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Dhanendra Kumar
First Chairperson of Competition Commission of India, India’s Executive Director at World Bank’s Board & Secretary to Govt of India
Dhanendra Kumar is a distinguished former civil servant and expert in competition law and policy. Born in 1946, he joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1968 and has had a long and illustrious career in public service.1
Key Positions and Achievements
First Chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI):: Kumar served as the inaugural chairman of the CCI from February 2009 to June 2011.12 In this role, he was instrumental in establishing the commission's enforcement machinery, regulations, systems, and procedures.2
Executive Director at World Bank:: Prior to his role at CCI, Kumar held the position of Executive Director at the World Bank, representing India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan from November 2005 to January 2009.1
Government Service:: Throughout his career, Kumar has served as Secretary in various ministries of the Government of India, including:
- Ministry of Defence
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
- Ministry of Culture1
Current Role and Expertise
Kumar is currently the founder and chairman of Competition Advisory Services (India) LLP (COMPAD), a niche advisory and consulting firm specializing in competition law, regulatory affairs, and government policies.13 His expertise in these areas is widely recognized, and he is frequently invited by major business-focused media outlets in India to author articles and provide commentary on contemporary business topics.1
Awards and Recognition
Kumar's contributions to public service have been acknowledged with several honors, including:
- The National Citizen's Award, presented by Mother Teresa, for his outstanding contribution to the development of Industrial Parks in Haryana
- An honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions to public affairs1
Dhanendra Kumar continues to be active in his field, sharing his expertise through various platforms and contributing to the development of competition law and policy in India.
Highlights
Glad to share my piece in BS on Demergers, to unlock value for shareholders.
While companies usually start with a single idea, as they grow, they expand, reaching a point where their operations & market conditions make it beneficial (from a tax and growth perspective) to demergeinto separate legal structures.
Over time, businesses develop independent brands. When these business units become large enough, maintaining them under one corporate structure can create challenges like capital allocation asymmetries. Companies then consider demerging these to allow each unit to grow and deliver more shareholder value.
Different business units may have distinct strategic needs, across sectors—from pharmaceuticals to infrastructure. The rationale is to create focused entities, each with its own strategic direction, better resource allocation, improved management oversight, and, ultimately, higher profitability.
According to a Deloitte study ( link in article), large-scale consolidations and corporate restructurings have been the primary drivers of strategic deal volumes. Such transactions accounted for 90% of the overall deal value in the FS sector in 2022 and 59% in 2023, underscoring strategic importance of demergers as a tool for unlocking shareholder value.
For instance, Reliance, a conglomerate ranging from petrochemicals to retail, decided to demerge its financial services business in 2023. This allowed the demerged unit to focus on its own growth trajectory, attract dedicated investors, and operate under a regulatory framework more suited to its industry. L&T also undertaken several demergers to streamline its operations.
This trend is growing- Raymond, Siemens India, Tata Motors, Quess Corp, AllCargo Logistics, Strides Pharma, HP, and Sanofi India- opting various forms of demergers with similar objectives.
Mining major Vedanta Limited is also on its demerger plans that will result in the creation of six independent “pure play” companies once the demerger is approved by stakeholders. Under Vedanta’s proposed demerger scheme, shareholders holding one share of Vedanta Limited will additionally receive one share of each of the five newly listed companies. The company’s demerger rationale is that each independent entity will have greater freedom to grow to its potential via an independent management, capital allocation, and niche growth strategies, sector-focused independent businesses that will provide investment opportunities to Indian and global investors. Vedanta’s demerged entities, can focus on their own, aluminium, oil and gas, power, base metals, and steel and ferrous metals.
Demergers facilitate better agility and focus in management, improved operational efficiency, and increased profitability. Shareholders stand to benefit as significant value gets unlocked through these carefully executed processes.
Ministry Of Corporate Affairs #SEBI #CCI #Reliance #Vedanta #Raymond #Tatas #Siemens #Deloitte #HP #Sanofi #demergers #restructuring
Glad to share coverage in media (Moneycontrol, BS etc.) on the impact of shrinking competition in several sectors, leading to rise in prices and exploitation of consumers.
The airline industry in India is rapidly heading towards a duopoly, with Indigo and Air India, others falling by wayside resulting in rising prices. The percentage of domestic routes lacking competition went up from 55.2% in April 2019 to 69.2% in April 2024. As a result, only 30.8% of the 1,083 routes now have more than one airline, leading to aggressive fare hikes where there is hardly any competition. The bankruptcies of Jet Airways in 2019 and Go First in 2023, along with SpiceJet's financial struggles, left IndiGo and the Air India Group controlling over 90% of the domestic air passenger market.
According to data, Indigo dominates 61% of its routes. During the high demand periods like long weekend between August 15 and 19, and festivals like Raksha Bandhan, the fares surge. According to statics, Indigo had no competition on 33.4% 491 domestic routes in April 2019. However, five years later, by April 2024, the airline enjoyed zero competition on 61.2% of its 838 domestic routes. Indigo promoter Rahul Bhatia is reported to commented that India deserved more than just two major airlines, and Indigo market dominance is not entirely of its own volition, as certain airlines have fallen by the wayside. Notably, while assessing the Air India/Vistara merger, the CCI raised duopoly concerns which were sought to be assuaged by the parties by offering voluntary commitments.
If we look at EU, and how Regulation Can Prevent Market Distortion, EU has taken proactive steps to safeguard competition in its aviation sector through Regulation (EU) 2019/712. This regulation allows the European Commission to investigate and act against anti-competitive practices by airlines. The EC can launch investigations based on complaints from Member States or airlines and involve all relevant parties.
There are similar problems in other sectors too. The Indian telecom sector, currently dominated by Reliance Jio and Airtel, is also in a virtual duopoly, with Vodafone facing severe problems and BSNL in distress. To restore competition, the government may consider infusion of funds and technology in BSNL, with greater freedom to act, to serve as a counterbalance. BSNL has a huge legacy of technocrats and telecom infrastructure running across the length and breadth of the country, and with suitable support, can offer competition in the market. Similarly, Vodafone too can be supported and made to rise up.
Competition is key to automatic regulation of prices and quality to serve consumers. Proactive action by the competition watchdog & policy makers & concerned regulators can help the situation, adequate competition as well as economic and sectoral growth.
#ministyofcivilaviation #ministryoftelecom Competition Commission Of India IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) Air India Limited BSNL LTD airtel Vodafone
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.