About Sanjiv Goenka
Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has been active in public commentary on politics, business, and sports. Following the BJP's victory in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, Goenka expressed confidence in the new state government, stating that the BJP has a "track record of success in every state that they have governed" and that he expects to see the same in Bengal. He called for policy consistency and the scrapping of what he described as "archaic laws" such as the urban land ceiling act, which he said does not exist in any other part of the country. Goenka also said that investing in Bengal had previously been an "emotional call" but that with a BJP government, "emotion turns into emotion plus confidence." On national affairs, Goenka praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, calling him "by lengths the best prime minister that India has had" and stating that "Modi hai to mumkin hai" is a sentiment shared by Indian industry. He expressed confidence in India's long-term economic trajectory, predicting the country could become "one or two in the world" by 2047. Addressing the impact of the Iran-US war, Goenka acknowledged short-term challenges for fuel-dependent businesses but said the group is proceeding with approximately ₹72,000 crore in projects across multiple states, though he noted the war may delay their target by a year. In sports, Goenka discussed his ownership of the Lucknow Super Giants IPL team and Mohun Bagan football club, describing himself as a "convenient punching bag" on social media and stating that he does not give cricketing lessons to experts.
Transcript (54 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
S
Shirin0:05
Welcome to the CNBC TV18 special. We're coming to you from Kolkata, from the headquarters of the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. I'm Shirin, and we're in conversation with Sanjiv Goenka.
S
Sanjiv Goenka0:13
Thank you very much for joining us here on CNBC TV18.
S
Shirin0:16
Hi, Shirin. Always a pleasure. Well, thank you very much for having us. Let me start by asking you, sir, about the targets you've set out for the group — a fairly stiff one: 40,000 crore rupees over the next five years. Specifically, as far as the FMCG business is concerned, from the current 500 crores, the target is 10,000 crores. Are you on track to deliver on these numbers?
S
Sanjiv Goenka0:40
Well, I think we were hoping we would be at a beat rate of about 600 crores, and we are at a beat rate of 500 crores, so we are slightly behind on that. But we've got some very interesting new products ready for launch in the space of snacking — guilt-free snacking. We hope that by the end of this year we will launch our next category. A lot of work is going on, and some very interesting products are emerging. This will be the 'Two Young' brand or a different brand altogether — maybe a different brand. But as far as the five-year target for 10,000 crores is concerned, I think we're very much on that target, and we're very confident of getting there.
S
Shirin1:31
How much of this journey from 500 crore to 10,000 crore is going to be done organically, and how much is likely to be driven by inorganic growth? You have done some acquisitions already. Do you have an appetite for larger acquisitions to get to that number?
S
Sanjiv Goenka1:49
Clearly, it will have to be a combination of organic plus inorganic, and we are going to look at all opportunities that come our way which make sense for us.
S
Shirin1:59
Are you also looking at things like McDonald's? The speculation is that perhaps a foray into the QSR space via McDonald's is something you could consider.
S
Sanjiv Goenka2:08
I'm not going to comment on that. I'm not going to say whether we are looking at it or not, whether we've been approached or not. I'm not getting into that. The primary focus for us is to really look at the consumer goods space in the FMCG sector or segment. So we're going to look at lots of products in this, lots of categories, and be working on a lot of things. The research our team has been doing is actually coming out with very, very great results. So I think within the end of this year, we should be launching an extra range of products — not necessarily in the field of snacking — and there should be a very exciting range. Snacking, of course, lots of new products are coming, so non-snacking as well.
S
Shirin3:10
Can you give me some broad sense of what the new categories could be? In which space?
S
Sanjiv Goenka3:16
We'll be looking in multiple spaces, and we will over a period of time get into all of them. So we are looking at personal care, we are looking at our Vida... we are looking at these two for now.
S
Shirin3:35
Specifically? So do you believe that this calendar year is when we could expect one of the two?
S
Sanjiv Goenka3:41
One of the two for sure in this calendar year.
S
Shirin3:45
What kind of investments is this going to require? You know, you used to the power sector, and every project was a few thousand crores. Exactly.
S
Sanjiv Goenka3:57
Each such thing — in terms of product development — is not even a hundred crores. In terms of factories, we are in the process of setting up a very big FMCG snack factory in Telangana, which will be commissioned in the next nine months. The total investment in that is within 300 crores. So frankly, the investments in FMCG appear to be quite modest when you look at it. And then of course you have losses to finance for the next 12 to 18 months. But the whole thing cumulatively is so much lower than capital-intensive industries.
S
Shirin4:49
Just to do a quick follow-up question on your foray into the personal care space: what gives you the confidence of being able to break through there? Because it's a highly commoditized and competitive market.
S
Sanjiv Goenka5:06
That's all I'm going to say at this point in time.
S
Shirin5:09
You talked about financing the losses as far as the FMCG business is concerned. Even though the comparison in terms of cash requirements fails when you compare it to the power business, breakeven — when should we be looking at breakeven for 'Two Young'? Maybe the July-September quarter of next year?
S
Sanjiv Goenka5:33
That's the target we've set for ourselves, and I think we're on track for that. Each brand will have a different cycle of getting to breakeven, but for now, this is what the 'Two Young' plan is.
S
Shirin5:49
Let me ask you about retail now and the retail aspiration as well. Are you looking at adding space aggressively? You have burnt your fingers in the past; there have been lessons learned. Is it likely to be a more calibrated, measured approach? What is the plan for Spencer's Retail?
S
Sanjiv Goenka6:08
Let me put it very clearly: we are going to grow very aggressively in three geographies — maybe four — that's West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. These three geographies — Spencer's is doing exceedingly well, and we will grow very aggressively in these territories. We are also now going to look at inorganic opportunities, which we haven't looked at in the past. These geographies are outside of those, and in the past we hadn't looked because we were waiting for expenses to actually break even, which it has done. Therefore, we believe now it's the right time for us to accelerate.
S
Shirin6:52
When you say it's the right time to accelerate, give me a sense of what we can expect in terms of how many square feet you hope to add and what the numbers are going to look like. Because I was just looking at the three-year revenue CAGR — it's at about seven and a half percent. The industry is going faster than that. So on the back of acquisitions as well as this aggressive expansion you've got lined up, how much do you intend to improve on this?
S
Sanjiv Goenka7:20
I would like to put a number specifically, but you will definitely see far more aggressive growth numbers. As far as Spencer's is concerned, the focus will be on four things: one is adding square footage profitably; two is a very strong focus on private label, which brings in much higher margin; three is a much stronger focus on apparel, which again brings in stronger margin; and the fourth is we will look at inorganic growth selectively — not stupidly, not for vanity. But yes, we will be looking at it, and there are opportunities.
S
Shirin8:07
So let me pick up on both those issues you talked about. As far as your size is concerned, you're at about 1.3 million square feet in retail. Compare that to Reliance Retail at 21 million square feet, Future Retail at 16, DMart at 5.5, V-Mart — so there's a big distance to cover. So do you see yourself expanding?
S
Sanjiv Goenka8:29
We will expand, and we will expand aggressively. You will see more and more area coming into play. There are properties we've signed up which will materialize in the next 18 to 20 months. Hopefully, there will be organic growth as well.
S
Shirin8:47
And what about the bit about per-square-foot performance? Because that would suggest at this point in time that you need to focus on operational improvements.
S
Sanjiv Goenka8:56
Absolutely. As I said, a higher focus on private label, where you make 35% margin as opposed to 18 or 20; a higher focus on apparel, where again you make 35% margin as opposed to 18 or 20; and higher square footage in our chosen geographies, because every bit of contribution that comes in will then go straight to the bottom line.
S
Shirin9:22
Given everything you've spelled out for us — opening more stores, the kind of pipeline of stores you're looking at over the next few years — you know, you've gone from 48 stores in 1995 to 300 in 2006, then you shut down stores from 2009. You're at about 150-odd stores currently. So what's the pipeline looking like in terms of square footage?
S
Sanjiv Goenka9:53
We've got about 3 lakh plus square feet opening this year, and another 2.5 to 3 lakhs in the next year. So that's already 50% over our existing base. And if we have an inorganic option, that adds to it.
S
Shirin10:13
What's the plan as far as Firstsource is concerned? Because you said you have inorganic aspirations for the FMCG business as well as for retail. What about Firstsource?
S
Sanjiv Goenka10:24
Firstsource has actually done really well over the last four or five years since we've taken over the company, but there is a long way to go — a really long way to go. So you will see inorganic growth at Firstsource as well. We definitely are looking at acquiring domain-specific companies — companies that specialize in platforms which specialize in AI or robotics — and we are scouting.
S
Shirin11:05
Any specific geographies you would be scouting in?
S
Sanjiv Goenka11:10
No, no — geography-agnostic. But one of the concerns you highlighted is Brexit and the uncertainty over Brexit continues, and that's a large chunk — 40% plus — as far as the Firstsource business is concerned. So any plans on diversification to mitigate the risk on account of that?
Well, I think we see now that the risks that theoretically could have been there because of Brexit are largely contained. I can't say 100%, but largely. But you will see a far more growth-oriented Firstsource than you've seen in the past. We engaged McKinsey to do a study for us, and they are in the process of doing it. There is a clear-cut plan which is now being put into place, and very soon will be put into execution.
S
Shirin12:07
What would be the pillars of this plan that you intend to focus on?
S
Sanjiv Goenka12:13
I think you will see us moving into... There was a sense of complacency that the company had with the big win on the Sky account. You will see the effort to get more skies and to get more wins, and to actually get into the area which we've been absent from. Mortgages for us has been doing very well, but we now have to get into the higher end of mortgages, and you will see us doing that. There's a great team at work in Firstsource in the market space. We also have to make some changes in terms of getting a more aggressive sales force in place. So you will see a lot of this happening — a lot of action.
S
Shirin13:01
So I would imagine that the plan you intend to put into execution, as you just pointed out, is also going to aid margin expansion. So what can we expect with the margin trajectory? The margin as it stands is at 14%, compared to 5% when we took over the company. We are still not at the top of the industry.
S
Sanjiv Goenka13:28
I think the effort will be over the next two to three years to get to that 17 or 18 percent.
S
Shirin13:35
You talked about acquisitions. We're seeing interesting moves towards consolidation in the domestic market — L&T going after MindTree. What do you make of that, and do you intend to play consolidator in the domestic market?
S
Sanjiv Goenka13:50
I'm not looking at a big-ticket acquisition in the tech space. For us, it's about acquiring domain and knowledge which can help us get more clients and service our existing clients better. That is what we're focusing on at this point in time.
S
Shirin14:07
Let me ask you about two of your other businesses — about the carbon black business. What we're seeing today is a general slowdown as far as the auto sector is concerned — both passenger cars and two-wheelers. Are you seeing an impact on account of that?
S
Sanjiv Goenka14:30
Yes, there is a slight slowdown in the domestic automobile offtake for carbon black. Tires have slowed down, and therefore there is a natural reflection on that. But we are making up our volumes by higher exports. There will be an impact — a certain impact for sure — but overall, you've seen such huge improvements in the operations at Philips Carbon that a certain new normal has been arrived at in terms of profits. So even a slowdown doesn't really impact it that much because efficiencies are at an all-time high.
S
Shirin15:12
But what do you make of this slowdown? We've seen it now for the last few quarters. What's the expectation? When we talk to auto companies, the hope — not the assumption — is that post-election there should be some sort of pickup in demand. What's your own sense?
S
Sanjiv Goenka15:32
My people tell me that production at tires has picked up a bit in May, and they expect it to pick up even more in June. So fingers crossed.
S
Shirin15:42
Since we're talking about consumption, let me ask you an overall question as far as the trends you're seeing on consumption and consumer spending. The sense one gets — if you look at sales numbers — is that there is a secular consumption slowdown. Are you seeing that as well across your businesses?
S
Sanjiv Goenka16:05
Yes, we are. Discretionary spending is definitely down. We're hoping post-elections that picks up. How much has it been hit? Difficult to quantify, but clearly there is an impact. We're seeing that in FMCG sales, we're seeing that in offtake at our retail outlets. So definitely there is an impact. High-value items are slower off the shelf; discretionary spending is getting deferred. But hopefully after the elections, it should become better.
S
Shirin16:51
A quick question on Saregama and what the outlook is as far as that business is concerned, especially on the go.
S
Sanjiv Goenka17:03
We're very, very excited about 'Go' — 'Karva' was a great launch and a great product. As you've consumed it, it's the newest version of 'Karva' — literally you can take it on the go. In the past, the bigger 'Karva' bars were used for gifting; this product will be used for personal consumption, and therefore there is a different market and a bigger market that awaits 'Go'. So we're very excited about it. You will see a lot more versions of 'Karva' coming out — the 'Karva Minis' will have specific products: Rabindra Sangeet, or specific Asha-Kishore-Lata combinations, etc. We've just launched 'Gurbani', which is absolutely fantastic. Our films on Netflix are doing well. We've just signed up with two other OTT platforms — one for 12 films this year, and another for six to eight regional films. So that's another part of the business that's actually looking very good. I'm fairly optimistic about Saregama.
S
Shirin18:20
My people in the films division of Saregama tell me that every time you dislike a film... I disliked 'Aji', which did very well and got awards and trended on Netflix. I disliked 'Bridge Mohana Murder', which is still trending. I disliked 'Australia Chuckit', which is trending. So every film that I've disliked from asking... what was actually best for the team is to actually get you to watch the film.
S
Sanjiv Goenka19:05
Is that what's being done now? Are you watching before it hits the market? Yes.
S
Shirin19:08
So give me a sense — given the fact that you see 'Karva' as well as the films business picking up steam — what's the aspiration in terms of numbers?
S
Sanjiv Goenka19:20
It's very difficult to forecast numbers on this. We've made a comeback into the video — we know 'Chopra Camp' and we've signed two of the next films. We will be signing some more big-ticket music acquisitions over the next few weeks. It's very difficult to forecast which music takes off and which doesn't. But what is certain is that we are getting re-rated by the OTT platform. Because of the new-found enthusiasm and bigger in the company, and the new products and the success of those products, I think we've been re-rated. That's helping bottom lines. Our new streams of revenue are helping. So no figures, no forecasts, but I think this year should be definitely significantly better than last.
S
Shirin20:21
Thanks very much for speaking to us.
S
Sanjiv Goenka20:23
Thank you, Shirin.
S
Shirin20:25
With that, it is time for us to wrap up the CNBC TV18 special from the RP Sanjiv Goenka headquarters in Kolkata. Thanks for watching.