in many verticals
namely cement, ready-mixed concrete,
concrete product (Precast) and aggregates
with a global turnover of € 2,292B. However,
owing to his able leadership skills, Anoop
is doing this job with much poise and élan.
Early Leanings
A Mechanical Engineer from MITS,
Gwalior, Anoop holds a post graduate
degree in Industrial Engineering & Process
Optimisation from National Institute in
“Employees are key asset of every leader
and a good employee can change the fate
of an organisation”
Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Powai,
Mumbai. He has undergone extensive
Leadership Coaching at IMD, Lausanne,
Switzerland and at ISB, Hyderabad.
Having started his career with Lohia
Starlinger in 1985, he went on to join ACC
(a group company of Holcim, Switzerland
in India) the following year. In his last
tenure with ACC, he was heading a cluster
in Karnataka having two integrated
cement plants and two split grinding
units and led the organisation to an
unprecedented growth in plant operations
and achieved a significant turnaround of
various low profitable units. He has a vast
experience in handling large projects and
has been instrumental in erecting and
commissioning of “World’s Largest Clinker
Production line” at ACC Wadi in Gulbarga
district of Karnataka.
A People Person
Anoop’s strength lies in his dynamic
leadership ability. He possesses excellent
people management skills, decision
making ability and team building traits.
He is of the view that aligning employees
with the company’s vision is the toughest
task and the one who is able to accomplish
it achieves the best results. He rightly
asserts, “I believe that leadership starts
with people’s faith towards a person who
drives for a cause for the betterment of
the company, society and country. Faith
develops by influence, with or without
authority. I prefer leading the change with
support of people and their faith in the
cause.”
A versatile person, Anoop is a swift
decision maker, who retains this ability
even under pressure situations. Being well
aware of the fact that execution of ideas is
the key to success in today’s competitive
world, he ensures that his team performs
the assigned tasks with dedication. He
elaborates, “I believe in my colleagues and
empower them with clear communication,
involve them in decision-making and
provide them with all necessary support
for delivering the objective and achieving
the goal.”
He firmly believes that “Employees
are key asset of every leader and a good
employee can change the fate of an
organisation.” His mantra for success
is to “engage, inspire and empower
your people.” An innate optimist, Anoop
stresses that a leader should have a firm
belief in himself and his team and should
“never be afraid of failures as there is a
lot to learn from every failure.” He is of
the view that in order to stay competitive
always, one should set stretch targets.
Garnering awards & accolades
Under Anoop’s quintessential leadership,
Vicat in India has been awarded with
numerous awards and accolades. He has
received “Inspirational Leaders Award
2018” at UK-Asia Business Summit 2018
in London. He also represented India at the
“Green Energy Implementation in Cement
industry in India” at Yokohama, Japan.
The group companies of Vicat in India are
progressing day by day towards excellence
under his able leadership.
He is a role model for aspiring
entrepreneurs. His message to them is,
“There is no substitute to hard work.
Always make jobs of your employees
enjoyable by engaging them in various
interesting assignments. In today’s world,
continual improvement is not sufficient; we
need to have a quantum jump.
30 | india’s greatest leaders 2019-20 |