Corporate politics is a reality: Ravi Subramanian

Ravi Subramanian, president and chief executive officer, Shriram Group (non-chit), shot to fame with his maiden fiction venture, ‘If God Was A Banker’ in 2007, which went on to become a bestseller, selling 200,000 copies. It’s the eve of the launch of his latest offering, ‘The Incredible Banker’. He is excited for sure, but nervous? Not so much. In a conversation with Vishwanath Nair and Aswathy Varughese, Subramanian talks about the things that motivated him and how he manages to be a successful businessman and an author at the same time. Excerpts from the interview:

 Tell us about your new book.
The Incredible Banker is about an American bank in India where the new foreign CEO takes over. The CEO had been sent to India to fix the cultural as well as the retail banking problems. The new banker tries his level best to sort out all the issues. But the bank gets a warning from the regulator of the country that the banking licence might be cancelled. There are separate chapters that deal with the CEO’ s meetings with RBI officials for sorting out the issue. The book basically questions the necessity of an expat CEO when you have talent available here. All my books including this one talk about corporate politics in depth. The message is that corporate politics is a reality and it’s all about getting accustomed to it. Finally, the people who are involved in operation and process control lack the desired integrity.
How do you allot time for writing with such a busy schedule?
Initially it was just an attempt to put together my experiences in the banking sector. I actually fell in love with what I was doing. Eventually writing became a much serious activity. What was a fling before, this girlfriend of mine demands much more time now. I need to figure it out that how am I going to carry ahead. Typically, 10 pm to 1 am is the time I devote to work for my book.
What was the motivation behind writing?
It was purely my heart’s desire. I wanted to leave a legacy behind. People tend to forget CEOs, but they tend to remember what you have written. The success of my first book further motivated me and the responses I got mattered a lot. My experience of 18 years in the banking industry, too, helped me to write on it. All my books deal with the banking industry, particularly in the foreign banking space.

How has the experience been at Shriram Group so far?
It’s very different from all the other places that I have worked at. The longevity people have in this organisation is just amazing. People have been here since 18-20 years.  They are a lot more genuine and down to earth than say in a foreign bank or any of the other multinational. It is an organisation where there is a lot of hunger but no desperation. In the lending business what kills an organisation is the desperation. I am quite enjoying my role at Shriram.

How do you maintain the asset quality in a diverse group such as Shriram?
It is primarily because the guy down the line who sells the loan is responsible for collecting it and he sees himself linked with Shriram for a long period of time. He will never build a case where he won’t be able to collect the loan back from the customer. It’s largely because there is a clear demarcation of responsibility. There are no different streams of collection and sales, it’s all unified into one package and it’s a portfolio built largely on credit-tested customers.

Are you optimistic about Shriram getting a banking licence?
I would say yes. If you look at a lot of the regulations that have come out I would say these will support someone who is into financial inclusion. For us, financial inclusion is not a business model, it’s a way of life. If you look at Shriram City Union Finance, most of our branches are in the interior of AP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; we have 30 branches in Chhattisgarh. We have a history and a reputation in the market, so I would put my chances in the fact that we may get a licence.

What are your thoughts about the microfinance industry?
I think the entire chaos that happened in the MFI industry was because people moved away from the financial inclusion standpoint. Companies began lending to customers without even realising if they can pay back. MFIs were supposed to lend to people for buying tractors and other equipment. Companies began lending to rural people for buying water purifiers and such things. I understand it is important to go commercial, but not so commercial that you lose your basic principles.