Alumnus of the month

ALUMNI > Alumnus of the month

Alumni Relations Committee is pleased to announce Mr. Praval Upadhyay as Alumnus of the Month – March 2013.

Mr. Praval Upadhyay (Batch of 1996-98) is currently MD of Primex Ghana Limited; a Group company of Hong Kong based WB Group – a 100 year old group operating in 28 countries in Africa. Praval manages Ghana operations with a Turnover in excess of 150 mn usd and a multi cultural team of over 200 employees.

In a career spanning 15 years, he has been associated with start up operations, numerous turnarounds and giving shape to many operations across India and Africa in FMCG space. In Duncans Tea, he was the most awarded RSM with 4 promotions in 5 years, In Cargill he was nationally recognized for turnaround of Distribution architecture in Uttrakhand and UP and in Blow Plast as Branch Manager Chandigarh – he was recognized for breaking highest ever Value and Volume figures for the branch three times in one year.

He came to Africa in 2006 to Head operations of his Group in Guinea.  Since then, He has worked across 11 countries in west and central Africa, understanding local tastes and preferences and accordingly developing businesses for the Group. His efforts in developing the regional architecture of Togo/Benin and neighboring  francophone countries was recognized when he was selected to head the second biggest operation for the Group in Ghana. He is now part of Senior Management Team of the Group and is currently working on a road map for next 5 years for the Group in Africa.

On 22^nd Feb 2013, his company was awarded Third highest tax payer award for Ghana for the year 2012 by Ghana Government.  In a subsequent interview with Media, he stressed the fact that the growth of a business entity is more satisfying if it not only makes money for itself but also contributes to the development of society at large.

He enjoys Reading books and likes to travel to and explore new countries in his free time. He loves playing flute and listen to Indian Music.

Praval considers his two years at TAPMI as the corner stone of his business value systems. He has fond memories of his days at TAPMI, rigorous class room sessions, case studies, presentations, Group Discussions and then long hours at Library for next round of presentations and case studies. These rigors made activities like free time with friends at shack point, cricket matches between PGP1 and PGP 2 and watching movies at movie halls with projector screens even more enjoyable. To him, Time at TAPMI provided some defining experiences and some life time friendships.

He stays with his family in Accra, Ghana and can be contacted by email at pravalupadhyay@gmail.com  or by skype @ praval_upadhyay