The 127-year-old Godrej Group was split into two entities earlier this year — Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), led by Jamshyd Godrej, and Godrej Industries Group (GIG), headed by patriarch Adi Godrej. Following the split, GEG launched its new brand promise of 'Moving The World Forward'.

In an exclusive interaction with Fortune India, Nyrika Holkar, executive director of GEG, talked about her plans for the family business — a significant part of which would include building global consumer-facing brands. The company, she says, would have an equal focus on what she calls 'nation-building businesses,' which include a host of sustainable infrastructure-led businesses. Holkar aims to build an organisation that fosters entrepreneurial spirit and delivers innovative, consumer-focused solutions.

Here are selected excerpts from Holkar's exclusive interview with Fortune India.

You are the next generation of Godrej Enterprises Group, what is the one big change, that you would like to bring to the organisation?

We have a strong starting point of having a rich legacy and heritage. As we have endured 127 years, there have been fundamental changes in approach, over the years. Now, if we look at India from a consumer perspective, especially after the pandemic, the needs, habits and ways of functioning of consumers have completely changed. Given that we have a strong engineering and manufacturing set-up, which we have designed in-house, we can offer end-to-end solutions to customers, making us uniquely positioned in the market.

Also, how do we build scale? Today, if we look at companies, the environment and government policies against China, it will require us to scale up really fast. We need to scale up not as a lowest cost producer but a high quality and value producer. So, how do we make that shift? Today, the type of scale which China has, we have a high bar to follow. But, how can we build that scale and at the same time, create quality? We need to focus on opportunities in terms of, the whole nation-building piece both from building global brands and from the perspective of enhancing infrastructure within the country. And, to this incredible demographic dividend, which we have, how do we leverage that positively to build a global brand? There are very few Indian brands, especially in the retail space, which have a global presence.

How are you looking at reinventing your organisation's culture?

In terms of culture today, we are very strong. We have introduced two new values — the first is entrepreneurship, which looks at building an ownership mindset amongst our employees. We want to ensure that our teams are building and investing in the company because they believe it is theirs. I think managing that mindset is very important. The second is the whole idea of how we understand our customers better, not through the conventional way of getting feedback and surveys but by looking at other ways through which we can understand pain points and provide solutions. Agility and proactiveness are something that we want to institutionalise.

Not so long Godrej Enterprises and Godrej Industries were a single entity. How different is Godrej Enterprises post the realignment?

The businesses always used to operate independently. It was primarily a realignment of shareholding. This helps us to focus on what we need to do for our businesses — on building the future. There are aspects where we would be working together — whether it is the brand which is one of the most important aspects, we do need to work together. We can't be at cross-purposes. Between the families, the relations are very strong.

You have set yourself a goal of ensuring that by 2032, 50% of your revenues will come from green products. What kind of a mindset change would that require?

It's only going to get more pronounced. From a consumer behaviour perspective, we need to educate and create awareness, and also work with the Government on making our green products more affordable. For instance, a 5-star AC is considered discretionary. But as climate change gets more pronounced, it may become a necessity. So, how do we work with the Government in the same way as LED lights, whose adoption is close to 99%? How do we work to ensure that incentives are aligned? We can create options for consumers which may not have been evident and also look at the total cost of ownership. Generally, people will look at the upfront cost and ignore what it costs to own a product over its lifetime. With more energy-efficient appliances lifetime costs go down. So, it’s up to the brands to highlight and make those options available.