Vikas Pota
Vikas Pota (born 3 February 1974) is the Managing Director of the government relations and corporate strategy business Saffron Chase and a regular commentator on all aspects of the UK-India business relationship and Indian political scene.
Biography
Pota writes a blog on globalization and India, and appears regularly on BBC News 24, BBC World News and BBC Radio 5 Live. He has commented in the Guardian, the Observer, and The Independent on Sunday on issues ranging from outsourcing to the impact of The INDIAN Elections and Mumbai attacks on Indian business.
He has advised multinationals that have invested billions of dollars in India as well as prominent Ministers and Parliamentarians on UK-India relations including Kenneth Clarke, David Cameron and William Hague, and was the first communications director of an India-focused parliamentary group. As well as advising parliamentarians, government departments, and companies on breaking developments in South Asia, he has written papers for the UK Trade & Investment Select Committee and taken part in discussions on off-shoring at the TUC conference.
Bibliography
In the book India Inc. How India’s Top Ten Entrepreneurs Are Winning Globally, Pota shortlists 10 Indian high achievers who cover every aspect of India’s growing prowess and highlights what these people have done to make it big. Besides a keen focus on information technology, others profiled work in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, banking, manufacturing, entertainment and green energy. Those profiled include:
- Narayana Murthy – Non-Executive Chairman & Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies
- Subhash Chandra – founder of Zee TV, India’s first satellite channel
- Malvinder Mohan Singh – former CEO & Managing Director of Ranbaxy, India’s largest pharmaceutical company
- KV Kamath – Chairman of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private bank
- Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Chairwoman of Biocon India, Asia’s largest biotechnology company
- S. Ramadorai – head of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software company
- Kishore Lulla – CEO of Eros International, India’s largest distributor of films and entertainment
- Tulsi Tanti – Chairman of Suzlon Energy, the world’s fifth largest supplier of turbines for wind power
- Shiv Nadar – Chairman of HCL Technologies, India’s fourth largest IT company
- Baba Kalyani – Chairman of Bharat Forge, the world’s largest forgings company
Managing Director of Saffron Chase
Saffron Chase has been described as displaying "excellence in every aspect of what they do" by TATA Managing Director S.A Hasan. Through Saffron Chase, Pota launched the India Briefing Centre in 2008 to provide the first bespoke training courses for firms needing an in-depth understanding of the Indian political, economic, and cultural climate. He followed this up by establishing the first UK-India Public Affairs company, Chase India.
Prior to founding Saffron Chase, Vikas Pota worked for HSBC, Newbridge Networks and Alcatel Telecom Limited in technology consultancy and business development roles.