Returning home
Parag Satpute's extensive career at Sandvik covers several business areas, both in his native country India, and throughout Europe. Now, after 12 years, he has returned to India as the new country manager.
What are the challenges for Sandvik in India?
The Indian economy has slowed down in the past couple of years, mainly related to an uncertain political situation. We are hopeful that the elections in May will lead to a stable and decisive government, which will be important for the growth of the economy.
Additionally, India is a very competitive marketplace. Sandvik began its operations in India in 1960 and has a strong foundation in the country, with production, R&D, design and engineering. So we are well positioned to continue our growth targets here.
What is your prediction of the future Indian market and the role Sandvik will play?
We believe that India will continue to be an attractive growth market for Sandvik. There is a clear need for investment in infrastructure, power and even general manufacturing. This should increase the opportunities for Sandvik's business in construction, mining, materials technology and machining solutions. Given Sandvik's strong foundation in India, we are confident that we can leverage on these opportunities.
Please tell us a little about your background at Sandvik.
I have had several challenging roles at Sandvik since I joined the company in 1997. My initial years with the company were spent in India. Then I moved to the UK and worked with global product management and production. My next assignment was in Germany, to drive sales across EMEA. In 2012, I went to Sweden, where I where I headed the Sandvik Materials Technology product area Wire and Heating Technology. My previous assignment was Project Manager for Sandvik Corporate Strategy. I am honored to be back in India with this new assignment.