Indian Business Leader Awards: Ashwin Dani felicitated with Lifetime Achievement Award

Ashwin Dani, the non-executive director of Asian Paints, was conferred Lifetime Achievement Award at CNBC-TV18’s Indian Business Leader Awards, held in Mumbai.

The second-generation scion of Asian Paints, joined the company in 1968 as a senior executive and rose through the ranks to eventually lead it. Dani’s contribution has been instrumental to Asian Paints’ growth as the largest paint maker in the country with a group turnover of Rs 21,700 crore. Dani held various roles with the company over the years as its director (research and development), works director, whole-time director and vice-chairman and managing director, and is known for bringing innovative ideas to the company and the paints industry through research and development. He was the brains behind computer colour matching, a concept now widely used in sectors like paints, plastics, printing inks and textiles. He is also credited with the development of products like Apcolite Natural Wood Finish, a novel finishing system for wood surfaces, and Automotive Refinishing System, a quick-drying alkyd enamel widely used in the automobile after-market segment.

On winning the IBLA Lifetime Achievement Award , Dani said, "India has its own heritage and its own taste for paints and the very reason why we succeeded in India is because when I entered the paints industry, among the top seven paint companies, Asian Paints was the only Indian company and all other six companies were British. No other company wanted to give us technology at that time. Our chairman told me that there is no other alternative but to be atmanirbhar."

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Dani played a significant role in navigating the company through a rough patch when ICI India, a subsidiary of British chemicals major ICI Plc, made a takeover bid for Asian Paints in 1997 after the exit of a co-promoter family. Dani along with other co-promoters successfully thwarted the takeover attempt. Life came full circle when Asian Paints acquired a stake in ICI India when the Indian government sold its stake. Today he guides the company as its non-executive director.

Dani over the years has been a recipient of several awards and accolades and was conferred with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Paint Association (IPA) in 2011.

He holds a master’s degree in polymer science from the University of Akron, US, and a diploma in colour science from Rensselaer Polytechnic, New York. He has also completed his bachelor’s degree in paints technology from UDCT University of Mumbai.

While receiving the award, Dani said that he is thankful for the training he got at UDCT, part of Mumbai University after which he went to (University of) Akron for further studies. He said that he did not prefer to join IIM-A in 1965, having got admission and paid fees. Would any of the youngsters do that in today's time? he asked. "Because MBA is so deeply embedded. In any industry first thing you must achieve is certain level of technology and then you can apply any norms of management. Today if you combine the sales of number 2 and number 3 company, they cannot match our sales," he said. ​

Talking about business in current times, Dani said that the way of doing business has changed completely and that digital technology has come at such a speed and at such a short span of time. But he said that Asian Paints was the first Indian company to have a main frame computer in 1973.

"We rented out one shift from Godrej at night in 1972 so that we could use the computer for all three shifts because computer was very expensive and we were relatively small company back then and could not afford the expense of a digital main frame computer at that time. We used to write our own software."

He said that when he took up the first course in computers when he went for his masters in 1966 at Akron he did not get credit for the course. "But I said, I have come to this country not only for learning paint technology. I want to learn what this computer animal is. I was very happy in 1968 besides paint formulation I also concentrated in the implementation of computers. You ask any computer manufacturing company in India they would be proud to sell first computer to us," Dani added.