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From the scratch within 18 years you have emerged as a prominent exporter in agro-based commodities. How do you explain your success?
Well, a clear sense of vision, supported by a genuine team work, has contributed to our success. Another factor behind our success is that we have never compromised with the quality. We have stringent quality checks and our company guarantees consistency of quality. I would acknowledge the support and recognition I have received from the Government of India, and other organizations including my family and friends. Bringing new innovations into business and having the courage to move on with it, makes the difference. This is extremely important to be successful.

What challenges have you faced during your vast experience as an exporter and how have you overcome them?
Well, the challenges were the earlier policies of the Government of India, which did not support exports; an exporter could not look up to any facility from government departments. We had to struggle on our own. The income tax benefits and different incentives have been completely withdrawn. Now, things are changing. The Government has taken some supportive measures to facilitate exports, still, it has a long way to go. Our infrastructure for exports is not at all in a good shape. Containers can be seen waiting for weeks or even months at the ports, and we have to incur huge losses.

Despite all constraints, I started my career as an exporter. I always had a clear vision of what exactly I wanted to do; I had an obvious understanding of my country's potential and made India my base. I gradually developed my expertise in agriculture and food processing. India has the highest potential in agriculture; our produce is of high quality which comes at a most competitive price. The main impediment was that we were not able to process and package it; thus I introduced the best of technologies and started processing our produce and then exporting it to the world market.
This year we were about to touch a benchmark of $200 million, but due to the ongoing recession we may not be able to tough the exact figure but we will be surely close to it.

With regard to your first love for tea where does the company stand?
For some reasons tea has been our first love, perhaps because of the fact that the company started its activities with tea. Today, we have been buying from all six tea auction centers and exporting it to various destinations. In order to add value to this product, we installed a state-of-the-art tea bag manufacturing unit at Kolkata. LMJ's entry into the field of coffee has also been equally successful; for past three years, we have consistently maintained our rank among the top-10 coffee exporters from India, competing with other big coffee exporters.

You are based in Kolkata and your business functions from here. What do you think is the future of West Bengal?
West Bengal is an agrarian economy with leading industrial growth at the time of Independence; but from the top position it declined to the bottom, and now due to the sincere efforts of the State Government, it is again on the growth path with huge investments coming in. Also the State Government is giving a lot of stress on the development of micro, small and medium industries. It is important to note that the cottage and small scale industries play a very significant role in the economic growth of the State. The State has immensely developed its telecommunication facilities and availability of power at a competitive rate; thus all in a cumulative way contributes to the economic growth of the State. I believe every State has a set of given resources but the opportunities are limited; only by imagination and implementation on these be tapped. There are people to invest, but nobody will invest if one doesn't know what will happen to their money. Developing adequate infrastructure is a basic requisite for accelerating the pace of development; as a matter of fact, we all understand that the State has tremendous potential; if all of us can work in harmony in perfect partnership we can dream of resurrecting the past. 'Golden Renaissance' can be a reality again.

Your Company is stressing on biotechnology and has plans to set up food parks. Please tell us more about the project.
We are seriously in the process of developing food parks in about five different states of India with an investment of Rs150 crore. All agro- related infrastructure will be developed, with a quality control laboratory; let me tell you Rs15 crore will be spent on the laboratory itself. Different processing units will be installed including a water treatment facility. Thus, when one step is approved, the other processing step starts; every measure will be taken to ensure world class quality. The Government of India has approved 10 such parks, but initially we are moving ahead with five, later more such parks will be developed.

As far as the Biotechnology Park is concerned, the major thrust will be on agriculture in the form of production to facilitate the use of right kind of seeds, using organic fertilizer for better quality of produce and encourage the use eco-friendly measures in agriculture.

Recently you have become President of IACC. Tell us about your association with the Chamber.

I got involved with IACC as the Regional Head, and now with the support of all members I feel honored to become the President of IACC. I just look forward to building on the firm foundations of good work that has been laid by my predecessors.

What re your future plans for IACC?
My focus will be on brand building, targeting the SME sector, attracting new members, and most importantly strengthening Indo-US trade. This year I propose to stress on introduction of new members that too from the segment of business that no other chamber has yet included-the SME sector. I look up to IACC as to take the lead in being the bridge between the local community and the larger economy by providing a platform for the SMEs. We can match-make tie ups with Indian SME's and US companies, the prime areas which we can target for tie-ups are in the fields of Nuclear cooperation, food, and biotechnology.

IACC acts as a catalyst for developing bilateral trade between India and the US. We, in our focused way, shall take the lead in sending sector-specific delegations to the US and also initiate regular delegations from the US. We at IACC can bring benefits of bio-technology and better agricultural practices from the US to India.

The most important development today is the Indo-US civil nuclear energy deal, opening doors for nuclear trade.

Yes, this deal will lead to a significant rise in bi-lateral business with US Government officials predicting that India's nuclear trade in the energy sector can generate worldwide business of $100 billion. Once the Government allows the entry of private players in the nuclear energy sector, we, at IACC, can identify the possible trade opportunities and provide a platform for Indian companies to become vendors to US firms and to supply components to foreign N-plant makers.

What is your take on the newly elected US President as far as India's interests are concerned?
Well, President Obama has said that he would build a close strategic partnership with India, because India and the US have both experienced major terrorists attacks; also he voted to approve the U.S India Civil Nuclear Agreement in October 2008.

Obama is known to be an admirer of world's largest democracy as well as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He believes that India is a strong democracy and a natural strategic partner for US in the 21st Century. India need not worry; things will move towards the positive side and Indo-US trade will improve.

Your vision of India by year 2015…
India will be a superpower! Economically we will emerge as the largest and strongest, be it technology or terms of qualitative services India will be on top. By the year 2015, 70 percent of India's population will be in the working age group. The way we are progressing and knowing that the Government of India is greatly emphasizing on education, it's definite that we should be on the anvil for taking a quantum leap into the global business leadership.