The demise of his father while he was still quite young forced Sudhir Prasad to focus on his career very early on. “Having lost my father, I was very focused on becoming independent and financially secure at the earliest. My mother had made many sacrifices to ensure the family did not lack for anything and this influenced my ambitions to a considerable degree,” he says.
“My first ambition was to be a part of the defence forces, which I achieved by joining the National Defence Academy. This has contributed incalculably to making me the person I am today. Over time, my aptitude for finance and strategy motivated me to pursue management and brought me to where I am today,” he says.
Prasad has an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad, and 20 years of work experience in the fields of corporate finance, corporate advisory services, business strategy and planning, international sales, business development and project management. He has worked across diverse infrastructure segments such as cement, power (hydel and transmission in particular), telecom and merchant banking. He has worked with Siemens AG, the RPG Group and Jaiprakash Industries, and has spent the last 14 years in telecom.
Prasad joined TowerVision India in 2008 as director of sales and business development, and then climbed the ladder to take over as CEO in December 2010. In his current role, he is focused on navigating the company through the choppy waters of the sector. “The telecom market has been quite dynamic, highly competitive and challenging. Steering an organisation in this environment is very demanding. The recent spate of controversies surrounding the sector has only magnified the challenges,” he says.
That apart, he is accountable for the overall performance of the organisation and maximising shareholder value by providing strategic and operational direction to the company and help it realise its revenue targets. Besides, monitoring operations and adapting policies and operating guidelines to business exigencies and the external environment are also his responsibilities. “An important milestone in my career has been bringing TowerVision India to where it stands today and to be a part of the telecom growth story in India,” he says.
Though he admits that spare time is a luxury for him, he enjoys travelling and devotes all his free time to his family. Classic Westerns are his film favourites. Music has always interested him greatly. Though his difficult childhood circumstances did not give him an opportunity to pursue this passion (as he was focused on establishing himself professionally), he is keen to learn to play a musical instrument some day.