Business India

the magazine of the corporate world February 10 to 23, 1997

Risk manager
anaging risk seems to have become
M part and parcel of his life. Giving up
a secure job in Boston and coming to
India to start a risk management consul­
tancy was itself a risk of sorts for 30-year-
old Vishvjeet Kanwarpal, consultant and
partner, Asia Consulting Group (ACG ).
After graduating from the Massachu­
setts Institute of Technology, Cambridge,
Kanwarpal worked for six years as a con­
sultant with the Boston-based JSA/EDS
Management Consulting, a firm specialis­
ing in risk management and feasibility
studies for large projects, mainly in the
power, aviation and defence sectors. In
1993, he started thinking of returning to
India. “I was keen to come back as the economy was booming in Asia, especially India,
and the market was attracting foreign investment in the core sectors,” he says. The next
year, an Asian expatriate founded ACG and Kanwarpal joined as a partner, ACG focuses
on risk management and feasibility studies for infrastructure projects.
Power projects currently account for as much as 80 per cent of business, followed by
telecom and other core sector projects. “Since power projects normally involve huge
investments and long gestation periods, the companies need a comprehensive under­
standing of the market,” he adds. According to him, the primary risks involved in India
are the market factors, political reasons and changes in the power purchase agreements.
1997-02 Executive Frontrunners Business India Profile of
A workaholic, Kanwarpal works 16 hours a day.
Vishvjeet Kanwarpal
CEO GIS-ACG Global InfraSys - Asia Consulting Group
Published: February 1997 by Business India BUSINESS INDIA ■ February 10-23, 1997 • 195