At Escorts, a superstar’s scion has to prove herself

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₹9,400 crore in 2021. Nanda insisted that under the Kubota partnership, the emphasis was on institutionalizing the company, and not on operating it as a family-run business. (The Nanda family owns 14.15% of the joint company.) “I always wanted to institutionalize this platform, and through Escorts Kubota, I am happy to say to our shareholders that today, this company is institutional," he said in an interview.

“I did not look at protecting only the family interest. The Nanda family has not even sold one share, and we have equal participation in terms of the way we make decisions." Naveli, he said, also has been working on women’s empowerment through her nonprofit as well as via other social organizations. She is also the granddaughter of actor Amitabh Bachchan and the great-granddaughter of actor-director Raj Kapoor.

On the tractor and construction equipment maker’s future, Nanda said Escorts was “aligning" with the Kubota way of doing things—from implementing its production systems and processes to revamping its operations. With Kubota’s know-how, “we no longer have to worry about what future farming technology will emerge in India because Kubota has done tremendous work in that aspect," Nanda said. He added that Escorts Kubota was also looking to establish a research and development (R&D) centre for farm equipment in India, with a focus on digital precision farming.

“India is going to become an R&D hub for tractor tech. We are going to do research; we want to bring in technology and products that already exist globally to India, and also jointly develop technology and products for India and for the world," he said. The overall agriculture mechanization level in India currently is at 47%, as per a parliamentary panel