It’s a story of a young man who steps out of the precincts of IIT Kanpur in 1974 with a dream in his heart — to become an entrepreneur and contribute to nation-building. Undaunted by the dearth of experience and means to capital in pre-Liberalisation India, BVR Mohan Reddy’s enterprising spirit takes the long and winding road, never losing sight of his ambition. He gains overseas education on scholarship and dons multiple hats for eighteen long years before embarking on his life’s mission at 40 — a mission that propels the company he incorporated, Cyient, to pioneer and excel in outsourced engineering services and introduce the brand ‘Engineered in India’.
Engineered in India takes readers on an entrepreneurial rollercoaster ride, allowing them to see human truths with tools that let them breathe life into their business aspirations and experiments. Asked what inspired him to set aside time from his busy schedule to sit down and write a book, BVR says, “In 2020, India had about 67% of its population in the working age group of 15-64 years — what we call the demographic dividend.
I am convinced that if India is to reap the demographic dividend a young working-class population bestows on it, the nation needs to create enough jobs year after year. Else, the country is poised to face a demographic disaster soon with unmanageable levels of unemployment. Entrepreneurship, especially technology-based private enterprise, is the perfect engine for job creation, as it would boost innovation and allow India to become atma nirbhar (self-sufficient) Bharat and stand tall in a knowledge-intensive global economy. I kept asking myself, how could I reach out and motivate the millions of capable people out there to turn to entrepreneurship? When Covid-19 hurtled the world into lockdown, it gave me time to pause, reflect and write my experiences and Engineered in India was born.”
By writing Engineered in India, BVR wanted to provide experiential evidence of founding Cyient (formerly known as Infotech Enterprises) and transforming the company into a successful, sustainable global business. “In short, Engineered in India allows readers to understand what to expect from an entrepreneurial journey and see human truths and the tools they can use to make sense of their experiments,” he adds. Any parallels he could draw between writing about and heading Cyient? He answers, “I always pick and choose what I enjoy. My journey at Cyient and my writing of Engineered in India were both enjoyable and memorable. I participate in activities where I can add value. Cyient is a standing example for value creation — employment generation, wealth creation, earning foreign exchange for the country, and being a role model corporate citizen. Engineered in India will also be a value creator for it is an endeavour to turn aspiring youth’s entrepreneurial ambitions into an enduring triumph.”
If there’s one emotion or thought he’d want readers to feel when they pick up his book, he says it’s — “Here is a man with great humility built a successful and sustainable company with values as a foundation. May be, I can become one like him too”. BVR sure has other avenues he hopes to work towards in the future. “I am committed to working in the fields of school education, technical education, skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship,” he signs off.