Interview with Anu Aga, interviewed by Geoffrey Jones, Mumbai, India

Anu Aga, current chairperson of Thermax Social Initiative Foundation, recounts how she inherited leadership of Thermax Global after the sudden death of her late husband in 1996, and describes the strategies she used to strengthen and grow the business during her eight-year tenure as chairperson. The company that eventually became Thermax Global was founded in 1966 by Aga's father, A S Bhathena, as a hospital equipment company in partnership with the Belgian company, Wanson. Over time, the group, known as Wanson India, expanded into boiler manufacturing in accordance with the demands of the closed Indian economy. However, the key to her success, she explains, was her willingness to ask for help--most notably, from the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group. In the first few years of her leadership, Aga took the decision to remove family members from executive positions and instead place them on the Thermax board. In 1980, Wanson India broke away from its Belgian partner, and re-established itself as Thermax Private Limited. The following year, Rohinton Aga (Anu Aga's husband) assumed the title of Chairperson and Managing Director after working in partnership with Aga's father for m