News & Views

 

Glorious days ahead for L&T’s Buildings & Factories vertical, says its new chief
 

Perseverance is something that emanates from confidence in one’s abilities and the conviction that good deeds will – sooner or later – yield good results. In the case of Mr Sthaladipti Saha, Head of the Buildings & Factories (B&F) vertical of L&T, this couldn’t have been truer!
 
Saha, a native of Kolkata, obtained a BTech in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University in 1989 and joined L&T as a Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) the same year. He was the 40th employee at L&T’s Hazira Petrochemical site, at a time when a vast part of it was still a marshland.
 
Early on, Saha demonstrated a knack for construction methods design, and hence was transferred to L&T’s Construction Methods & Planning Cell (CMPC) in Chennai in 1990. The first core design project he was involved in was Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium – designed and constructed in 260 days.
 
Saha reached major career milestones during the HITEC City development at Hyderabad in 1998, and then in 2008, when he was posted as the Design Head for Delhi airport’s T3 building.
 
In 2010, Saha became the Head of Engineering Design & Research Centre (EDRC) and was instrumental in introducing Building Information Modelling (BIM) in EDRC. In 2016, he moved to core business side as the Head of Public Space, a vertical of B&F. He was involved in some of the iconic projects such as the world’s tallest Statue of Unity (182 metres) and the world’s largest cricket stadium at Motera in Gujarat.
 
He moved on to become the Strategic Business Head of Public Spaces, Airports & Factories (PAF) vertical of B&F in 2020. His perseverance paid off, and he was promoted as Senior Vice President in 2023, and succeeded Mr M V Satish (MVS) as the Head of B&F effective April 2024.
 
Sumeet Chatterjee, the Head of L&T’s Corporate Brand Management & Communications, and his colleague, Bappaditya Paul, recently got into a freewheeling conversation with Mr Saha about his professional journey and his plans for the Buildings & Factories vertical. Excerpts:
 
Q.  From a GET to heading an arterial vertical of L&T, how has the journey been so far?
A: God has been kind. I have never worked for position: only kept on doing what I love and what I’m proficient at. The rest followed from that, as a natural course.
 
In 1989, I chose L&T over going abroad for higher studies – which is what many of my batchmates did. The first year at Hazira was a real struggle: back then it was a remote place totally cut off from the city life that I was used to. So much so that I began pondering whether I took the right decision by joining. But I persevered and events turned out for good. Towards the end of next year in 1990, I got transferred to CMPC in Chennai.
 
In Chennai, got a very good mentor in K Jayaraman and supportive seniors like S Kanappan and A L Sekar. In fact, K Jayaraman used to spend some time with me every day, and that immensely helped me grow into a well-rounded professional. I would attribute much of my shaping up and growing up professionally within L&T to people like them.
 
Q: But early on in your career, you did step out of L&T, albeit briefly.
A: I call this an aberration. It was in 1997. I was finding it increasingly difficult to manage on my pay. I love reading, but those days, I used to think twice even before buying books.
 
Just about that time a job from Malaysia dropped into my lap through an acquaintance. In my exit interview, the legendary A Ramakrishna (then President – ECC, L&T) told me that if I ever choose to come back to India, I shouldn’t think of anything but L&T. I returned towards the end of 1998, and rejoined L&T.
 
Q: Despite the material benefits, why didn’t you stay back in Malaysia?
A: It was a well-recognised Malaysian company which was into a host of businesses including construction, concessionaires, etc. But I didn’t enjoy my role there because I was assigned tasks that I had already handled in L&T 4-5 years ago. I did not see much professional growth and was not happy at work. But the Malaysian stint did one good thing: I understood the value of empowerment and independence that I enjoyed in L&T.
 
Q: In your near 35-year L&T career, which has been the turning point?
A: Going to the T3 project in Delhi. It was in 2008, our CMD S N Subrahmanyan (SNS), then the Head of B&F, asked me whether I could lead the airport terminal design team and I readily agreed. I flew the very next day.
 
My wife Sanhita has always been a pillar of strength to me. When I was in Delhi, she fractured her ankle but didn’t inform me because she felt that I had more pressing things to attend to at the project. I came to know of this only later, during my visit to Chennai.
 
T3 was a fantastic experience: we accomplished a job of such a mammoth scale in just three years. SNS gave us lot of freedom: had the opportunity to work closely with some of the best in L&T, including M P Naidu, K Kannan and S V Desai (now a Whole-time Director). I got a chance to deal with clients directly and learnt a lot from them.
 
It was a stupendous project, so much so that after that everything else appeared small. Those were also the years during which I got noticed.
 
Q: Now that you are heading B&F, what are your plans and what are the prospects that you envision?
A: I have taken over from MVS, a leader who was at the helm of B&F for quite some time. Working with him closely was a learning experience.
 
Given India’s position today and the infrastructure push, there will be ample opportunities for growth. The need is to hit the right projects, the right size and the right segments. While we have so far mostly focused on the domestic market, in order to scale up, we will now look selectively at the overseas market in segments that we are strong, like airport / stadium / data centre, etc.
 
Every business goes through a cycle of ups and downs. As of today, our PAT is not what we desire. But I’m confident that with the current set of projects and the near-term prospects, going forward we should be able to push it higher towards the PAT of our glorious past.
 
Q: And what will be your primary vehicles for growth, given that construction is a fragmented sector?
A: The key targets are to increase the productivity of our workforce, mechanisation, introduction of new methods of off-site construction, and ensure mass adoption of digital technologies which should help real time in decision-making. Getting projects completed on time is a key focus area. We will also be pursuing opportunities in the fast-emerging semiconductor and data centre segments.
 
Q: What’s your take on 3D printing construction?
A: Although we are employing 3D printing construction in some projects based on client requirements, I don’t see 3D becoming a mainstay in the immediate future. My understanding is: new-age methods - such as 3D printing and Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) - will coexist alongside conventional construction. But there will be more automation and modularisation in conventional construction.
 
Q: In shouldering the responsibility of a business vertical, do you ever feel any work-life imbalance?
A: I never found work-life balance an issue. As I see it, you feel stressed only when you are made to do something that you don’t like. Caring seniors, good colleagues and an understanding family also contribute a lot in making you feel stress-free. My wife has been a boon for me: she single-handedly manages the domestic front and yet keeps herself busy as a trustee of the L&T-backed not-for-profit Prayas Trust.
 
Q: What drives you?
A: Unlike most people, success, while giving joy, simultaneously makes me feel hollow. I feel like it’s the end of the story and I ask myself what’s next! On the contrary, work keeps me going. I feel that excelling in whatever one does is very important.
 
In my private life, I’m an avid reader, a philatelist and a beginner at railway modelling. These accounts for my me-time, which I really cherish.
 
Q: Grooming and retention of resources is a challenge. What’s your mantra for this?
A: I keep on telling my team that seniors must act as benevolent guides to youngsters. Seniors should reach out to juniors and not the other way around. When you spend quality time with young colleagues, it’s a huge motivation for them and it builds a valuable connect. I can tell you from my experience, I stayed back in L&T because I had that connect with my seniors.
 
Also, we are now giving many opportunities to youngsters, developing their capabilities so that they can increasingly take up higher responsibilities. Excelling as an individual or department is good – but aligning with the larger organisational and business goals is essential. Aligning with the big picture is what really matters to an organisation.