The Hindu Business Line : L.M. Thapar - 75 and still willing to learn

WITH over seven decades of life experience behind him, Mr Lalit Mohan Thapar is still willing to learn, experiment, and above all, live life to the full.

The Chairman of Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), who celebrated his 75th birthday last fortnight , now wants to hand over the reins of business to the younger Thapar generation, particularly his nephew Gautam Thapar, who is Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the company. Though he knows the intricacies of the paper world like the back of his hand and has fought many a battle in the past, both on industrial policy and business growth, his being the largest player in the country gives him a certain sense of satisfaction and the confidence to pursue his zest for life .

In addition to specific plans and views on the future of the company and the industry, he wants to go beyond the paper segment and explore new business opportunities that a liberalised economy has thrown up.

On the personal front this hard-core bachelor is back to pursuing his love for horses, which obviously his work schedule had not permitted him to indulge in during his younger days. Poker and bridge too have become regular pastimes, though the surprise lies in his choice of music.

This suave gentleman with an impeccable English accent and `very British' persona enjoys vocal Indian classical music and loves getting a crowd together for a performance.

While crystal clear that paper, the core competence of his company, will be the primary focus of the future, LMT - as he is affectionately called - is equally excited about the agribusiness that the company has got into. "It's been a hard job, learning the logistics to supply to the western world," he says about Global Green, the family's fresh food company that has posted a turnover of Rs 100 crore recently.

Primarily focussing on gherkin exports, the company also has a domestic food brand, Tiffy, distributed by premium food stores.

Extolling the climatic conditions and labour advantage that India has, Mr Thapar is sure that there is great opportunity in agribusiness today and in due course this could become as big as the paper business.

The threat of overseas competition seems to have spurred BILT into the retail sector and to add value to its products. The only paper company to have branded its wares, Mr Thapar sees tremendous opportunity that needs to be grabbed in the retail sector.

"We are planning a chain of BILT stationery stores in the future as it is becoming more and more important to retail and brand. We think this will scare away outside competitors," he says with conviction.

While citing availability of raw material as the biggest issue in the paper industry, he is sure that once the company tastes success in its search for plantations and its long term plan to set up pulp mills in Malaysia and Vietnamfructify, BILT would be an entity to reckon with in South Asia. For this he seems to be depending on nephew Gautam.

"He is doing a damn good job," he says, giving him `full marks' for operating in a "far tougher environment" today.

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