DSIJ Interview With Sh. Manoj Kumar Dubey Director (Finance), Container Corporation of India Ltd.

Please explain your top priorities as a CFO? 

Sh. Manoj Kumar Dubey Director (Finance), 

Chief Financial Officer Container Corporation of India Ltd.

Besides being zero tolerant to the adherence of accounting norms, auditing stipulations and taxation laws, growth comes in the forefront where finance becomes integral to the executive management team looking after capital markets and funding, the strategies taking the priorities are:

1.Continue to be the market leader in container operation and enter into other verticals like coastal shipping and distribution logistics making it an independent profit centre.

2,Explore new customer segments – even with tailor-made services, only on marginal incurrence of variable cost by further utilisation of installed capacity, viz., increasing container turnround by at least 15%, diminishing idle time to the extent of 30%, practically applying quantitative techniques of operations, aWhat are the key growth drivers/ levers of your company? nd so on.

3. Skill development, i.e., multiskilling, productivity of enterprise and inclusiveness of economic growth.

How is digitisation and technology influencing your company's operations?

Operation is the buzzword of our organisation – picking its letters from the alphabet of information. The effective use of digitisation and technology advancement have virtually enabled us to be a 24X7 organisation with increasing speed-accuracy-versatility-storage-data security. Paperless working, electronic files, on line to-and-fro B2C and B2B communications, sharing of real time information for management decisions on the basis of accounts, finance and operations data, keep us ahead of the contemporaries and competitors .

What are the key risks facing Indian economy in your view?

The Indian economy has registered moderately high economic growth by 7.3% in 2018, contributing sectors include manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply; construction, and public administration and defence. The fiscal deficit recorded a little higher than the budgeted target for that year, mainly due to lower revenue realisation and rise in expenditure, with the debt-to-GDP ratio remaining high (67%). Natural resources are the cornerstone of any developing economy; but to achieve the next level of development, the most important of the resources is human resource. In spite of being a late entrant in this domain, with the 'Make in India' and 'Skill India Mission', India is heading towards becoming a leader in knowledge-based global economy.

What are the key growth challenges facing your company?

We expect that our executives are not just faceless ones, should be committed to lead the organisation navigating radical changes efficiently and effectively, competing in the rapidly changing world – using the knowledge capital, big data and sustainability. Precisely, finance is the common denominator and the principal guide for achieving growth. Product differentiation is an essential means for maintaining distinction under competitive environment. Though the price of the service is mainly marketdriven, understanding competitors' pricing is an emphasised arena of the high performers. The cost is the area where management and control can be exercised greatly and should be dealt with high professional precision and expertise, maintaining quality to withstand the pressure of competition. Besides cost identification, cost assessment and cost reduction thereof as a tool for optimum pricing of the product, it is also critical to have a full understanding of how customer 'value' is created for contributing to wealth maximisation.

What are the key growth drivers/ levers of your company?

The dedicated working force and the committed officers are our drivers which make the enterprise self-propelling one towards excellence. The interdepartmental harmony and cohesion has perpetually led CONCOR to achieve a greater synergy.

The levers, on the other hand, are its debt-equity pattern, capacity utilisation, fixed cost absorption, capitalisation of profit, return on investment and the price vs earning scenario. But, above all, our valued customers have all along been the greatest leverage in our way to achieve excellence 

What skill-sets are a must to be a successful CFO of a company?

The triangle of CFO's functions are viewed from the vertices of: Management and operational control, owners' viewpoint and lenders' evaluation, accounts and taxation being the rudimentary part, the financial analysis and planning, capital markets and funding, profitability and cash flow, strategy formulation and implementation, and revenue management are the skill areas where a successful CFO of a company is expected to have the command.

In consonance with Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth US President, "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of facts within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe disciplines of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity."

What is the single most challenging aspect of being a CFO?

VISION. If you are simply planning an office picnic at an unknown jungle fifty kilometers away, your team cannot afford to start unless some firsthand information is gathered by sending anybody there beforehand. There is no such facility available for you to know what is enveloped in the fog of uncertainty five years hence; it is the vision which might enable you to act in the proper way, leading to minimum or no gap between the forethought and the actual taking into account all the variables.

How has the role of a CFO evolved over the years?

Previously, the finalisation of accounts was the foremost expectation from a CFO, followed by a tight-fisted financial controlling ability. Over the years, with the advent of computerised and artificial intelligence-based book-keeping, finalisation of accounts hardly needs any intervention from the high echelons. But decision-making on the basis of uncertainty analysis and analysing the sensitivity and correlation amongst the business parameters has occupied the driver's seat towards the mutual rubbing of shoulders with the board Members in strategy formulation. Dealing with the stakeholders of different facets and bringing equilibrium among the conflicting variables to a critical constant is the role which puts the CFO a cut above.

What is the growth outlook for your company?

Container Corporation of India Limited strives to achieve double digit growth in its top line and bottom line for the next 5-year horizon in the CTO business. In fact, this is in line of the performance for the last couple of financial years.

Apart from the core business of container train operation, the company has already successfully ventured into two new verticals as profit centres, viz. coastal shipping and distribution logistics, which are going to add synergy to the existing business model. The company aspires to give complete 3PL solution to its customers with an intent to take it to 4PL and 5PL. With expected operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridor by the Indian Railways in the near future, CONCOR expects to attract a major share of existing as well as additional traffic to its business with added efficiency like transit time guarantee as well as cost-effective double stack movement.