Bhaskar bhat biography of donald

As a man dressed in a cotton shirt and trousers walks into Taj MG Road, Bengaluru, on a November evening, the hotel’s staff goes into a tizzy. The manager appears, checking if the unassuming gentleman wants anything in particular, as he makes his way to the Titan showroom in the hotel. The store’s manager too seems puzzled by his unannounced arrival. After all, Bhaskar Bhat—the man behind the phenomenal success of multiple Titan brands—has landed up at the Nebula and Taneira outlet after changing his mind at the last moment about where to have this meeting.

As he enters the store, he asks for the sales figures. The store manager gives the numbers. Bhat nods and smiles, knowing that sales have been low this season, and that the store has managed to meet expectations. You could make the mistake of assuming that Bhat is still at his job, but the fact is he retired as managing director (MD) in October. 

“It is a different feeling to be freed from a nine-to-five job,” says Bhat, 65, as he settles into a chair in one corner of the store. But the free time, he says, “…is at a very, let’s say lowest common denominator.” Bhat, based in Bengaluru, continues to fly frequently to Mumbai to attend board meetings of 10 Tata Group companies, including Tata Sons, the group’s principal holding company; he is also the chairman of Rallis India, a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals. “Now, it is my cumulative experience that needs to be applied, and the contribution is different.”

Titan’s journey started 35 years ago, in 1984, as a joint venture between Tata Group and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. Bhat joined the company in 1983 in the marketing department of the Tata Watch Project.

Since then the company has evolved into a retail giant, branching into jewellery, eyewear, accessories, per

While emphasising the importance of empowering frontline staff, Vistara Chairman Bhaskar Bhat said it will be ensured that passengers keep getting better and better services from the merged entity.

“The merged entity will be one integrated entity. How does it translate… through SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). It will become a single SOP as it becomes one brand… (there will be) sharing of best practices,” he said.

Stressing on the idea of driving differentiation across areas, Bhat said that “experience” of passengers is what needs to be differentiated and added that premiumisation is driven by consumers wanting a better quality and better experience.

According to him, it will be difficult now to mention about a timeline on how long Vistara brand will be there after the merger and the Vistara livery will continue for sometime.

There is a practical problem of repainting the planes. If aircraft is taken away, there will be loss of revenues and replacement of aircraft is also taking time. “We are dealing with multiple challenges…,” he noted.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Foundation for Quality Management (IFQM) Symposium in the national capital.

Vistara is well appreciated for its services. There are concerns in certain quarters on whether Vistara passengers will continue to get the same services like now, post merger as Air India, which is in the transformation phase, has been facing certain service issues in recent times.

On October 2, an Air India spokesperson said the teams of Air India and Vistara have been working hard for over a year to ensure that the merger of the legal and regulated entities is seamless for both customers and staff.
“Though the legal entities and Air Operator Certificates will become one on 12 Novem

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Back in 2002, Indian watch-and-jewellery-maker Titan Industries was in the doldrums, saddled with debt from a flailing jewellery business and an expensive foray into Europe. That’s when the new Managing Director, Bhaskar Bhat, sat down with Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who was considering putting money into the Bangalore company. They met for nearly three hours. “Bhaskar was extremely blunt and truthful,” recalls Jhunjhunwala, who is often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett. “He said that the task [of turning around Titan] wasn’t easy, but he would do it.”

Today Jhunjhunwala owns 11 percent of Titan, and it’s an investment that’s certainly paid off. In the past decade, Titan’s market capitalisation has soared from $45 million to $3.5 billion. In the same period, its annual revenue has jumped from $153 million to $1.74 billion, while profits have mushroomed from $1 million to $118 million. “[Bhat] brought it from the jaws of death onto the road to success,” says Jhunjhunwala. “Now Titan is best positioned to capture the mega retail opportunity that India presents.”

This year, for the first time, Titan clinches a spot on the Fab 50 list. The company is graduating from last year’s 'Waiting in the Wings' list of companies poised to crack the top 50. “The whole mantra is growth,” says the 58-year-old Bhat, who started his third five-year term as managing director in April. “We have an aspiration to grow to three times our current size in the next five years.”

Since its founding in 1984, Titan has gone from a niche watchmaker to a leading speciality retailer that sells everything from gold jewellery to bags, belts and wallets. Titan