Investment enabler

Shruti Chandra gave up a promising career at a global Big 4 consultancy to help build India into the world's top investment destination. Her job: hand hold foreign investors from conceptualisation to cash flow. It was a mini-crisis. One of the world's largest retail chains had been served notice to shut shop at duty free areas of Delhi and Mumbai airports. Reason: its security clearance had expired. The chain was staring at losses of Rs 1 crore a week but more than that shutting down two outlets of a world famous brand would hurt India's image as an investment-friendly destination at a time when the flow of foreign investment dollars was rising and the country was slowly but steadily crawling out of a half-a-decade long slowdown. Enter Shruti Chandra, a young employee of India Invest, who had quit a job at global Big 4 consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to follow her passion - the kick of being able to contribute to the rebuilding of India's economy and pushing it up the ranks of leading states in the comity of nations. It was a weekend. But that didn't deter Chandra. She coaxed, pleaded and bullied her way to a short-notice appointment with the Secretary, Civil Aviation, pleaded her case and convinced him to place in abeyance the earlier order shutting down the retail chain's operations. The matter is now in process and a committee hearing to sort out the issue will take place shortly. On another occasion, a major global clothing chain was faced with an awkward issue on the day it was scheduled to open its first store in Mumbai. The multinational was keen on keeping its store open for longer than usual but the law in Mumbai didn't allow women workers to stay beyond a certain time. Chandra, who was dealing with the matter on behalf of India's investment promotion agency, flew down to Mumbai and arranged a meeting with Apurv Chandra, Principal Secretary, Industry, Government of Maharashtra, and convinced him to grant an extension. How does it feel to be rubbing shoulders with top corporate executives as well as decision makers in the senior-most echelons of the central and state governments Chandra smiles. “It's all about relationship building. Initially, I was apprehensive about how such senior bureaucrats and politicians would react to being approached by a youngster like me. But, I realised soon - and they did, too - that we're part of the same team and that we have a common goal of facilitating investments in India. No doubt the Prime Minister's unambiguous message on attracting FDI helped,” she said. Chandra, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne and a double masters - in business management and in international management - from the University of Sydney and CEMS, is a world removed from where she had imagined herself at this stage of her career, having joined Mastercard after completing her bachelor's degree. She joined Invest India last December after dabbling for a while with a boutique consultancy in the IT and start-up space. In her current job, which pays her a fraction of what she was getting earlier, she deals with the retail sector as her primary responsibility and the textiles industry as her secondary area of focus. She also has “state responsibility” for Delhi and “country responsibility” for the UK. This means any foreign investor who needs some guidance in the above spaces will have to deal with Chandra, who works a normal 9.30 am to 6.00 pm every day. She also often works on weekends drafting briefing documents and presentations for clients or the government. Chandra, who likes to read Harry Potter, swim, cook Italian and Thai meals and listen to music in her spare time, admits that a three-year stint at India Invest - guiding foreign investors through the labyrinthine processes of the bureaucracy - is the equivalent of 10 years in any other job. But for now, she's not looking that far ahead. In her crosshairs is the next foreign investor who needs help to invest in India.