Deepayan Mohanty, Founder and MD, Hemera Global, A Supply Chain Solution Platform
Deepayan Mohanty has a diverse global industry experience of over 28 years spanning areas such as commodity trading, supply chain financing, corporate finance, corporate treasury management, and value investments.
Podcast
Overview
With globalization, there has been a tremendous increase in trading, which involves the movement of commodities across the globe. With ever-increasing customer demands and competition, supply chain management becomes important in every sector.
There are numerous challenges that companies face in such high-level trading. Today, we have Mr. Deepayan Mohanty, supply chain management expert and professional, who takes us through some of these challenges and their possible solutions.
About Deepayan Mohanty
Mr. Deepayan Mohanty is the Promoter and MD of Hemera Global, a commodity trading firm. The company focuses on opportunities with global corporates and financial institutions and works to provide innovative supply chain solutions for better global trading.
DISCUSSION
Mr. Mohanty talks about his venture and elaborates on supply-chain solution verticals, diving into three broad categories.
- Procurement and distribution of products & commodities.
- Providing supplies and financing through their trade finance fund in the US & a German bank in Asia.
- Strong vertical on advisory which provides supply chain risk management advisory, treasury management advisory & turnaround strategies.
Mr. Mohanty compares today’s trading with his starting days and credits the technology for the massive change.
Key Supply Chains in India
When asked about India’s key supply chain, Deepayan speaks extensively on India’s agricultural state, calling it complex. He feels sad that despite half the population being employed in agriculture, the return on land is not very attractive.
He says, “Farmer doesn’t get encouragement in India to produce alternate crops. We continue to have outdated acts which brings in fear in a warehouse manager that why should I make a warehouse if tomorrow the government says that you can’t store commodity beyond a certain value.”
Deepayan also suggests resorting to direct subsidies for the farmers instead of the indirect ones.
Mr. Mohanty explains how India developed a negative attitude towards trading after the East India Company came to India. But, with relaxed rules in the 90s, India gradually grabbed the opportunity. He says, “Indian trading companies today have gone and acquired companies outside. We find Indians taking senior roles in global companies. Indian infrastructures have changed, free zone trades have come in, and the country risk of India has drastically become better. Today, India is the fourth-largest country in the world holding forex reserves.”
Storage & Transportation Challenge in Supply Chain
Mr. Mohanty agrees with the statement that a lot of grain gets wasted because of poor warehousing. However, he mentions the importance to understand the difference between industrial and agricultural warehousing.
He feels that India is doing better in the industrial sector, but has a gap of quantity and quality to be filled in the agricultural sector. Mr. Mohanty, however, also throws light on the good part of an increasing percentage of space under warehousing with each year.
On the transportation front, he welcomes the idea of river transportation to ease the burden of road transportation of goods.
Deepayan shares his views on expectations from the government in the supply chain sector. He broadly categorizes them as:
- Need of more transparency in the rules and regulations
- More aligned on how we see global trade
- Cross border regulations around fund flow
Mr. Mohanty ends the conversation by sharing a bit on how his company works on making the solutions and funds more participating and focuses on their work globally instead of favoring any particular country.
Profile
Deepayan Mohanty, has a diverse global industry global industry experience of over 28 years spanning areas such as commodity trading, supply chain financing, corporate finance, corporate treasury management and value investments.
Deepayan is the Promoter & Managing Director of Hemera Group (www.hemeraglobal.com) , which he founded in 2010. The group operates out of India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Phillipines , Germany and USA having a turnover in excess of USD 300 million and specialises in international commodity trading, structuring cross border supply chain funding solutions and global risk management advisory services on supply chain. The group also manages funds on behalf of private investors focusing on supply chain financing in Asia. The group also has a strategic tie up as channel partners to Hamburg commercial bank in India for sourcing of ECA backed long term project & equipment financing deals.
Before his entrepreneurial venture, Deepayan worked with global food and commodity conglomerate, Cargill Inc for over 14 years ( 1996-2010 ). He was the Vice Chairman for the Indian entity in his last role and during his stint there held key management roles in Asia in Corporate Treasury , Trade & Structured Finance and Value Investment. He was also part of a global innovation think tank of Cargill having exposure of engaging with multiple global emerging markets like China / Brazil/ Russia etc.
Prior to Cargill, he was associated with Tata Steel ( 1989-92 & 1994-96) and spent a considerable time in their International Trade Division.
Deepayan has been a speaker at various trade and industry conferences including conferences organised by Eurofinance, Confederation of Indian Industries ( CII ). He has taken guest lecturers at various business schools in India purely out of his interest to stay in touch with the youth to impart his experience in the area of international finance, global commodity space and supply chain issues .
Deepayan is a BTech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur , India ( 1985 – 89 ) and an MBA from Indian Institue of Management, Bangalore, India ( 1992-94) . He is an avid sports enthusiast. As a big Roger Federer fan he also spends long hours on the tennis court improving his gaming skills. He is a practicing buddhist and with his philanthropic work for poor children’s education does his bit for the society. Also music being a passion he has represented his college on inter college cultural festivals.
Deepayan did his schooling from a government school from Western Odisha. He is married to Rashmi Mohanty ( IIM Bangalore MBA 1995 batch and currently group CFO of clix capital and an Ultra Marathoner ). He has two sons. Elder one doing his BBA from Manchester business school, UK and younger one in standard 9th.
