Narottam Joshi
Chartered Accountant and company finance director — a career begun in 1972 that has run from the finance departments of Indian industrial groups to advising corporates on takeovers, amalgamation and the funding of new ventures.
Five Decades Inside Company Finance
Narottam Joshi has spent his working life on the finance side of Indian industry — first as the officer who kept the books, then as the director who set the strategy, and now as the consultant companies call when a transaction or a tax question will not resolve itself.
He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, alongside a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. His first post came in 1972, as Secretary and Finance Officer with the S.K. Birla Group, where he worked across legal matters, taxation and budgetary control. Seven years later he moved to the Modern Group of companies as Secretary and Finance Controller, taking charge of finance, taxation, legal, corporate and commercial administration.
From 1988 he served on the boards of two industrial companies for close to two decades. As Director Finance at GTC Industries Ltd he was the board member responsible for commercial, finance and administrative functions. As a Director of Golden Tobacco Ltd he built the company’s overall financial strategy and carried responsibility for finance, taxation, legal, commercial and general administration — work that took him into the international financial laws of several countries across Africa, Asia and Europe, and put him at the head of an organisation of some 1,500 employees.
The second chapter began in 2005, when he took over as Chief Executive Officer of ERP, guiding the company in implementing new ideas and expanding its activities in both India and the United States. In 2008 he founded the consulting side of the practice: as CEO of ERP Studio P Ltd he advises corporates on takeovers, amalgamations and the financing of new projects, and as an independent finance consultant he works with large companies and projects on debt and equity funding, and on complicated tax and excise matters.
He describes his own purpose simply: to help corporates reach their strategic goals through the right financing, mergers and acquisitions. What he brings to the Initiative is the rarer half of that — not the theory of corporate finance, but the judgment of someone who has sat on the board while the decision was being made, and has since spent nearly two decades being called in by others to make it. He is based in Sunnyvale, California, and works across India and the United States.
From the Ledger to the Board Table
Fifty years of company finance, taxation and corporate administration.
Secretary & Finance Officer, S.K. Birla Group
The first post, working across legal issues, taxation and budgetary control.
Secretary & Finance Controller, Modern Group
Responsible for the overall administration of finance, taxation, and the legal, corporate and commercial functions.
Director Finance, GTC Industries Ltd
Nineteen years as the board member looking after all commercial, finance and administration functions.
Director, Golden Tobacco Ltd
Built the company’s overall financial strategy; handled international financial law across Africa, Asia and Europe; managed finance, taxation, legal, commercial and general administration across a team of 1,500.
Chief Executive Officer, ERP
Guiding the company in implementing new ideas and expanding its activities, in India and in the United States.
CEO, ERP Studio P Ltd & independent finance consultant
Advising corporates on takeovers, amalgamation and the financing of new projects — and working as an independent financial contractor to large companies on debt and equity funding and on complex tax and excise matters.
What He Is Called In For
- Takeovers and amalgamations — advising corporates through the transaction
- Financing new projects, and optimal financing structures for strategic goals
- Debt and equity funding — resolving issues for large companies and projects
- Complicated tax and excise matters for a range of clients
- Mergers and acquisitions, from the finance side of the table
- Corporate finance management, backed by ICAI credentials and board experience
How He Works
He works across India and the United States, and says of his own practice that he enjoys working with diverse and talented teams — always seeking to learn from others, and to share what he knows.
The Numbers Behind the Ambition.
As Advisor for Finance & Strategy, Mr. Joshi brings fifty years of company finance — and the habit of asking, before anything else, whether the plan can actually be paid for.