About the book
An epic triple treat-stories from a civil servant, corporate captain andbusinessman Jagdish Khattar has had an astonishingly diverse career,a trained lawyer who became an IAS officer. He was an agent of changein Uttar Pradesh through his roles as district magistrate, and head of thecement and transport corporations. He also helmed India's Tea Boardin London and played a key role in the steel ministry. Elevated to thepost of MD with Maruti Udyog, a firm that was on the verge of a steepdecline, Khattar braved labour unions, foreign competition, and politiciansas he led Maruti to a very successful IPO. Finally, at the age of sixtyfive,Khattar turned entrepreneur with Carnation, India's first multibrand carsales and servicing network. Driven spreads across a sweeping nationalcanvas from droughthit villages to the Shakespearean intrigues ofpoliticians and bureaucrats. Written with flair and liberally peppered withfrank anecdotes, it is filled with lessons about leadership, friendships,jugaadstyle innovation, resilience, and values.
About the author
Jagdish Khattar is chairman and managing director of Carnation Corporation. He is the former MD, Maruti Udyog, an IAS officer and a lawyer.
Suveen Sinha is the executive editor at Business Today; he has beena business journalist for eighteen years, most of those with BusinessStandard, Business Today and Outlook. One of the first stories that hecovered was how the government and Suzuki battled in court for controlover Maruti. He met an aloof-looking Jagdish Khattar at the launch of there-designed Maruti 800 in 1997. Since then he has written several articleson Jagdish Khattar and Maruti, including a definitive cover story in 2000about how Maruti, losing customers at a worrying pace, was going toregain lost ground. Jagdish Khatar's initial frostiness turned into a warmfriendship, culminating into this book.