Interview with Vishal Kanodia, a Visionary Leader, Managing Director of Kanodia group

Jan 04, 2024

Vishal Kanodia, the Managing Director of Kanodia Group, is a young and dynamic business tycoon who has carved a niche for himself in the cement industry.

With his authentic leadership and unwavering commitment to quality, Mr. Vishal has been instrumental in driving the unprecedented growth of the Kanodia Group over the last decade.

At 42 years of age, he has a vast experience in the cement industry, and his knowledge of the market is indeed enviable.

Starting as a trader, Mr. Vishal quickly displayed his expertise in detecting quality cement, identifying manufacturing deficiencies, and designing flawless manufacturing processes.

Under his leadership, Kanodia Group established a manufacturing unit in 2009 that now produces the finest quality cement.

Within ten years, the group has expanded to five manufacturing units with the latest state-of-the-art machinery equipped with 100% automatic grinding techniques that manufacture international standard cement under the brand names of Bigcem Cement , Concrete Gold cement and HBM Gold Cement.

Recently Mr. Vishal augmented his business ventures and launched Easy Build Solution, a platform that aims to provide all kinds of building solutions under one roof.

The purpose of Easy Build solution is to bring together stakeholders of brands, retailers, consumers, and influencers, leveraging technology and advancements in the supply chain and digital-enabled commerce in the country.

Mr. Kanodia is a visionary leader who understands the value of quality in the cement industry. He strives to procure raw materials, market the best quality products, and provide the best to the industry.

The group aims to expand further and establish more manufacturing units in different parts of the country, providing employment opportunities to the local population and ensuring speedy and quality delivery of products to end-users.

Mr. Vishal is an iconic figure in the cement industry and has been awarded numerous awards. In 2012, he received the “The Best Developing Businessman” award, and in 2013, he received the esteemed “Young Industrialist Award” from the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. He has also been honoured as Yuva Ratan Awardee 2022 by Marwari Yuva Manch.

Under his leadership, Kanodia Group has diversified into different tech sectors like short video apps, NFT, and Real Money Game.

He firmly believes that technology is the backbone of sustainable business and it allows businesses to stay relevant and ahead of their competition.

To that end, Mr. Vishal has started a new venture called Neo HBM Pvt Ltd., an ingenious marketing firm that sells world-class building materials like cement, steel, pipes, wall putty, POPs, and more. The company aims to create the best combination of cost and quality to meet customer requirements.

Mr. Vishal’s ultimate goal is to see Kanodia Group among the most appreciated cement manufacturers and traders in the world, and he keeps a constant focus on the process of value creation for every stakeholder of the group.

With his unique insight into all building material segments and adaption of the latest technologies, he has demonstrated that he is a true visionary and leader in the cement & Building Solution Segment.

Vishal Kanodia: I have always been an individual who found inspiration in challenges, and this is something that brought forth the entrepreneur in me.

I had all the easier choices to pursue a risk-free, easier career path, but I wanted to challenge myself to the hilt and innovate in terms of technology and creativity.

As part of my research, I came across some reports that projected a great transformation of the construction and building sectors that India is set to witness. I wanted to be a part of this transformation, and this is how Easy Build was born.

Vishal Kanodia: I cannot outwardly comment on the workings of other companies in the segment, as my professional ethics do not allow that, but I can highlight what we are doing differently.

Kanodia Group’s main aim is to offer the market the latest and best innovative solutions in the building and construction segment.

We are driven by a passion for innovation, and we take every day as a challenge. When we drew ‘first blood’ in terms of innovation and Easy Build drew a lot of attention from the market, it was a major tipping point for us, which encouraged us to constantly experiment and come up with something that the market had never seen before.

Vishal Kanodia: The construction and infrastructure market in India has become very competitive of late, and it is all about timely project delivery.

Believe me, it is not that simple. With the amount of equipment, safety gadgets, technology, accessories, and a never-ending list of convenient components added to the buildings, meeting the project deadline is next to impossible.

That is what we focus on: easing the troubles of contractors and project developers. Our innovative solutions are focused on the idea of simplifying the construction process by offering products that ease the whole process. Our primary approach is to beat the clock and shorten the delivery time of each project.

Vishal Kanodia: The inspiration is the investor, and when I use that term, I am not talking about the large investors or corporations that finance the projects.

For us, the most important investor is the retail one, who puts their hard-earned money into a project by maybe buying a single apartment in a township or owning a showroom in a large commercial mall.

We draw our inspiration from the expectations of that investor, and we want to ease out their problems through Easy Build. We want to make a difference in their lives, and that retail buyer is the focus of our innovation.

Vishal Kanodia: In the past few years, the reality sector has witnessed cutthroat competition with different developers wanting a bigger piece of the pie.

This, however, is reflected in the quality of the delivered projects. Real estate developers promise unachievable project delivery dates to their clients to attract major market share.

The non-delivery of projects is not solely their fault. As I said before, the construction process itself has evolved to be very intricate and time-consuming over the years.

If one aspect is simplified, the addition of safety guidelines and luxury requirements has increased the project requirements manifold.

We aim to solve the overall problems of the real estate sector by offering solutions for the whole project and not just a few functions within it.

Vishal Kanodia: Easy Build, as the name suggests, is focused on making the building and construction processes easy. With state-of-the-art innovation, we come up with solutions that require minimal effort during the project’s timeline.

It is an amalgamation of Metaverse technology with logistics and e-commerce that provides tech-design-based solutions to contractors, artisans, and retail consumers under one single roof.

It is aimed at transforming how building materials are sourced and supplied and focuses on encouraging cooperation rather than competition.

It is a confluence of retailers, consumers, brands, and influencers who leverage advancements and technology to enhance the overall supply chain of building materials, accessories, equipment, and technological components.

Vishal Kanodia: We bring retailers, manufacturers, and artisans under one roof, which enables them to focus on one single project as a unit.

It is all about solving the problem at hand. When all these entities are located at different locations, they cannot address the issues of the project developer.

They offer different solutions to the needs of the project, which in itself is challenging as some requirements are left unfulfilled.

It is just like manufacturing a car with components sourced from different suppliers and assembling it at a different location.

There would always be a gap in the design. When we offer the stakeholders a common platform, they are encouraged to solve the problem of the developer and provide the exact solution, which complements solutions provided by other stakeholders.

Vishal Kanodia: The initial challenge was to convince different entities to come together on a common platform. But once we could project the possibilities, we were over it.

Retailers, manufacturers, and artisans took our offering hands-down, as it was something that was never experienced in the real estate sector.

From there on, it has been a smooth sail. We learned our lesson from that: it is not about the challenge that pops up; it is about the solution that you have to offer.

Vishal Kanodia: It is just the beginning, and there’s a lot of ground to cover. I sometimes feel like one life is not enough.

The real estate and construction segment in itself is a major encouragement, and we plan to be the key solution providers in the segment.

We are incorporating technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Data Science in a way that the sector has never seen before.

We are very optimistic about the pre-fabricated and pre-built building segment and are aggressively working on offering solutions that even the most advanced real estate markets have not seen.

Vishal Kanodia: AI technology is focused on finding solutions to every single problem that can develop in a project. It analyses even the minutest aspects within the scope of a project and offers solutions accordingly.

These solutions are in terms of materials, components, safety equipment, and accessories required within a project.

It is something the human imagination cannot think of. Besides, it also provides the details of the human input required at each stage of the project and the labour requirements to complete each function.

The manpower, material, and logistics planning of the project can be done without any stress. It provides solutions to contractors, designers, building material suppliers, and the project management team all at once.

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