On The Record: The Mahindra Townhall | Mega Exclusive | N18V | CNBC TV18

The Mahindra Group is purpose-led, performance-driven, and future ready. Under Anand Mahindra, the group has seen significant momentum, with consolidated revenue doubling and net profit growing 10x over the past five years. Market cap has risen 13x from 2020 lows, adding nearly ₹1 lakh crore in 2025 alone. Growth gems have seen a 7x increase in value. Joining us today is the entire top team, starting with the captain, Dr. Anand Mahindra. Also present are Amjuti Bwa (CFO), Royal Rebello (Mahindra Finance), VJ Nakra (Farm), Suman Mishra (Last Mile Mobility), Amit Sina (Life Sciences), Ain Ashra (Sust), Raj Jajurikar (Auto), Abanti Sankar Narayan and Mohi Jooshi (Tech Mahindra), Binod Sahai (Aerospace), Asha Kara (Brand), Manoj (Holidays), and Nalin Kant Golka (Auto). Anand, you remain confident about the growth outlook for the group and the Indian economy. What headline numbers have you asked these leaders to chase?

He's smiling very sheepishly as you say that.

Thank you for that comprehensive overview. It's clear the Mahindra Group is much more than its auto business. Auto now contributes about 25% of profit and cash generation, while services and farm are higher. The group has outgrown its auto business.

I'll come to the value unlock in a second. Since you brought up Mahindra Holidays as the big headline maker this morning, let me go to Manoj. Congratulations on Signature Resorts and the foray into leisure hospitality. What gives you the right to win in that competitive space? What will be your key differentiator?

Thank you, Shireen. Over the last 27-28 years, we've built a strong association with family holidays in India. We see a wide space where no one is focusing on premium family holidays, and we want to occupy that. We combine our historical strengths. We are already number three in leisure hospitality by rooms, so we have the expertise to scale. Experience is the new currency; 80% of people want experiential holidays. Experience is embedded in what we do. This positioning is different from everyone else, and that will help us win.

And a ₹1,000 crore capex plan for Signature Resorts. You have about 5,742 keys today. Are you targeting 10,000 keys by 2030?

When I add both brands—Club Mahindra and Mahindra Signature Resorts—we are targeting 12,000 keys. The split is 10,000 in Club Mahindra and 2,000 in the new brand. The capex is for Signature Resorts. Initially, we'll invest, but as the brand develops, there are many capital-light models to scale with less capital.

Any plans on M&A in this space?

Everything is open. Whether we build, buy, lease, or do management contracts, all avenues are open. We'll keep looking.

Okay. I'll come back to you. Let me turn to Mahindra Finance. The articulation was clear that this business required a turnaround. Where do you stand today? AUM has grown about 13% year-on-year, but profitability is flat at 2%. Take me through your comfort level and growth plan.

Thank you, Shireen. We've reflected on the last decade, which had three eras. After listing, high growth, then challenges during COVID and demonetization. The last three years have given us confidence; asset quality has remained pristine. We've kept GNPs under 4%, and our underwriting is giving stability across cycles. On profitability, we had a good year; in Q2, we grew above 45%. Loan book growth has been flattish at 14%, lower than peers, but we have confidence. Drawing from Anand's target of 5x in a decade, from ₹60,000 crore in FY20 to ₹3 lakh crore, we would have felt constrained if the playbook was just auto and farm lending. We've expanded into mortgage and SME lending. These three together to reach ₹3 lakh crore is a CAGR of about 20%. We feel much better equipped with wider participation. The headroom for growth in these segments is formidable; it's all about execution now.

Speaking of execution and technology, what forays have you made, and how comfortable are you dealing with execution challenges as you scale?

Our business model was very decentralized, depending on last-mile judgment. For a player now at ₹1.3 lakh crore covering 95% of pin codes, we needed a centralized engine. In the last three years, we've implemented best-in-class underwriting tools, a loan origination system using Salesforce, and Tech Mahindra powers our digital journeys. But our customers range from progressive farmers to small entrepreneurs, so we're not force-fitting digital. We accelerate their digital maturity while using assisted models. Our 25,000 employees bring in new-to-credit customers, using technology as an enabler. It's a deft walk.

If regulations were to allow it, does a banking aspiration continue to be on the table?

I'll smoothly pass that question to Anand, our largest shareholder.

If the regulatory environment were to change to make that possible?

Okay. Let's talk about Tech Mahindra, another turnaround story. How comfortable do you feel today with the turnaround, and in the context of AI, how much disruption do you see?

We've had a very good start. We announced our plans on April 25, 2024, and it's now six quarters into a 12-quarter transformation. We focused on top customers, which grew faster. Large deal volume increased 57% over the past 12 months. We said by FY27 we'd be higher than peer group average; we started at the bottom and are now middle of the pack. We planned for 15% margins from 7.5% exit; we've had six quarters of expansion. We've built a remarkable team. From investor ratings, we got three upgrades. Industrial analyst ratings improved from top two quadrants in 60% to 90%. On AI, Gartner rated us a leader for AI and Gen AI, and number one globally for future vision for AI, ahead of all peers. We're confident and committed to our FY27 goals and will sketch out the next three years.

When you say you're number one globally, what do you mean exactly?

Gartner has two axes: current functionality, where we're in the leaders quadrant, and future vision for AI, where we're number one globally. That measures what AI can accomplish for enterprise clients. In six quarters, we have good momentum. We're committed to FY27 goals and will outline the next three years.

Give us a glimpse of what the vision for the next three years could look like.

Left my crystal ball at home. Unfortunately.

You don't need a crystal ball. I'm sure you have a vision board with numbers.

I don't want to manifest my FY30 vision here. The first part of the journey was about becoming world-class, catching up with peers in growth, margins, and deep capability. FY30 will be about becoming world-beating—figuring out what we do exceptionally well and how that shows up in financial results.

Okay, I'll push you harder later. Let's pick up where Anand left off on aerospace. That's a big opportunity, especially with the government's indigenization process. What does that mean for the business going forward?

Sharon, we started this business about 10 years ago. It's very difficult to enter because safety standards are top-notch. In 10 years, we've earned a reputation for quality, delivery, and business excellence, rated among the best in the world. We're punching above our weight. Business is following. In the first 10 years, we won a certain amount; in the last 15-17 months, we've won six times that. We have a huge pipeline. 'Make in India' is a big support. The first C295 assembly line is in India, and a helicopter assembly line is coming. More importantly, we got the contract to be the sole supplier of the entire fuselage for Airbus's fastest-selling helicopter, supplying to all global assembly lines. That's the faith Airbus has in us. We're expanding capacity in our current factory and running out of space. Yesterday, I was with a state minister requesting land for a new modern integrated aerospace factory, where we'll also bring co-vendors to do bigger packages. We started making parts that fit in our palms; now we make assemblies 5 meters long, comprising thousands of parts. The global industry outlook is very bright for the next couple of decades. Running out of capacity is a good problem.

Leave us with headline numbers on capex and capacity expansion.

We're looking at 12x revenue growth. The board has approved close to ₹1,000 crore for capacity enhancement. This will increase capacity for the current factory to cater to new orders and set up the base for the new factory. Investment will keep adding as we get more business.

What about the possibility of more joint ventures? Many are looking at Indian suppliers becoming tier-one suppliers for global supply chains.

As Manoj said, we're open to all ideas and options. There's a possibility of doing packages together. We're strong on the metal side of aerospace structures but don't have composite capability. If someone comes and we can do a package involving both metal and composite, we would be open.

Amar, many are deploying money to enhance capacity. Given the group's ambition, how are you putting guardrails in place for capital allocation?

Before talking about financial deployment, I want to emphasize that it takes a lot of effort to create value and one bad headline to destroy it. That's foremost on my mind. While Anand has set strong processes for capital allocation, we're emphasizing that as we go on this 15x-20x growth, we don't fall into pitfalls. There's a business case for everything. We track how we're doing against the business case, using deviations to learn and pivot if needed. The group operates with boards in all subsidiaries, with corporate nominees driving discipline around capital allocation. Every leader knows there's a strong process for asking. They work hard to get their thousand crores. It's a matter of choices, and you need a strong business case to realize that choice.

Who has made the strongest pitch to you at this point?

All these leaders are here because they've made compelling business cases. The Signature Resort wasn't an easy sell; it's a big change from our comfort zone. Moving into 92% of the market that is underpenetrated requires a lot. The farm business has been generating cash but needs to grow internationally. They've worked hard on a strong business case, learning from past missteps. Each leader has done a great job.

I'll come to VJ on international expansion for the farm sector. But the man we talk to most often after Anand is Raj Jajurikar. Raj, you've been on the channel post-GST cuts. The expectation was that pent-up demand would sustain even after the festive season. What do you see now?

Shireen, the GST provision has been a landmark decision by the government, propelling the economy on a high growth trajectory. Sectors with commercial operators—like tractors and LCVs—see the most tangible benefit. A 10% reduction in selling price impacts total cost of ownership. Combined with lower interest rates, it significantly improves the business case for operators. The benefit continues in SUVs too. We saw a big upswing through the festival period. The post-festival drop is not as steep as usual, attributable to GST momentum. Overall, GST is a game-changer. We've revised our long-term tractor industry forecast from 7% to 9% CAGR, partly due to GST making tractors more affordable versus labor. We see strong growth momentum in all vehicles—passenger vehicles, tractors, and commercial vehicles.

You're right that GST is a structural change. But specifically on the ICE portfolio, you have capacity of about 8,500 cars and are selling around 4,500. What's the expectation on run rate?

We have two new cars coming up, which we'll announce next week. Everyone expected one, but Anand hinted at something else on the 26th evening. So it's two launches on the 26th and 27th. On the EV portfolio, we've learned a lot and calibrated the organization. We were ready with some products but decided to phase them to build learning in the channel and backend. We're ready to ramp up from January onwards. Initial capacity is about 4,000-5,000 a month.

You said two launches on the EV side. What about ICE? Will it largely be a refresh story, or is there something fresh?

On August 15th, we revealed the new INGLO platform, a multi-energy platform. The first products coming in 2027 are ICE products, and they're really exciting. We showed four concepts to the investor group today. If you have time, we'll walk you around.

I'd love that. You're in the market buying a seven-seater yourself, Rajesh. So Nalin, the business looks good.

Business is looking good. Post GST, we've had strong demand sustained through November. We see it on the LCV side, and the replacement cycle has kicked in. That's great for the industry. On the SUV side, we're in mid-to-high teens growth as projected, and we're confident we'll achieve that.

Well, Vijay, let's talk about what's happening on the farm sector side. Rajesh and Anand and Amar mentioned your focus on international markets.

Shireen, our strong domestic position in the tractor business helps us have large aspirations for international growth. With structural changes like GST and increased horticulture and cash crop sowing intensity, farmer profitability is going up by 5-7% in our regression model. These factors account for almost 30% weightage, allowing us to revise our CAGR estimate from 7% to 9% between FY25 and FY30. That gives stronger headroom for domestic growth and fuels international aspirations. Outside India, we have significant presence in three top-five global markets. In North America, a 200,000-unit market, we have a 10.4% share in the under-20 HP segment with our global tractor platform. In Brazil, a 40,000-tractor market, we have 8% share. We recently entered ASEAN through Thailand, taking a cautious approach based on past learnings—going slower, expanding channels, making the right products, and building success. We'll take select markets, go deeper, and ensure all enablers drive growth.

Markets are the ones we will put in place, build success in these three or four markets, and then talk about further expansion into other markets globally. So, by 2030, what could the international contribution be as far as the farm sector is concerned?

Well, you know, like Mo said, I've left my crystal ball back home too. So I don't think I want to give guidance on that, but I think while domestic is our very strong pillar, I would say our play internationally, using technology as a lever to play internationally, one of the aspirations we've set for the farm business is to democratize technology. As part of the aspiration of the business, we would definitely want to be leaders in that area. We will look at a combination of telematics, drones, satellite connectivity, AI, data analysis so that we are able to add value to the farmer. The objective of technology is not to do it just for the sake of it, but make sure that we increase output, reduce cost, and optimize equipment utilization.

Would EV make sense as far as the farm business is concerned? Economically, does it make sense, at least on the lower, smaller side?

Well, that's exactly the point, Shireen. I think our view is that let's understand that tractors and farm machinery are prime movers. So a tractor typically attaches something to it to do a job. And if we look at the typical agricultural application, the implements usage are all heavyweight implements, and the heavier the tractor needs to be to work those implements. You draw more power, you get lower range. So our view is the smaller tractors, which is typically the 20-25 horsepower tractors, just like we've seen in commercial vehicles where three-wheelers had higher adoption. We believe it will first start in the tractor world in the lower horsepower tractors. That's exactly what we are working on. But from an economics point of view, I think we still need to wait and see how that will play out over the next couple.

If I can come back to you on the technology and regulation issue. One of the impending changes as far as the sector is concerned, the new CAFE norms. Of course, industry has been asking for a deferral, at least a postponement, as far as the norms are concerned. But how ready and prepared do you believe Mahindra finds itself if those norms were to come in as per schedule?

Yeah, I think Shireen, here the first question is what are going to be those norms, and right now that's at a draft stage. So there are multiple scenarios that can play out based on what finally comes through as the draft norms. Our role as an OEM, of course, is to advocate for what we believe is the right norm, and we do believe that EVs is a very cornerstone on what the choice of fuel journey should be for the country. So there is a lot of advocacy that we are doing, but that's also the policy statement of the government. So what we have to do as an OEM is really prepare ourselves for multiple scenarios, and that's what we're doing. And we believe based on the SIM, the primary view of the SIM is to stay with the December 2024 draft that was done. There is a different version of a draft now, and the government is in the process of reconciling all the feedback on that. And we would prepare ourselves to meet the CAFE norms based on whatever scenario plays out.

Amita, you know, as far as lifespaces is concerned, the aspiration of being pan-India and more importantly, what's the outlook now as far as the business is concerned?

Well, Shar, this is a very local business. The national market share doesn't matter in our... but the national players are moving into your markets. Yes, yes, and we'll welcome them with open hands and very good competitive pressure. But I think what we want to do is we want to be the top five player in our core markets. This is a very local market where you have to play the market share game at the city level. So Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore. So we have consolidated our presence from six or seven markets that we were operating in the past. These three markets are really large. Like Mumbai is a three lakh crore huge market. Our market share is 0.5%. The largest player's market share is 6%. So we need to play that game really, really smartly. The shift is happening towards quality players. So the unorganized sector players, unbranded players carry 70% market share, right? So we have a significant opportunity to actually take share away from unbranded guys who have lost the ability to attract customers. Their funding costs are high. So we have significant room for capturing market share in each of these cities. So we're going to focus only on three cities and capture the fair market share that our brand deserves. So that's our plan.

What do you see as opportunities opening up even within these three cities as concerned? Redevelopment, of course, is a big aspect of one of the potential opportunities for the sector.

Yeah, absolutely. And as you know, let's take Mumbai as an example. The infrastructure upgrade that we have seen is a once-in-a-lifetime and actually lifeline for Mumbai real estate, Mumbai job creation. Many of the companies that never thought they can have employment in Mumbai are coming back to my IT companies, tech companies, GCCs, etc. This infrastructure unlock is significant. Now combined with that, when this is happening, but most of Mumbai does not have vacant land parcels, right? So society redevelopment or joint developments or other forms of redevelopment becomes a key part. Our aspiration is to be number one in society redevelopment in Mumbai. And when this opens up in Delhi and other markets, we'll look at evaluate them very dispassionately. But Mumbai redevelopment, society redevelopment, we are going to be number one. We already have had almost 8 to 10 wins so far against stiff competition. We have a strong team and we are going to play a big role in society redevelopment.

A big role, and at least you've given us a very clear number as far as your aspiration for the Mumbai market in the redevelopment space is concerned. But I'm hoping that unlike your peers, you're going to leave me with a number on what you believe you're going to be able to do over the next few years in sales.

Yeah. So we have publicly now announced that we are targeting in this decade 14x. But if I have the support from capital, we can do more.

How much capital do you need? You know, this is like I know I was every time I would go for a meeting to Anish I was reminded of... so I was like capital, right? So that's... how much money do you need?

So I have clearly outlined a plan for 4,000 to 6,000 crore, keeping in mind what Anish said that this is a business where one mistake can actually destroy significant value. So we have to be very, very clear about how we keep our balance sheet healthy, what kind of projects we design. And that's something that we're going to be very diligent. We want to track each of our projects from an IRR perspective and do great projects which will give us financial returns.

He made a pretty good pitch. Amar, you're not signing off on the 4,000-6,000 crores that he's asking you for.

The rights issue is a reiteration of the faith we have in that business. And I must mention in terms of what we spoke about the discipline that we're trying to drive around what is committed, what is delivered, the lifespaces business has been an embodiment of that discipline. So that's why they got the rights issue, and there will be more to go.

He's clearly Oliver Twist, asking you for more, but...

But what's the headline that you're chasing after?

See, fundamentally for us, we need to ensure that this category, three-wheelers and small commercial vehicle four-wheelers, they electrify fast. So that is our primary goal: to electrify the last mile of India, and while doing so, retain the number one position. Today we hold about 39-40% market share in the retails, and we would like to hold that as we continue forward.

And what has been the biggest challenge as far as making that transition is concerned, and what do you see as the key risk in being able to deliver on the number that you're working with?

Yeah. So the biggest challenge has been in many of the markets of India where there is adequate parking, the charging problems get resolved on their own. But in some markets where the customers do not have a house to live in, they don't have a parking or charging slot, that's where the key challenge is. And we are working with a lot of the states and the municipalities to try to outline where we can provide the charging points to make this transition seamless, because otherwise from a cost of ownership perspective or elevating livelihood perspective, this is a fantastic category and product for them. So that's sort of the one. And the risks, I would say at this point, I only think that the number of players, the large number of customers, and the 30% electrification that is already there, we just need to sustain the momentum and the 50% will be a definite possibility.

You know, we've spoken about the headroom for growth and the opportunities, and I want to address the issue of risks as well. And from each of your vantage points, and RA, let me address that with you. I mean, regulatory risk is perhaps one of the key risks as far as your sector is concerned. Do you see that that is relatively benign at this point in time, given the fact that we've gone through a fairly volatile back and forth in the last few years? And more importantly, what would you see as being the big challenges that you have to face?

Yeah, thanks Shireen. And lending is all about balancing between growth, margins, and risk. I think if you look at the regulatory arbitrage between banks and NBFCs for the last 5 years, that's really gone away. So the expectation from the regulator for at least the top tier NBFCs has been quite high, which meant that our practices got elevated to a bank-like status for the last four odd years. What that does from a resilience standpoint is it makes us employ practices which for cyclical businesses keep us in a good state even when there are credit cycles. I mean, liquidity was a constraint, even the risk weights that has been again addressed. So on balance, I think NBFCs were earlier a little bit more shaky when cycles were down. With what the regulator has done in terms of inherent practices and what a lot of us have done just to be much more resilient and swap in bank-like practices, control functions very much like a bank. If you look at the risk function which looks at operating risk, credit risk, market risk, if you look at some of the compliance functions, all of that has really helped us understand that even in a down cycle we will be much better off.

Okay. Boy, you know, one of the big risks, not just for you in specific but for the industry in general, and that once again existential question is being asked of the Indian IT services sector. What will AI do to the business model for the Indian IT services sector? How do you address that? More importantly, what are the capabilities that you believe you will need to bolster in order to make this shift and this transition?

Sure. So look, Shireen, if you look at it, every single technology transformation over time has been initially a headwind but in the long term a huge tailwind for the industry. And I almost see that we are seeing that transition again. From 18 months ago, 'AI will kill the IT services business' to 6 months ago, 'Okay, maybe it won't kill it but it'll clearly impair growth' to now, 'Maybe AI will actually be a huge tailwind for the industry.' So we've seen that transition for every single industry technology cycle, whether it was cloud or before that it was digital. So I have no doubt that the narrative again is moving in the right direction, which is AI will be a huge tailwind for the industry. At the end of the day, our clients have very complex technology estates, right? They are hugely fragmented. So starting off with data, with applications, with infrastructure, they need to be simplified, they need to be modernized by people who understand networks very well, by people who understand industrial and process manufacturing or insurance underwriting, claims. So I have no doubt that it will be a huge tailwind for us at TechM. From a capability perspective, I think the first thing we need to do is obviously make sure that we're building out the platforms that allow us to use this technology effectively. We already were the first global SI to build a large language model from scratch. We're now doubling down on building a trillion parameter model. We've also built out a very significant platform with Nvidia called TechMion in the agent AI space. We're building ecosystem partnerships. We're building industry use cases. And now, very excitingly, we're building a new model that allows us to price for human labor plus token consumption. So a completely transparent model depending on the kind of project you're doing: data migration, application modernization, infrastructure. What is the combination of human labor plus technology tokens we will use? And I feel it will be transformational for the industry.

You know, speaking of that transformation, Abanti and Asha, let me get you in on this as well. We're talking about making all of these strides and accelerating growth across these businesses, but going back to the initial opening comment about purpose, how all of this ties up with the Mahindra group's purpose, what it means in terms of your people, not just internally but also externally, what it also means as far as the efforts on being sustainable as well. Abanti, I'll start with you.

Yeah, thank you. Pleasure to be here, Shireen. So I want to actually start by reiterating what Anish said at the outset, which is really that we stand on the shoulders of giants in the Mahindra group who came before us, because this is a group which had purpose in its DNA as it started out 75, more than 75 years ago, and several industry firsts to its credit in the area of sustainability long before sustainability and ESG became the buzzword today. So where we are today is we have a very clear strategy. Just as all the businesses have a strategy, we have a very clearly laid out planet positive strategy at the group level. And what is exciting is that each of the businesses, all the business leaders sitting around and many outside, actually own the strategy along with their teams and are driving it, and many are building purpose-led businesses. So I'll just look at Suman and Aven here as two businesses which are very purpose-led, and so are the others. And the CEOs around this table actually spend a lot of personal time integrating business strategy and sustainability, and that has got us to a great place in terms of accolades. We have several global firsts amongst Indian but even global companies. So I'll just give a couple of examples: Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, where both the folks on either side of me, Rajes with auto and Moit with tech, are part of the DJ World Index, and several others which are to our credit. So I think purpose therefore comes through to life through what we are doing in sustainability and is very well embedded within the businesses.

Asha, you want to add to that?

Thanks Shireen. I just want to start by saying that last month, exactly 80 years ago, we released a print ad in the Times of India. I know this is CNBC but it's a print ad, but yes, that ad actually spoke about values. It did not speak about products or services. And the point I want to make is that these values are actually in existence across all businesses even today. So when you look at ethics, when you look at dignity of individuals, when you look at excellent business practices, Amar spoke about governance, those values are all there in the companies, in all our leaders, and that's what we bring to our work every day. The second point I want to make is that these values actually are the short form or become the bedrock of Rise, and when we think of Rise we don't think of it as just a purpose statement but it's really in the actions. And there are two actions that we are really proud of. And as Avanti said, this is not something that we started in the last four years. But one of the initiatives that we feel very deeply touched about is Nanhi Kali, the efforts that have been done for the education of the girl child. And when you look at these girls, this is not just about education. This is about actually teaching girls that they really matter, that their lives matter, and the transformation that happens in their lives is nothing but purpose.

I want to say that 50% of the donors who come to Nanhi Kali are non-Mahindra companies. That itself goes to show that it's a really well-governed program, which means that every penny actually goes towards the girl child's education. The second bit, if I may add, thanks for indulging me, is about women empowerment. And we have a program that we call Cabil, and sometimes we think about women empowerment from the lens of charity, but this is from the lens of actually making them economically empowered so that they get jobs. We have actually provided 1 million jobs to these women by partnering with more than 2,000 institutions and colleges across the country. And our ambition is to actually empower 1 million women every year from 2027 onwards.

Well, you know, I have to say that I'm all in on that plan. So I hope that you do make it happen. But, you know, Anish, 14 companies that we're speaking to today. Is there enough on your plate or like insurance, is there anything new that you intend to move into at this point in time?

So is there anything at this point in time that you are remotely excited about that you feel that you could look at getting into at any point in time?

We have a long list of things that we are looking at. Have you shortlisted? Have you shortlisted anything? Is there a top three?

Okay. Okay. We shall have that conversation. As I said, what are the new kids on the block? Ain, thanks very much for joining us as well. You know, the aspiration and the plan as far as sustenance is concerned. More importantly, what you've already been able to clock in terms of deliverables.

So, thank you Shireen. I think from our perspective, we've focused on being a quality player and then use the quality mantra to scale up over time, because if you get your quality wrong, then you erode value over time and therefore scaling up is going to be that much more challenging and seeking capital from Amar is going to be that much more challenging. And therefore we are focusing on building very high quality renewable energy assets. We are focusing on putting together a capital light structure, a very efficient structure where we focus on building assets with the amount of capital that we've got, asset manage them really well, optimize their performance, transfer them into a vehicle like an InvIT, and then recycle capital that allows you to offload debt and then root capital into your fresh development initiatives. And in this entire journey, we have also partnered with a very marquee investor who has come in, looked at our processes, practices. It's a very large Canadian pension fund who partnered us across three business verticals: our development arm, which brings in very deep execution experience, Mahindra Sustain; we have an asset management arm, Mahindra Techco, that helps us operate our assets. Incidentally, they are India's largest, world's sixth largest O&M company. And of course, one of the larger advisors to third party clients outside of Sustain as well. And we have seated an InvIT with our Canadian pension partner who also co-sponsors, who help us equitably recycle capital, of course subject to regulatory approvals. Put all of this in place, I think we are very well positioned to scale up our renewable energy business over time and also contribute in a very meaningful way to the Prime Minister's aspiration of building 500 gigawatts of renewables for the country.

You, Amar, what I'm picking up here from everybody, I mean, you're the harder customer to deal with, right? Or the hardest customer to deal with as far as these CEOs are concerned.

Uh, I'm learning from the best.

Well, I say that's a good thing.

You know, no, it certainly is a good thing. And perhaps also learnings from the past that you're putting in place, which is why they're having to really sort of hard sell their businesses to each one of you.

I started the investor today by a token of gratitude to our leaders from the past who really built a very strong foundation and reminded everyone that Mahindra has been the best performing stock in the Nifty from 2002 till 2018 and has regained that spot as being the best performing stock for the last 23 years now. But that doesn't happen easily. The investments that our leaders have made at that point in time have enabled us to be who we are today. So we clearly owe them a huge token of gratitude. Yes, there are some lessons from the past, and the basic lesson is we have to drive profitable growth. We have to play in areas where we can scale up. What we tell our teams: think big, do less, and execute flawlessly.

And that's essentially what we're following here. The real estate business has shown a tremendous amount of focus on profitability, and that is what we were looking for. As they've done that, we've opened the coffers to say you will get more capital, and there's more capital coming from the outside. There are multiple folks who effectively wanted to partner with us. They are eager to give us more capital. We've held them at bay for a while to say we need to be convinced the business is profitable. The business has shown that, we're now opening the doors for that. So there are many pools of capital, external capital coming into Sustain.

I would say real estate first. There are multiple conversations underway where folks want to come into specific projects. There have been huge wins. It's a set of folks who are looking at long-term, who are pure equity partners, and who like the story that my lifespaces has today because it's very well positioned from a brand standpoint. And Bandra, for example, is a 37-acre plot of land in Mumbai. There is another 35 to 40 acre plot of land in Thane. There's a 120-acre plot of land we're looking at. There are other smaller what we call world cities that we're looking at. So there's a lot of excitement in lifespaces. Key is maintaining profitability and delivering what we commit. As long as we do that, there's plenty of capital available.

So would it be fair or an unfair question to ask you? Are there favorites here on the table for you? On the back of the potential that you see.

We have done the pruning where we exited 15 businesses. So at this point, all of each one of them is a favorite.

All of each one of them is a favorite. So let me quickly go around the room. Rajes, I'll start by asking you: vision for 2026 and the vision over the next 5 years. What do you hope to complete?

We can't call 2026 a vision. It's almost a budget.

Yeah.

So yeah, you know, Shireen, we don't put out guidance, but we have this time to say that our businesses are going to grow multiple times in this decade, and we are very, very positive and optimistic on every business that we are in. The SUVs are doing very well and there's a lot of upside, the LCVs as well, and tractors we put out some specific industry numbers, and we stay very positive about the next.

I like the industry specific numbers. Well, you're not going to lose market share. So we'll grow at least that much.

You'll grow at least that much. Moit, I know you, try and manifest a little bit, little vision board.

Going to put up the vision board. Look, I think we put out a very clear plan for FY27, right? And at the time we put it out, candidly, most analysts didn't fully price for it because they said this looks really, really difficult in terms of margins, in terms of growth. But over six quarters, we have demonstrated resilience and performance towards the goal. So if you think of it, you know, as a plane, we were taxiing. Now the wheels have left the ground, and beyond FY27 is the time to go supersonic.

Go, go, go supersonic. You're going straight from taking off to going supersonic. And perhaps that's the best segue to come to you, Vinod. How quickly do you believe you can go supersonic with your business?

Yeah. So, Shireen, as Anish said, we are sitting on a huge order book right now which we have won in the last one and a half years. And the priority for FY26 is very clearly to industrialize those packages, which in this industry takes a couple of years. And once we industrialize and the revenue starts kicking in, the most important thing which we are right now doing, which we are actually paranoid about, is that we are on one hand delivering the orders which we already have executed, and on the second hand we are doing industrialization. And we have to do both very, very well without losing the reputation we have built. And that's clearly our priority for FY26.

That's the priority. Manoj, of course, signature resorts I would imagine is going to be the key priority as well as the key ambition.

Yeah, so of course we are in a growth market. So I think signature resorts is one new foray which we have articulated, but really I think scaling the core to 10,000 keys remains a big priority too. And as we think about it, I think whatever we put as a decade of a vision, it really translates to double the keys, double the revenues, and triple the profits from here on in the next 5 years. So I think that's the way we think about it. We really have to focus on both of these, and of course signature resorts is the new initiative. So obviously it will take a lot of time and attention, but scaling the core remains important too.

FY26, I have a must-do target. Rajes said he so we have to do mid to high teens growth in our SUV portfolio and high single digits and not lose share in the LCV portfolio. But over the 10-year period, we have an 8x target in terms of topline for the auto business.

8x target. Amit.

So we have FY27, we are pre-sales 4,500 to 5,000 crore. We are at 2,800 crore, so significant jump. For FY30, 10,000 crore sales, which we'll try to accelerate sooner, which will be over a period of decade will be 14x from where we were in FY20.

Well, I think the focus will be on four growth vectors: create a fortress around a domestic business, scale up international, scale up farm machinery, pioneer technology. Do all of this to deliver a 3x growth in revenue and meet our aspiration of impacting farmers' lives globally by pioneering technology, and do this through think big, do less, and execute flawlessly.

So over the last 3 years, we have delivered 5x EV volume growth and put 300,000 EVs on the market. Our aspiration is to close the decade with 1 million EVs on the market. Okay.

So that's across all the categories.

Across all the categories. A million EVs on the road. That is the aspiration and the target as far as you're concerned, Ain.

I think it's execute well on the projects that we have already won. Focus on winning new bids, especially more complex ones that are able to deliver peak power using batteries, and then ensure that the projects that we have built focus rigorously on quality and then recycle capital so that they can go back into new projects.

I'll draw from Anish's slide today where he positioned TechM and Mahindra Finance under 'unlock full potential'. So clearly there's a pivot to growth. I think that growth will be on a couple of pillars. Number one is defend our vehicle business. Number two is grow our fee-based income. And number three is build adjacencies in mortgages and theme.

Okay. Amar, which is going to be the most crucial metric that you're going to be watching closely and chasing after over the next 5 years?

I think for us, the growth momentum is there. I don't think that's going to be an issue. Anish already laid out a 15 to 40% growth metric across all our businesses. So the growth metric is there. I think the profitability and the ROE must stay to what has been committed externally: the 15 to 20% growth in EPS and the 18% ROE commitment that we have made. Because that's the discipline that will make, for me, the big thing going into the 30s is going to be: are there a lot of Indians who are admired for being CEOs of big global brands? We want Mahindra to be the Indian brand that's admired globally. And I think that will all come from all of this that you've just heard today.

Well, Anish, the pressure is clearly on you. So,

Well, as they say, success is on the back of strategic decisions and strategic choices that leaders make. Each one of these leaders here has articulated very clearly what they're chasing after, but more importantly what they don't intend to go after as well. Thank you very much to each one of you for joining us here today, for giving our viewers and of course investors a very clear indication of the road ahead, the map ahead as far as the Mahindra group is concerned. We wish you all the very best of luck as you fulfill the promises that you've made here to Amar more importantly, and to Dr. Anish. But thank you again for joining us. With that, it is time for us to wrap up this edition of On the Record with Mishin Bhan. From here, from the CNBC TV18 team, thanks very much for watching. The news will continue right after this break.