20th June, 2002 will remain like a red letter day for Mahindra & Mahindra, for that’s the day its Scorpio SUV was launched, changing its maker’s image and fortune forever. The SUV gave the Utility Vehicle (UV) maker, playing largely in the rural and semi-urban market till then, the opportunity to also tap the urban markets, and later the surging SUV wave. That story wouldn’t have happened if M&M had executed a plan mooted midway into the Scorpio project. And that was, to sell it off! The Board wasn’t quite confident about the ambitious project’s prospects. Fortunately for M&M, the Board changed its mind and rest, as they say, is history.This little known fact was shared by Dr. Pawan Goenka, former MD, Mahindra & Mahindra, at an event to commemorate the recent bestowal of the prestigious Padma Shri on him. Dr. Goenka becomes the first non-promoter auto industry leader to receive this civilian honour, for his contributions to India’s automotive and space sectors.
The technocrat, also known as the ‘Father of the Scorpio’, not only led the SUV project but more importantly built the organisation’s R&D and product design capabilities with the IDAM (Integrated Design and Manufacturing) project. He was hired by M&M in 1993, from General Motors R&D Center in Detroit, where he served for 14 years. The IDAM project’s first baby – the Scoprio, also stood as an example of frugal engineering with a total cost of Rs. 550 crore.
An equally interesting story as the Scorpio project nearly being sold off is the fact that Dr. Goenka was on the verge of returning to the USA, after a 4 year stint at M&M. General Motors (GM) wanted him back (they had been extending a leave of absence). When GM told him after four years, now or never he and his wife became nervous about the education and future of their children. Even though they loved staying in India and he loved his job, for the children’s sake they decided to return. But Anand Mahindra, then M&M’s ED and now Chairman, did not want them to. The concerns were addressed by Mahindra ‘without blinking an eye’. Post that the thought of returning back to the US never crossed their mind. And the rest, once again, is history.Of his 40+ years as an automotive Industry professional, Dr. Goenka spent 28 years at M&M, before retiring on April 2, 2021. He joined as GM – R&D, and took over the final role of MD in November 2016. During his stint, the company had its share of challenges and some not-so-successful projects, but overall it grew stronger, also led by other landmark SUV projects like the XUV 500 and the Thar. On the tractor business side, M&M continued its leadership position.
The Mahindra Research Valley in Chennai, M&M’s hub of all product and technology development inaugurated in 2012, was also a brainchild of Dr. Goenka.
Like Mahindra & Mahindra, which has lent itself as a subject for a book or two, the life journey of a technocrat-entrepreneur like Dr. Goenka also may make for a good reading. The IIT-Kanpur graduated mechanical engineer doesn’t plan to write one though. However, his story of rising from a humble background as one of four children to his parents, to heading an automobile and farm equipment major, and now a Government agency for private sector participation in space programmes, Dr. Goenka’s life journey inspires many.
The 70 year old technocrat has more to give. For now, the mantras he shares are the ones he says he has always lived by – stringent time management, and being process-driven. And the most fundamental of them all, which he learnt during his IIT Kanpur days – hard work and determination.
