Lifetime of Achievement: Mallika Srinivasan

Mallika Srinivasan is the Chairwoman and Managing Director of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), the third-largest manufacturer of tractor equipment in the world. 

An influential industrialist, thought leader and philanthropist, Mallika cemented TAFE’s status as a global mass manufacturer, driving the company’s economic and technological growth. 

An architect of India’s industrial progress, Mallika has driven the development of the manufacturing sector and shaped national advancements in agriculture, education, industry and healthcare.

Mallika is renowned for her extensive participation on industry boards, her philanthropic work with national and global humanitarian organisations, and her influence on women entering STEM career fields.

With a turnover of US$1.2bn, TAFE is the second largest tractor manufacturer and exporter in its country of origin, India, shipping dependable products and services to more than one hundred countries. 

TAFE manufactures a diversity of tractors, with four iconic brands - TAFE, Massey Ferguson, Industrija Mašinai Traktora and Eicher - in addition to its business interests in diesel engines, generators, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, automobile franchises, engineering plastics and transmission components.

TAFE was founded in Chennai in 1960, one year after Mallika was born, by her grandfather Sivasailam Anantharamakrishnan. Before joining the family business, Mallika obtained a degree in Mathematics from The Women’s Christian College in Chennai and became a gold medalist in Econometrics at the University of Madras.

She later graduated from Pennsylvania University’s Wharton School of Business in the US on the Dean’s Honor list, to be ranked as one of its top one hundred and twenty-five most successful alumni. After joining TAFE, Mallika worked to deeply understand the company’s customers, value proposition and how they could harness technology to ensure competitiveness and long-term success.

The Indian Industrialist with influence: boards and groups Mallika has led

• Mallika represents TAFE on the board of the AGCO Corporation, an American Fortune 500 Company
• She’s Chairwoman of the Indian Government Public Enterprises Selection Board
• From 1998-99 the industrialist was President Of The Madras Chamber of Commerce 
• Mallika has held various industry positions at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and the Confederation of Indian Industry 
• The Tractor Queen served on the Global Board of the US-India Business Council (USIBC)
• In August 2023 she led the B20-India Task Force on ‘Inclusive GVCs for Resilient Global Trade and Investment’

TAFE’s JFarm initiative has expanded to prioritise sustainable agriculture and uplift farming communities, addressing the impact of climate change and geopolitical changes on the nation's countryside. 

Set up in Tamil Nadu, Chennai in 1964, JFarm empowered Indian farmers with new technologies to increase productivity and meet growing national demand, as part of the Indian Green Revolution. During this revolution, India saw the mass evolution of its agriculture into a modern industrial system through the introduction of mechanised farm tools, fertilisers, pesticides, high-yielding variety seeds and irrigation facilities.

Under Mallika’s leadership, TAFE launched the CSR JFarm Services free tractor rental scheme in 2020 to help support farming communities through the economic devastation of the pandemic and help them prepare for the vital Rabi harvest and Kharif crop preparation season.

The pandemic had a devastating impact on India, with millions of lives lost and major sectors of society put under immense strain. India’s agricultural industry was ostensibly hit the hardest, as farmers faced both the economic impact of the virus and the effects of climate change, enduring a string of merciless heat waves that crippled typical crop production. 

According to The National Institutes Of Health, 60% of farmers experienced decreased vegetable production and 45% reported some level of food insecurity between 2020 and 2021.

In response to this hardship and the government's decision to introduce controversial agricultural reforms, Indian farmers began a year-long protest in 2022, camping at the borders of New Delhi. Due to the combination of the rapidly spreading virus and rising temperatures, many lost their lives. 

Under Mallika’s leadership, TAFE intervened. With the administrative support of the state government and the Agriculture Departments of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh TAFE gave 47,000 of its Eicher and Massey Ferguson tractors on a free-of-cost rental basis to small-to-medium farmers.

TAFE also serviced the equipment for free, contributing to a dramatic increase in the use of implements like cultivators, disc ploughs and seed drills. After 60 days in Rajasthan alone, 90,000 hours of free tractor services had been provided. TAFE helped farmers cultivate more than 160,000 acres, preserving livelihoods and ensuring the future of Indian agriculture. 

“We have been given an opportunity to serve the small and marginal farmers at this critical juncture,” Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director of TAFE, said. “At the same time, play a role in enhancing the revenue of farmers through a direct benefit system, which has been welcomed by both, the renter farmers and the small farmers.”

Mallika has exhibited strong manufacturing expertise, strategic judgement and a compassionate outlook throughout her entire career, earning her a wealth of accolades and awards. 

In 2011 she was Forbes India’s Leader of the Year and in 2016 the BBC ranked her among the world's top one hundred most powerful women. 

In 2018 she was ranked India’s Fifth Most Powerful Woman by Fortune India, and in 2022 she was awarded "Businesswoman of the Year" at the ET Prime Women Leadership Awards.

This year she’s been awarded yet another accolade - as Manufacturing Digital’s Person of Lifetime Achievement. 

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