Mukesh Jain, Vice-President, Coslight
Mukesh Jain, vice-president, Coslight, brings to the table over 30 years of experience. He started his career with ITI Limited where he spent about 18 years in functions such as engineering, purchase, production planning, control and indigenisation. He then moved to GTL Limited, where he led the supply chain management (SCM) function, first for the network engineering division and later for the entire group. In his current role, he is responsible for leading specific functions such as SCM, industrial relations, finance, human resource, warehouse and dispatch.
Jain’s immediate goal is to establish Coslight as the leading quality supplier of VRLA and Li-ion batteries. “The challenge is to streamline our production and dispatch processes,” he says. Jain believes that the coming years will be exciting for the Indian telecom industry. “I expect more industry consolidation, with mergers (similar to MTS-Reliance) and spectrum trading/sharing deals (similar to the Idea-Videocon deal) happening. Moreover, the 4G landscape is witnessing traction,” he notes.
For Jain, leading the supply chain function for the GSM roll-out in BSNL-West Zone was one of his most challenging and exciting assignments. “Back then, managing the complete site procurement remotely from Mankapur in Uttar Pradesh was a difficult task. In case of shortage of material at any site, the biggest challenge was to arrange material in time to ensure there were no delays. We were able to successfully complete the project on time,” he explains.
He believes that the qualities that have sustained him through all these years are positive thinking, diligence, hard work and his never give-up attitude. “I can’t be at peace until all the tasks in my hand are perfectly done,” Jain says.
Speaking about his management style, Jain says that his aim is to make the right decision at the right time with the right people in order to achieve the desired result. “I believe in leading from the front and setting an example for my team. I take full responsibility for my team’s performance by trusting each member and giving them ownership of their tasks,” he says.
Jain is an electrical engineering graduate from NIT Jamshedpur and has a master’s from IIT-BHU. He also has an MBA in SCM from XRLI Jamshedpur. He spends his free time reading, exercising and watching the news. Jain’s family includes his wife and their two children, both working in the IT sector. “They are my support and my anchor,” he says simply.
