At the India Today Conclave 2025, Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, stated that businesses should be evaluated based on numbers, not gender. Speaking at the session "Breaking Barriers and Building Legacies," Thapar stressed that success in business depends on financial results, not whether a man or woman runs it.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00It's a great privilege to welcome this panel here, women leaders from three
00:05different fields on Women's Day. So it kind of all fell together and the
00:11stars have aligned to have Namita here with us, Aruna here with us and of course
00:16Anu and what I want to do is to focus on the topic because we've had many other
00:21interesting sessions but how have these star performers in their respective
00:27fields broken barriers and how has their journey been so far and Namita of course
00:35many of you would know her better for being a shark, she doesn't look like one
00:40but Namita why don't you start, how did you manage to break the barrier of
00:45becoming a shark in a world of investment and money and pitches, how did that really work for you?
00:52No, it's been four years now and we spent about 20 days a year shooting
00:58but it's just become larger than life for some reason in terms of the impact
01:02and I think breaking barriers for me has been that television is a great platform
01:10to do two things, one is to educate because through storytelling you can educate, right?
01:15People forget knowledge, forget buzzwords but they remember stories
01:20so when the founders come from different parts of the country, small villages and tell their stories
01:24it's a great way for the country to really learn, you know what I learnt in my MBA school
01:28and paid a lot of money for, people actually learn EBITDA and cost of acquisition
01:32and equity in very simple terms through storytelling and it's given respect to entrepreneurship
01:36so I think that's been fabulous, secondly I've used my voice to talk about a lot of
01:40healthcare issues because being from MQ of Pharma, consider myself as somebody
01:44who should talk more about healthcare and healthcare unfortunately tends to
01:48still have a lot of sensitive, taboo, unspoken topics when it comes to women's health
01:53so I've spoken about my interest with infertility, a couple of IVFs that I've had
01:58menopause, I mean I've said it all and I think it's a great way to break the silence
02:04to speak about uncomfortable topics, to bust some taboos and to educate
02:08so for me that's been the funnest part of the show.
02:11Well, this is absolutely the right platform to talk more about that
02:16Varna, I come to you, you run a billion dollar company, India's oldest music label
02:24how does that sit on your shoulders, is that like a big onerous responsibility
02:30or just a part for the course everyday?
02:34Honestly, so music for me has been part of my DNA, so Saregama has been part of the group
02:40since before I was born, so we grew up hearing the name, hearing the music
02:44so it is a part of me and part of my DNA, a natural extension
02:48but yes the onerous is huge, the responsibility becomes even bigger
02:53because you have this huge legacy, you have this huge heritage of India
02:58that sort of you are safeguarding and it's our responsibility to find a way
03:03to bring it to the Indian public, maybe the Indian public in the 70s, 80s
03:08was familiar with a lot of this music but the newer generations maybe are not
03:12so this huge onerous lies on us with this advent of digital media
03:16to actually bring this to the fore and I think that's where we really want to work on
03:21yes, new music acquisition, all of that will keep happening
03:24but this gold mine that we are sitting on, this repertoire of music
03:29from the first song ever recorded which was Gauahar Jaan in 1902 I think
03:33from then till now, I think it's something that as a country we need to cherish
03:40and really let the newer generations know what we possess
03:45and they have taken music from that era to the digital era
03:49and clearly that would be a challenge, I'll come to that topic later
03:52but you know television to my left and then we have television again
03:58the oldest television rankings platform, event platform in some ways
04:06and you've been running it for 25 years, I want to come straight to the issue
04:12that many people talk about, is television going to remain relevant
04:17in an age of OTT, in an age of digital consumption of all manner of content
04:24Siddharth, honestly television has been and will remain
04:31OTT you've got to realize is all paid platforms, well majority of them
04:37most of the people in our country don't have access to that kind of money
04:43ok let's put it, because they cost between 649 bucks a month to 2000 a year etc etc
04:52television beams free into your homes, it'll never be, the place of TV will never be taken away
05:00digital again is very limited, the kind of stuff on digital platforms today
05:03has nothing to do with, it's like anything today you can see on digital
05:08which again is not something which is very I think acceptable to a lot of people
05:16considering you're seeing what's happening right now
05:18so television is going to remain in TV and you're right we started ITA 25 years ago
05:24we're celebrating our 25th year this year, we're the only TV awards
05:28we added OTT, OTT is your digital platform like Netflix, Amazon etc
05:35in 2019 when they started and I'm happy and proud to say
05:42that we are the highest rated awards in our country
05:47especially since the last 5 years we've beaten all, be it films, be it anybody else
05:52so with real pride I'm very happy I started ITA when we did and we're in our 25th year now
06:00Absolutely and you helped bring television to the masses in some ways
06:05Navita I come to you about you know breaking barriers you alluded to it
06:11bit and your personal sort of challenges that you had but today doing business in India
06:18if you were to compare it 25-30 years back male dominated heavily regulated
06:24government regulations dealing with Sarkar, My Babki Sarkar
06:28and now in the digital age startup culture things have changed, things have improved
06:32things have become much, much easier for a newcomer who wants to get into business
06:38a woman who wants to set up a startup company is it a more challenging time
06:45or a more easier time to do business?
06:48So I'm an optimist and I'm 48 I've been working for 25 years so I've seen the change
06:55and there has been remarkable change and things have become better
06:59so let's not paint a doomsday picture here but the one thing that hasn't changed
07:04and never should change is whether you're a man or a woman you're judged by your numbers
07:11so we went public about 6-7 months back right and of course even before we went public
07:17we had Blackstone, we had Bain Capital, we had a bunch of Markey private investors
07:21and I worked in the US for 8 years as well it's always the numbers
07:24and they only deal with numbers?
07:26As it should be so I think you will always have challenges, you will always have barriers
07:32but then you can just shut everyone up with your numbers
07:34and if you don't have the numbers then you have to shut up it's one of those two things
07:38Do you agree with that?
07:40Oh 100% I think your work speaks for you and no matter what anyone says
07:46once your work is doing what it's supposed to do as Namita rightly said people shut up
07:52so you I mean numbers prove everything you might have a concept, you might have an idea
07:57you might go out there but the truth is you only know if it's successful if the numbers prove it
08:03and your personal leadership style is it numbers driven or a mix of
08:07it's actually I think the nature of the business I am in it's a mix of creative and numbers
08:12the numbers have to come because if the numbers don't then I don't have the creative freedom
08:17to do what I want to do or what I should be doing so it's a chicken and egg story really
08:22Aren't women instinctively better at sort of balancing budgets
08:27if you are a homemaker you do that all the time if you are running a business
08:31Women are better period in everything we can think of that goes with everybody agrees with that
08:38that goes without saying but you know what I was just talking to someone outside
08:42and I was pretty taken aback they just said that the women workforce in the last some day
08:51the labor some survey happened is diminishing especially in the urban states
08:56which is very, very I would have thought in Ghana but in the rural, rural is where the numbers are rising
09:03and where apparently they are also taking women working from home as the ones who are working
09:09but where everyone here is concerned I was told that because the men are earning
09:14they are sitting back which I think is not at all right considering we have entered space like
09:18whether it's you know sports or whether business or whether it's politics
09:23we are playing a fantastic role over there so take thinking and taking that into consideration
09:31wherever we are we are doing fabulously so I think it should be encouraging for more women to come forward
09:37because I think we think very clearly we are very clear in what we want
09:43and we are mostly a success in whatever women do.
09:47I want to ask you a quick follow up has television played a role in changing mindsets
09:52and you know the perception in the general public in the viewing masses with regard to gender stereotypes?
09:59See where TV is concerned is definitely women all the way it is and where films are concerned
10:07in our country the male tends to play has a higher well I don't know well let's say status
10:14positioning in terms of in every which way he gets the main roles
10:19there are very few women oriented film but television is ruled by women
10:24I mean that's why they used to call it soap operas the name came with women would send their children to school
10:29and husband's lunches were made and then they had the laundry and the soap and they would sit and watch TV
10:34that's why soap operas originated from so it is related to women for women by women yes
10:39so and but TV does affect your mindset a lot because you start believing that
10:44they can do this and I can't do that then that's what social media is doing
10:47it's changing all our minds some good some bad some ugly but yes it does affect all of us
10:54you wanted to come in on that no I think what you're saying is absolutely true
10:58and if you see a lot of the television programming today the lead roles are played by women
11:02they are women who traditionally may not have worked but all of a sudden have started working
11:06there are people who are shown on TV shows who are you know maybe have grown up kids
11:11who are married and have started working I think this really does change the general perception of women
11:17and the relatability that like you said rightly if you can why can't I
11:21see the views basically it's if you see whether it's any of these medium be it social media
11:29which is today digital or be it the OTT or be it films we make them our role models
11:35we feel that okay so therefore sometimes it works out very much in favor
11:42but sometimes it can be terrible but yes we do tend to follow
11:47okay you wanted to come in on that because like you said you spend 20 days every year on Shark Tank
11:54I think when a lot of founders who come from small villages a lot of them are women
11:59come and talk about their stories of resilience of really breaking ceilings
12:04that again those stories stick with people and they're changing the narrative
12:08I remember times when because I was much younger and if there was a banker I would ask the question
12:13but they would look at my father and answer the question I mean I've been through so many of those meetings
12:18things are much better now that really happened many times and Indra Nooyi
12:22I was very surprised in a biography wrote about that it happened to her in the US when she was a consultant
12:27so you ask the question but the person who's responding looks at your
12:32yeah that's happened that's one of many things that happened fairly often I mean it's okay
12:36don't look shocked it happens all the time
12:41but anyway coming back to the point I think these new breed of women these young women
12:46who are on television talking about their journeys are inspiring many others to do the same so it's great
12:52has something like that happened to you as well
12:55well initially yes but I think I think over the years it's changed
13:00I think in the last few last five years four years maybe I'm not experienced it personally
13:05I did hear of a friend in fact two days ago she went for a meeting and the guy had this conversation with her
13:11and finally he looks at her and says
13:13aap decision maker ko lekar aayega
13:16so I mean I'm really stunned
13:21okay Namita I want to switch to deal making
13:26and Shark Tank brings out a very nicely produced very edited slick production
13:31but I'm sure a lot happens behind the scenes many hours much longer pitches
13:36but the question I have for you is did you regret either taking a decision
13:43or missing out on an opportunity during that entire process
13:49so firstly it's not scripted you know the minute the door opens and the founders walk in
13:54that's the first time that we're seeing them or hearing about the business
13:58and typically a pitch goes on for an hour 15 minutes but you see probably 10 to 15 minutes of it
14:03and of course even if we give a deal it's not like it goes through
14:06because it's followed by due diligence and all of that you know the basics
14:09but yeah there have been many that I felt you know on the spur of the moment
14:13I probably should have given an offer but that happens with everything in life right
14:17you have regrets you have missed opportunities and then you learn from it
14:20tell us which was the biggest miss?
14:22so you know there was a Jugaadu Kamlesh in season one who had come from a little village
14:27and I'm so numbers numbers numbers and the math didn't make sense for me
14:31and I said isme toh paise nahi banenge so I didn't invest
14:34and then over the seasons I've realized that you know you can have few investments
14:39where you're not making money where you will probably write it off
14:43but it's just a feel good thing to be part of somebody's journey
14:47who's so passionate so resilient and that's also a message that you as a leader
14:52about social impact that you need to give to the world
14:55which was the worst decision that you ever made?
14:57I'm not going to name the founders because that's not respectful
15:01but there have been founders you know usually I have a strong gut instinct
15:05but it's usually where there are founders I've trusted them
15:08but then baara baje se pehle woh utte nahi hai and they've got some lazy
15:12the reason I asked you this and I'm going to go to the panel on that
15:16I want you to tell our audience about where did you go wrong as a leader
15:21as a business?
15:22the mistakes that we made
15:23what went wrong? was the hunch wrong? did you get the numbers wrong? what went wrong?
15:27see a lot of these companies are pre-revenue so you're taking a punt on the founder
15:31right because when it's pre-revenue you believe in the industry
15:35the sector that they're in and you feel this is a progressive sector
15:38secondly you believe in the founder
15:39so a lot of times your instinct on the person goes wrong
15:43you feel they have the domain expertise which they may
15:46but then they end up being extremely lazy and not as driven when it comes to the work ethic
15:51creating teams, creating automation and processes
15:54they don't have that ability to listen, take feedback and put those systems in place
15:59so that happens
16:00as a woman in business
16:02what would you add to this in terms of what you got right and what you got wrong
16:07and what are the learnings that you would like to share with people here?
16:10I think for me the key thing that I've either got very right or gone very wrong
16:16is getting the right team
16:18if you're getting the right team on board
16:21if you have the right people to run things for you
16:24you can do wonders because you really can't be doing every single thing
16:29and to truly create value you need a brilliant team to run things for you on a day to day basis
16:36and if you can get the right people I think you've hit a home run
16:41what's been your biggest miscalculation and your biggest win?
16:45honestly I think it's been wonderful
16:49I mean I'm not saying it but if we talk about ITA
16:52yes it's been a journey but I tell you one thing
16:55it's been so exciting because we grew with the industry
16:59it's like today when we come there
17:01we know every single person who has entered this industry name
17:06and then when we had started Great Magazine
17:08because we were just characters with no
17:10you didn't know who they were
17:12we started working on them
17:13and started telling people who they were
17:15and they've all grown with it
17:17so I don't know there's been a
17:19and definitely our team Touchwood has been fabulous
17:21I mean team ITA is the best I feel
17:24because they've been with us for years and years
17:26and we all started together on television
17:28if you look at it our whole team
17:30we knew nothing about TV
17:31I didn't know anything about events
17:33we knew nothing at that time
17:34so when we started it was literally from scratch
17:37so today if you ask me how a set is put up
17:39or how a truss or a light
17:40I can tell you all
17:41it's because it's been a learning process
17:43now we're champs at it
17:44so that's how it's been
17:46Namita coming back to you
17:48and let's talk about a bit of the business that you were in
17:53the pharma sector is a very powerful sector in India
17:57we have good exports
17:59and very clearly this is a sector where
18:03technology, business
18:05and the manner in which you sort of go about doing production or sales
18:09I imagine would not be as hostile to women in the workforce
18:13than some other sectors
18:15you know where there is a different kind of process involved
18:21if you were asked to rate pharma
18:23and maybe other sectors that you want to talk about
18:25in terms of being friendly to women in the workforce
18:28what would you say?
18:29that's a great question because
18:31when it comes to employing women
18:33there are almost two parts to pharma
18:35so the part that is you know the brand managers
18:37IT, finance, regulatory, quality, legal
18:43we have a very large number of women
18:46but when you look at
18:47you know MQ has 11,000 employees
18:49and 6,000 are medical representatives
18:51when you look at the medical representatives
18:53we have a very small percent of women
18:55because the job demands that you go and meet a doctor
18:58to detail your products at crazy hours
19:00and there is still safety issues
19:02when it comes to women going and detailing to doctors
19:05in many parts of the country
19:06post 10pm, 11pm at times
19:08travelling X station, outstation the way they need to
19:13so I think on the sales side
19:15we have a very small number of women
19:17and I don't see that changing
19:19till a lot of other things change
19:20what about the R&D and the science side?
19:22R&D yes of course
19:23so you know regulatory, quality, R&D
19:25that whole HO side yes
19:27there is a HO side and then there is a field side
19:29the field side we don't have as many women
19:31on the head office side
19:33very large number of women
19:34you know I don't know how many of you know
19:36that GCC is Global Capability Centers
19:39which are now responsible in the past few years
19:41for some of the highest incremental job addition
19:44in India across sectors
19:46and we have global companies
19:48who are setting up GCCs
19:49India is now called the GCC capital of the world
19:52the number of women who are employed in GCC
19:55is very high and you know
19:56it actually helps break some of these barriers
19:58in the industry that you are hands on with
20:02do you think enough has been done for women?
20:06is there scope more to increase women in the workforce?
20:09so honestly in the creative space
20:12I feel women are leading from the front
20:15we recently did an acquisition
20:17with a company called Pocket Aces
20:18that manages influencers
20:20that's led by a woman
20:21so it's a very natural progression
20:23that in the creative space
20:24you have a lot of women
20:26who are up front and center
20:28yes when you look at
20:30just actors for example
20:34and they form a large part of the industry
20:36there is always a debate on
20:37pay parity and things like that
20:39but I think that's a debate
20:40that sometimes happens across the board
20:43however I feel in media per se
20:46if I look at saree gama
20:49there is no discussion
20:50the pay has nothing to do with
20:52if you are a woman or a man
20:53it's about your ability
20:55your capability
20:56and what position you are at
20:57it's as simple as that
20:58and a large part of our leadership team
21:00is women
21:02you know the entertainment industry
21:05has been castigated in the past
21:07for offering differential compensation
21:09to women even stars
21:11versus males
21:13has that changed in your perception
21:16and your understanding
21:17or do we still have a distance to cover
21:20it hasn't changed
21:22though on television yes
21:23I think there is not much of a difference
21:25OTT definitely
21:27because they are giving
21:29well no
21:30ok let's put it
21:31where they are giving male stars
21:33versus female stars
21:34the male definitely get a
21:36let's say on 1 to 100
21:37they get let's say a 100
21:39the girls will get 10, 15, 20
21:42if you are fabulous
21:44in films again that gap is very very huge
21:47so
21:48why is that
21:49why is that still
21:50see I don't know
21:51they feel that men attract
21:52I don't know why
21:53if that was the case
21:54every show would be a hit
21:55every film would be a hit
21:56but I guess they don't
21:57but they'd have to understand that
21:59the people putting the money
22:00are so hung up on the fact
22:01that this is a male star
22:03that they don't put that much of energy
22:05into the female star
22:06if you start promoting her
22:07like you promote the guys
22:09TV's done it
22:10and they've done a fabulous job of it
22:12I mean it was like so and so
22:13whether it was Tulsi or whatever
22:15you remember their names even today
22:18whether the Smriti
22:19then the Sakshi's
22:20and Shweta
22:21till today you remember them all
22:23you don't remember the males over there
22:25but in films you only remember that
22:27OTT is like let's say
22:29it's like a balance
22:30it's like a 50-50
22:32so but
22:33again
22:34when they get a male star
22:36he definitely gets paid more
22:38and
22:39I don't know when this will stop
22:40but then
22:41it's happening
22:42Is that true of social platforms also?
22:45TikTok
22:46YouTube or
22:47any other platform?
22:48See there's no payment
22:49you'll get what you do
22:52I mean let's say I'm a
22:53they call them social media stars
22:55influencers
22:56whatever they are
22:57whatever I say
22:58and I have my following
22:59that's from public
23:00you don't get paid for that
23:01you get paid from the platform
23:03for how well
23:04and how many people watch it
23:05The reason I asked you
23:06is without taking names that
23:07I get the sense that
23:08the algo kind of
23:10promotes only a certain kind of
23:12social influencer in India for example
23:14See because that's where
23:15they get more eyeballs
23:16at the end of the day
23:17like they were talking
23:18it's a matter of
23:19how many people are there
23:20the numbers
23:21here we call eyeballs the numbers
23:22so it's like
23:23how many people are there
23:24you get paid according to
23:25that many views
23:26so social media
23:27is a different way of working
23:29it's got nothing to do with
23:30you being commissioned
23:32or sponsored or something
23:33if you do well
23:34a sponsor will come on
23:35and say
23:36here so many people are watching
23:37so if you put my ad
23:38I will also benefit
23:39so that's a different thing
23:41totally
23:42so social media aside
23:43films are bought
23:45or financed
23:46OTT again by the platforms
23:48and television again
23:49by the channels
23:50so they are all very distinct
23:52different ways
23:54that's a nice
23:55you wanted to come in on this
23:56no I just wanted to say
23:57I think
23:58where social media is concerned
24:00it's
24:03it's a simple numbers game
24:05the engagement that you have
24:08translates into
24:09what you can charge
24:10so whether you are a male
24:11or a female
24:12if you are getting
24:13if you are reaching
24:14the right audience
24:15you will get paid
24:16a certain amount
24:17honestly like
24:18Sare Gama
24:19you guys must be making
24:20a lot of money
24:21because they
24:22if we use one second
24:23of their music
24:24you are slapped on
24:25they are like scary
24:27you can't put music from
24:29anywhere from
24:31as far as 1902
24:321902 like she said
24:33by mistake
24:35I have that
24:36so by mistake
24:37if you put 2 seconds
24:38anywhere
24:39mail comes
24:40message comes
24:41red flag comes
24:42and you ask for money
24:43not that 10 rupees
24:446 lakhs
24:4510 lakhs
24:4620 lakhs
24:4725 lakhs
24:48obviously a very painful topic
24:49so like
24:50she is a scary one
24:51to be around
24:52she is being put on the spot
24:53you want to respond to that
24:54yeah please
24:55I think it's very simple
24:56I think we have been
24:57scarred from the years
24:58if you remember
24:59you know when you could
25:00illegally download music
25:01all of that
25:02that completely killed
25:03revenue for the entire
25:04industry at that point
25:05right
25:06and I think all
25:07any company that deals
25:09in intellectual property
25:10will tell you that
25:11it's a set standard
25:14no it's not just
25:15one company or the other
25:161902, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
25:19even you didn't know
25:20what you were doing
25:21that was there
25:22it's like you just come
25:24it's part of
25:25I think company acquisition cost
25:27when you acquire the company
25:28it's based on the bank
25:29that the company has
25:30agreed
25:31agreed
25:32but then there should be
25:33some balance in the money
25:34I feel
25:35okay again
25:36it's like the show
25:37we've done
25:38and they put up
25:39a small little poster
25:40which was somewhere
25:41available in Bhindi Bazaar
25:42for that
25:43the producer got up
25:44and said
25:45give me 6 lakhs
25:46why?
25:47so this is a little
25:48okay I think
25:49this is a debate
25:50you should have work
25:51in the US
25:52this is a debate
25:53to be taken
25:54India is a lot easier
25:55off stage
25:56India is much easier
25:57but thank you very much
25:58thank you
25:59fantastic women
26:00on women's day
26:01a round of applause
26:02for our panel here
26:03thanks very much
26:04thank you