Carrying the family legacy forward, Gautam Gupta joined Macawber Beekay Private Limited as operational director in the late 1990s. Macawber Beekay, a leading ash handling solutions provider for the power industry, was set up by his father in 1986. As joint managing director of the company at present, Gupta is responsible for business development, marketing, project management and IT development. Macawber Beekay specialises in providing complete turnkey solutions to the power sector for ash handling systems, including bottom/fly ash handling, slurry disposal systems, and coal handling systems. It has installations in India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The company is looking to expand in India and deepen its presence in Southeast Asia.
Gupta recalls his most memorable assignment as that to bring Macawber Beekay onto a digital platform. “The company has achieved 95 per cent digitalisation in all facets of business operations – marketing, project management, communications, and post-installation and commissioning support,” he says.
Gupta notes that the demand for electricity is growing steadily with an uptick in the economy and favourable government policies. Further, with the implementation of various progressive measures to maximise generation capacity and improve power distribution, good growth is expected in the sector over the next five years. “While the sector faces various challenges such as shortages in coal supply and the inability of state distribution companies to clear their financial dues, there are several positives as well. Electrification of households, coupled with increasing manufacturing activity, will boost the demand for power. This spells good news for thermal power plants as they can now continue to be the main source of base power in the country,” he notes.
Commenting on his management style, Gupta says, “I believe in greater employee engagement and empowerment. This gives them the ability to improvise and creatively deliver value to customers.” Gupta has a master’s degree in management from the FORE School of Management. He is passionate about computer systems and IT, and is a qualified Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and a Cisco Certified Network Professional. In order to maintain a healthy work-life balance, Gupta follows a strict fitness regime. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, his favourite books being Rajyog and Gyanyog by Swami Vivekananda.