Ajay Harinath Singh Greatest Brand Leader 2018-2019

Ajay Bhattacharya
Going Green and Adding
Value to Grow Together
Creating a more than two decades’ track record of exceptional triumphs, outstanding value additions
and a global network of thoroughly satisfied clients, partners and employees, Ajay Bhattacharya,
Managing Director of Fortrec Chemicals and Petroleum Pte Ltd, is a brilliant entrepreneur, quite
celebrated in the East, South and Southeast Asia
A
believer of growing together in the
community and the industry, Ajay
is active in the development of
college students at National University of
Singapore and the whole petrochemicals
industry worldwide.
Having studied Chemical Engineering
at the National University of Singapore
(NUS), and then fortifying his knowledge
and expertise through several educational
degrees at the Singapore Management
University (SMU); Stanford University
and Andrews University, Michigan, USA;
Ajay went on to pursue his passions and
earn superlative success, first founding
the company and hiring the best talent,
and then deftly growing it into various
sustainable business streams, all the while
ensuring that everyone grows together.
Owning a sharp entrepreneurial acumen,
he moved on to develop Fortrec as a very
people-centred and people-orientated
company, where he focused on Partner
before Products as a core value.
Believing in a subtle yet forceful
leadership style, Ajay feels, “A leader is best
when people barely knows he exists; when
his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will
say: ‘we did it ourselves’ – Lao Tzu (601–
531 BC). At Fortrec, the Management leads
by example, shares collective objectives
and responsibilities, and builds a cohesive
working team environment. I always have
an open door (literally).”
A thorough professional, Ajay has
always believed in independent thinking &
reporting, and has insisted on industry’s
best practices being adopted, and
consequently has been successful in
creating a strong Asian footprint with a
global network, via its subsidiaries in India,
Japan, Korea, Italy and Spain to name a
few to serve Fortrec clients globally.
Committed to growing and improving the
entire industry over the years, Ajay feels
that positive change can be brought through
creating a pressure for greener products, by
increasing material & price transparency,
and staying competitive. Aiming to create
an impact and great value in the industry,
he wishes to increase organizational assets
and investments under management in
the short-term, while increasing business
streams to bring into the fold of the Fortrec
Group and thus enhancing and increasing
brand value in the long term.
Having earned extraordinary professional
success through perseverance of more
than two decades, he acknowledges that
he draws his strength and support from his
equally successful personal life, “My faith
and family have been my life’s inspiration
and remains so. My wife is a bedrock of the
person that I am. My children anchor me to
“We constantly improve our strategy
& deliverables so they are relevant to
our customers & the industry. We work
within a frame but our eyes are always
on the big picture”
my beliefs as I impart values and move me
to an ever-changing world.”
Reputed & Committed
A leading provider of heavy aromatics,
which welcomes partnerships with strong
tried-and-tested players in the market,
locally and overseas, Fortrec under the
dynamic and insightful leadership of
Ajay has been offering both technological
expertise, crucial resources such as heavy
aromatics, and financial investments to
its clients all over the world. Gradually
cementing its position as a valuable partner
globally, Fortrec extends excellent services,
with customer orientation seen through
the provision of Asset Utilization Program
and Asset Enhancement Program, while
delivering its promises with great efficiency
and zero default.
Ajay says, “Our branding and presence
ties in with management’s objectives
and business model (as well as strategic
objectives) of being a Global commodity
player by having strong partnerships to
allow for lower-risk yet highly efficient
trading around assets.”
Following Ajay’s philosophy of delivering
complete satisfaction to all stakeholders
through holistic and supreme-quality
products & services, Fortrec’s expertise
lies in analyzing all parts of the product
lifecycle in order to drive efficiency and
mutual benefit, bringing investors and
new partners together to create original
solutions. As Ajay puts it, “We work within
a frame but our eyes are always on the big
picture.”
Together with Fortrec Capital – the
investment and asset management arm
of Fortrec Group – it has been acquiring
and managing equity positions in strategic
assets.
Expansion through Acquisition
Believing that growth of a company may
take several varied forms, Ajay has been
instrumental in Fortrec’s Private Equity/
Venture funds investment; acquiring a
solvent plant in Korea in 2018; setting
up joint ventures with Virgo Group
(Bangladesh), An Phat (Vietnam), Oman
(Middle East), Jiangsu Hualun (China), and
ANF Technology (Europe).
Ajay’s recent acquisition of Aromatic
Solvents Refinery in Ulsan, Korea has
helped him make a big leap downstream.
The Ulsan facility, which has a sixty
thousand (60,000) tonne a year capacity for
58 | india’s greatest leaders 2019-20 |