It’s been many decades since he left school, but Sanjay Gupta still remembers his growing-up years with fondness, and firmly believes that it was those crucial years that shaped his life and his present.

“I spent my growing-up years in a hostel at Sainik School and am still nostalgic about that time,” he says. “It helped me build a foundation based on correct values, rigour and discipline.”

Gupta graduated in science and law, and obtained a master’s degree in business administration. He also acquired a certification in export marketing from IIFT. His professional career, spanning over 20 years, has been rich and diverse. He has worked at companies like Instrumentation Limited, Tata Liebert and PCI Limited.

He joined Eltek Valere as a senior manager in 2001 and quickly climbed the corporate ladder to his current position as vice-president, telecom and industrial. He heads the company’s telecom vertical in India and runs it as an independent profit centre. The company recently forayed into Africa with its integrated power management solutions for telecom.

“It has been an interesting migration from selling AC power solutions for 10 years to selling DC power solutions for the next 10 years,” he says.

Gupta’s most memorable stint has been with Eltek Valere, he says. “I got the opportunity to be a part of the company’s growth and of the country’s telecom revolution. Telecom has changed the lives of citizens for the better, and I am very happy to have contributed in my own small way to that change and be a part of this endeavour.”

Gupta believes in an open door style of management. He explains, “I work with management teams in India as well as abroad, and have inherited an open policy style wherein different opinions are encouraged and decisions are taken keeping the best interests of the company in mind. Our work culture is based on discipline, hard work, consensus, cooperation, freedom of action, strong loyalty as well as a continuous search for innovation.”

Commenting on future trends in the telecom sector, he says he expects there will be continued consolidation between service providers and tower companies, a move towards increasing tower tenancies rather than the number of sites, a bigger role for energy service providers as well as an enhanced emphasis on rural regions.

After a long workday, Gupta typically unwinds by reading magazines, watching television and listening to music. His family comprises his wife and two children, Sana and Krishna.