On Saturday, the 19^th of November, 2016, the Eleventh batch of MPOWER -the Management Development Program for the next-gen Youth Transport Entrepreneurs - was launched at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).

MPOWERXI concluded on 26^th November, 2016. This batch had 13 participants. While we received 32 confirmed nominations, the final attendance dropped to 13 delegates due to the impact of Demonetisation on the transport business, with 19 candidates withdrawing to deal with the consequences of Demonetisation on their business. But even with 13 delegates, the enthusiasm and participation level was immense and the profile of delegates was fabulous and unique. This was the first batch where we had a differently abled participant, Mr. Chetan Lodaya from Chetan Road Carrier.

The guiding philosophy of the program is empowering the next generation of India’s transporters/fleet owners to “Take forward their family business with their OWN vision”, as propounded by Mr. Anand Mahindra while launching the program on the side lines of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards ceremony on 9^th Jan ’13. Speaking on the same occasion to the media, Mr. Nalin Mehta –CEO - MTBD had also stressed that MTBD wants to “walk the talk” that we initiated when we urged the next generation of transporters to join their ‘Papa ka Business’ in our TV-led mass media campaign more than a year ago. MPOWER program is growing from strength to strength as our signature initiative in the Indian Transport industry. In terms of numbers, with this batch we have involved 291 next-gen transporters who together own over 59,300 trucks (and utilise at least 50% of this number in addition from the market), with a combined turnover of Rs. 24,900 Crores employing over 66,500 people.

For MPOWER XI, 13 young transport entrepreneurs, chosen by invitation and belonging to some of the finest transport companies of India, checked-in for the 8 days’ course which is aimed at professionalising the Indian transport sector in the long run. A course that has been specifically designed keeping the transport sector issues in focus. Eight highly accomplished faculty members of IIMA are running the course that covers subjects like PROFESSIONALISM, BUSINESS PLANNING, MARKET & SEGMENTS, HR PRACTICES, SERVICE QUALITY, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, LEGAL AND REGULATORY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INDUSTRY FOCUSSED SESSIONS.

Snapshot of the MPOWER XI: 13 Participants; Average age- 28 years; From 12 Cities, 13 Load Segments/Applications (Dry Bulk, Parcel, FTL, LTL, Liquid Bulk, EXIM Containers, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Electronics, ODC & Project Cargo, Multi-modal, Finished Vehicles Transportation, Tire Transportation, Sugarcane Transportation, Cold Chain Logistic, Warehousing); Cumulative turnover of Rs. 1,440 Crores; owning over 1,950 trucks.

Please find below the photo report of the inaugural and Valedictory session at IIMA.

Delegates being welcomed and registered at the Indian Institute of Management:

Youth Transport Delegates being welcomed while checking into the IMDC Campus at IIMA

Highlights of Inaugural Session – Welcome Address and Introductions by Mr. Rajeev Malik – Sr. GM - Marketing

 

 

The past 10 batches of MPOWER were a huge success not only in terms of an emotional connect with the next-gen transporters but also in terms of bringing our business and offerings in their focus and also helping start a business relation with many of the people who attended. This successful engagement has motivated MTBD to reinvest in driving a positive change in the transport ecosystem while nurturing our business interest. We are confident that this program too will be a grand success and strengthen our brand even further, along with other initiatives like the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards. All these initiatives will help MTBD connect with various constituents of the Indian transport ecosystem at both rational and emotional levels, which can be leveraged to build a strong market presence for Mahindra Trucks and Buses Division.

Final Day – 26^th November, 2016

The proceedings began with two groups of 6 & 7 participants respectively, each presenting their Integrated Case Study. Each Group had only 15 minutes to present their case.

After their presentation of challenges on the transport industry, the professor had requested their views on demonetization. There were mixed views, they all supported demonetization as most of them were already moving towards cashless transactions. The only problem they raised was the payment for drivers, dhabas, mechanics and other stakeholders which are at the bottom of the transport eco-system. As cashless facilities have still not been practiced amongst them. This was also an opportunity for few transporters who still have not yet explored the cashless transaction process in their firm and interacting with other batch mates have surely given them ideas on how to get this initiated for their business.

The Group also presented a case study on RIVIGO

Highlights: Rivigo was about to become the second largest fleet owner in the trucking business in India, in just over two years, with their innovative solutions they could cut down the long haul delivery times by about 50%. Rivigo achieved this by using a relay system in which the drivers changed every 5-6 hours at a ‘pit stop’, thus keeping the vehicle on the move even as drivers signed off to take rest. With this innovation in transportation, Rivigo addressed poor service levels, poor transit time, unreliability, uncertainty of return loads, shortage of drivers and lack of information to the customers on their consignment. This increased their customer base with 20-25% premium on freight.

Mr. Kapish Saraf – Business head – VYOM, was there as a special guest to analysis the case studies presented by MPOWER XI participants.

Post all the group presentations, Prof. Debjit and Prof. Raghuram shared their view on each group’s topic and presentations.

The much awaited Valedictory Started giving MPOWER certificates to all the 13 participants. 

With 291 MPOWERians already having gone through this customized program from IIMA, we can confidently say that MTBD has made a significant progress in driving a positive change in the transport ecosystem. As a collateral advantage, our brand is in strong focus with these important customers and key opinion leaders of trucking business. We would urge the field team to take maximum advantage of this important, pioneering and unique engagement tool of MTBD

 Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan 
F16 – Phase II Program Highlights

 Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan

Mahindra Truck and Bus Division (MTBD) had instituted MAHINDRA SAARTHI ABHIYAAN (MSA), the CSR initiative of Mahindra Truck and Bus Division in F15, aimed at acknowledging the spirit and far-sightedness of a truck driver in educating his girl child up to standard 10^th.

Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan was born to address the issue of higher education within the HCV Driver community. A lot has been done for the health and safety of drivers but very little attention is paid towards the education of their daughters. The initiative is one way to positively engage with one of the most critical ingredients in our ecosystem.  The true Saarthi, who is running the economy on his shoulders day in and out. And also enhancing his daughter’s life through education.

MTBD have disbursed 2408 scholarships since the launch of the MSA program in F15, and celebrated this achievement during the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards ceremony of 2014 and 2015.

Here’s the group picture of the first ever scholarship disbursement ceremony at Chinchwad held on 24^th Aug ‘14. Mr. Nalin Mehta, who had envisioned this noble CSR program to encourage Truck drivers’ daughters, is seen here with the Maharashtra scholarship awardees:

Mr. Mehta spoke on this occasion and brought alive the thought process behind the initiative: “Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan, is a salute to this Saarthi – the truck driver who in spite of all the odds he faces, has shown great mettle in educating his children and especially Daughters. We through this initiative take a bow at these heroes who have so relentlessly, with great hard work, have ensured their daughters become engineers, IT professionals, teachers etc. This is our way of thanking them, showing a sense of gratitude for this outperforming effort! Education and that too for the girl child is the chosen path for CSR in Mahindra Group and we at MTB have extended the same to our CSR initiative. So that we would encourage drivers and reach out to their families and connect emotionally with the community”.

Continuing with this initiative for the third year, we are pleased to announce the roll-out of MAHINDRA SAARTHI ABHIYAAN 3^rd Edition for F17. 1000 scholarships of Rs. 10,000 each will be awarded to the daughters of HCV truck drivers who have successfully completed education up to Standard 10^th and are continuing with further studies.

Below is the report of the final outcome of the Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan 2^nd Edition in F16.

 Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan F16 – Phase II Program Highlights

The response towards the program was overwhelming from truck drivers’ daughters with a receipt of over 1800 applications. Based on validation of documents by our process auditors, PwC, 1,300 daughters of truck drivers were qualified and were given the Mahindra Saarthi Abhiyaan scholarship of Rs.10,000 each.

During the process of disbursement, MTBD had invited the local transport association representatives and key customers of the trucking industry to grace the occasion. All the winning daughters were accompanied by their respective parents.

It was an emotional moment and many girls spoke about their fathers whom they feel proud of. They also thanked Mahindra and MTB for this noble initiative and how this token of appreciation is a big motivation in their life. On these occasions, a few truck drivers also spoke about this program and applauded Mahindra for this unique and pioneering initiative for truck drivers.

The ceremonies to disburse the scholarships were held in May and June 2016 at 16 locations across India.

The program was well supported by the respective MTBD Zonal Heads and Area Business Managers along with Dealer Heads/CEOs who made this noble cause a bigger success and also integrated it with their business needs.

 

MTB partners Natural Habitat Preservation Centre and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to Roll Out the New Road Safety Campaign, #HaveASafeJourney.

Corporate companies usually celebrate Independence Day by hoisting the national flag and singing the national anthem. MTB did not want to stop at that, they wanted to do something for the country and its citizens. So they celebrated Independence Day differently. In conjunction with Natural Habitat Preservation Centre, they engaged with the literary community to amplify the message of road safety, under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and launched a New Road Safety Initiative - #HaveASafeJourney (#HASJ) on Independence Day!

#HASJ stems out of a firm belief that literature can serve as an effective medium to connect and engage with people for promoting awareness, particularly among young people. One of the best ways to do it is through stories. They felt that stories about bravery and humanity often compel people to think more deeply. So, they held a media meet at Le Meridian, New Delhi on 12th Aug’16 and announced a contest in which literates have to send them stories about how negligence and a casual approach towards road safety norms can lead to major upheavals. The media meet was led by Mr. Rajeev Lochan, Director – Road Safety, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India; Mr. Nalin Mehta, Mahindra CEO; Mr. Sumant Batra, Founder, NHP Centre & Director, #HASJ and Mr. Tuhin A Sinha, Author and Advisor to MoRTH, GoI. 

The contest went live on 15th August, 2016 and the last date to submit stories is 15th October, 2016.  The stories written will be brought out in the form of a book early next year and will be the world’s first collection of short stories on road safety issues. The best short story will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/- and the Contest Winner will be felicitated in Delhi during the Transport ExcellenceAwards Ceremony in Feb’17.  That’s not all, the book will also be unveiled at various literary forums like Kumaon Literary festival, Dalit Literature Festival, Taj Colloquium, etc.

A challenger brand in the commercial vehicle space, MahindraTruck and Bus is strongly focused on working closely with the road transport ecosystem. And are proud to be associated with this very noble initiative as partners to drive positive change in the society, which at Mahindra they call, “Rise for Good”.

You may visit the #HASJ website on the following address: http://adserve.iws.in/safejourney/html/index.php

Here’s the photo report –

Launch of the new website for the initiative by Mr. Rajeev Lochan, Director Road Safety, MoRTH, GOI

Mr. Rajeev Lochan, Director Road Safety, MoRTH, GOI and Mr. Nalin Mehta fielding questions from the media

Here are other prestigious brands from the media and Literary ecosystem who have partnered us in this initiative:

32 Participants, From 19 Cities, 26 Load Segments/Application with combined turnover of over INR 2530 Cr, Employing more than 5666 people, Owning over 3351 trucks, 'MPOWERed at IIM Ahmedabad!

On Saturday, the 13^th of August, 2016, the tenth batch of MPOWER - the Management Development Program for the nextgen Youth Transport Entrepreneurs - was launched at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and it concluded on 20^th August, 2016. This batch had 32 participants.

As you would recall, the guiding philosophy of the program is empowering the next generation of India’s transporters/ fleet owners to “Take forward their family business with their OWN vision”, as propounded by Mr. Anand Mahindra while launching the program on the side-lines of the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards ceremony on 9^th Jan ’13 and as envisioned by our CEO, Mr. Nalin Mehta, who along with Prof G. Raghuram of IIMA is the founder of this concept.

MPOWER program is growing from strength to strength as our signature initiative to drive positive change in Indian Transport. In terms of numbers, with this batch we have involved 278 nextgen transporters who together own over 57,300 trucks (and utilize at least 50% of this no in addition from market), with a combined turnover of Rs. 23,400 Crores employing over 63,000 people.

For MPOWER X, 32 young transport entrepreneurs, chosen by invitation and belonging to some of the finest transport companies of India, checked-in for the 7 days’ course which is aimed at professionalizing the Indian transport sector in the long run. A course that has been specifically designed keeping the transport sector issues in focus. Seven highly accomplished faculty members of IIMA are running the course that covers subjects like, PROFESSIONALISM, BUSINESS PLANNING, MARKET& SEGMENTS, HR PRACTICES, SERVICE QUALITY, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT& ACCOUNTING, SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, LEGAL AND REGULATORY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INDUSTRY FOCUSSED SESSIONS.

Snapshot of the MPOWER X: 32 Participants; Ave age 32 years; From 17 Cities, 26 Load Segments/ Applications (Dry Bulk, Parcel, FTL, LTL, Liquid Bulk, EXIM Containers, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Electronics, ODC & Project Cargo, Multi-modal, Finished Vehicles Transportation, Tire Transportation, Sugarcane Transportation, Cold Chain Logistic, Warehousing); Cumulative turnover of Rs. 2,530 Crores; owning over 3,351 trucks.

Please find below the photo report of the inaugural and Valedictory session at IIMA:

Shashank Patwa, Sr. Manager – Marketing, who steers the program from MTB side, receiving the delegates on their arrival at IIM, Ahmedabad.

      

Highlights of Inaugural Session – Welcome Address and Introductions (self and Prof Debjit Roy, Program Coordinator, IIM, Ahmedabad)

Delegates introducing themselves

                                

        Highlights of Inaugural Session – Welcome Address and Introductions                                        

The past 9 batches of MPOWER were a huge success not only in terms of an emotional connect with the nextgen of transporters but also in terms of bringing our business and offerings in their focus and also helping start a business relation with many of the people who attended. This successful engagement has motivated us to reinvest in driving a positive change in the transport ecosystem while nurturing our business interest. We are confident that this program too will be a grand success and strengthen our brand even further, along with other initiatives like the Mahindra Transport Excellence Awards. All these initiatives will help us connect with various constituents of the Indian transport ecosystem at both the rational and emotional levels, which can be leveraged to build a strong market presence for Mahindra Trucks and Buses Division.

Final Day – 20^th August, 2016

The proceedings began with two groups of 16 participants each presenting their Integrated Case Study. Each Group had only 15 mins. to present their case.

Post all the group presentations, Prof. Debjit and Prof. Raghuram shared their view on each group’s topic and presentations.

The MPOWER batch X – had witnessed Ex-MPOWER  participants sharing their experience –, 14^th August, 2016, and on 20^th August, 2016 they could relate to it and found there learning very relevant to their business and motivational also. 

     

Dr. Venkat Srinivas, Principal Chief Engineer and Head – Product Development, was the Chief Guest for this Valedictory ceremony.

Notably, on Sat, the 20^th August, 2016 – The Final Day of MPOWER X – Program, the valedictory Session was graced by Mr. Abhay Damle – Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). MPOWER X participants presented to him, “The Challenges of Transport Industry”. Participants shared their views and concern related to transport industry with Mr. Abhay Damle.

Mr. Abhay Damle address the MPOWER X batch with his views and ideas that will be implemented in the near future for this industry. He shared The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016 with MPOWER X participants. Abhay Damle with IIM Prof’s and Mahindra leadership team gave away the MPOWER certificate to all the participants on successfully completion of MPOWER X. He then joined the IIM Prof’s and Mahindra leadership team gave away the MPOWER certificate to all the participants on successfully completion of MPOWER X.

Similar to all batches, all the participants were asked to share their feedback on how we can improve MPOWER course. All the feedback and comments were well noted by IIM professors and Mahindra  

Our Chief Guest, Dr. Venkat Srinivas and I shared perspective on the program- why Mahindra instituted this engagement and the way forward 

   

The much awaited Valedictory Started giving MPOWER certificates to all the 32 participants.

 

 

                                                                                    

With 278 MPOWERians already having gone through this customized program from IIMA, we can confidently say that MTBD has made significant progress in driving positive change in transport ecosystem. As a collateral advantage, our brand is in strong focus with these important customers and key opinion leaders of trucking business. Would urge the Field team to take maximum advantage of this important, pioneering and unique engagement tool of MTBD to make it work for business and MTB’s market position.