The Bread Winner

ICE PEOPLE: Lokesh Sikaria

Lokesh Sikaria grew up in Assam where the Sikaria household is famous for its bakery products, flour mills and other small businesses. Get him talking on bread and scones and one cannot fail to notice the sparkle in his eye.

"Ask anybody in North-East about Uma bread and you will know why I am so excited," he remarks. Even though bread is Sikaria's key to fame in Assam, it still does not make the young executive a good cook.

Though a job was not really a favoured option for Sikaria's family, he went ahead and got himself a degree in mechanical engineering from University of California.

From his first job at the PriceWaterhouseCooper in San Francisco where he was the youngest consultant on board to heading Rapidigm's India division at the age of 31, this man has certainly been in a tearing hurry.

He joined Rapidigm in 1996 while in US and today as a senior vice-president and COO of Rapidigm (India) manages a business of over $200 million for the company.

"The itch to return to my country brought me back in December 2000," he recalls. The only 'plausible' option he had was to launch his own company in which Rapidigm took a stake. "Lewis Wheeler, CEO of Rapidigm wasn't too sure about the Indian market," he says, adding: "He wanted to test the waters."

The biggest challenge, he says, was to bring Rapidigm to acknowledge that the Indian market was strategic to the company's core business. For Sikaria the 'big run' started, "after two years, when Hojai Global had 150 employees and had successfully managed many of Rapidigm's projects from India."

Rapidigm took over Sikaria's company, Hojai, in 2002 and brought him back to Rapidigm. As of 2004, the company boasts of 800 employees and $12 million in revenues.

The young COO is content being neck-deep in Rapidigm's expansion work in India. "We will open an office in Noida, besides opening offices in UK and Dubai," says Sikaria, adding, "We plan to let Rapidigm-India grow and control the UK and Dubai operations." The expansion, as he puts it, is in line with the company's vision to promote its offshore business.