Dr Udai Shankar Awasthi is the MD and CEO of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), and a popular name in the Agriculture Industry of India. He is also the first person from the cooperative sector to have been featured on the ‘50 Most Influential Indians 2020’ list. In his nearly 50 years of dedicated service, Dr US Awasthi has not only achieveda top position at IFFCO but has also brought in several laurels in the cooperative sector.
Dr US Awasthi is a Chemical Engineering graduate from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). After completing his graduation in 1967, he started working with Shriram Chemical Industries in Kota. He worked with them for almost three years and then joined ZuariAgro-Chemical, Goa, in 1971.
Dr US Awasthi was then involved in important rolesin projects with IFFCO & KRIBHCO. The projects involved the construction of Aonla and Hazira projects from 1976 to 1986. In 1986, he joined as the Managing Director and Chairman of Pyrites, Phosphates and Chemicals Ltd. (PPCL). From April 1991 to March 1992, he was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (RCF).
It was in 1993 when Dr Awasthi joined IFFCO as the Managing Director. Throughout his tenure of dedicated service, he has been instrumental in making IFFCO a global leader in the fertiliser industry. The organization has witnessed continuous growth under his guidance, with fertiliser productions scaling to 86.5 lakh tons from 24 lakh tons and the fertiliser market growing to a massive 1 crore and 30 lakh tons.
In addition to these, Dr Awasthi’s brainchild, OMIFCO (Oman India Fertilizer Company), helped India make Rs 23000 crores worth savings concerning imports from Oman. He has also made major contributions to the diversification of IFFCO into seventeen subsidiaries across the globe.
In addition to fulfilling his role as the MD of IFFCO, Dr US Awasthi has also chaired the following:
ACDI/VOCA Inc.
Indian Potash Limited
Kisan International Trading FZE
IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company Limited
Dr US Awasthi has been instrumental in helping IFFCO achieve new heights in the fertiliser industry. His initiatives have made rapid strides as the organisation successfully embarked on offering professionalised services to the farming community to ensure an empowered rural India.
Here is a glimpse into his ground-breaking initiatives for rural development:
Introduced Kisan Sewa Fund to help the victims of the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001.
Started the rural development program for the construction of roads, irrigation systems, solar energy units, and facilitating other amenities in rural areas.
Introduced Barish Bima Yojna as a pilot project to provide financial assistance to farmers.
Introduced Indian Cooperative Digital Platform to provide a unified platform for farmers to put forward their concerns.
Introduced the Indian Cooperative Digital Platform to help educate farmers about the use of the internet to their advantage.
Other initiatives include Bhoomi Bachao, Neem Plantation, etc.
Talking about hisfamily, Dr US Awasthi is married to Rekha Awasthi and has two sons. His wife is the youngest daughter of Sri Lal Shukla, an eminent Hindi writer. Having lost his father at a very young age, Dr US Awasthi has been very close to his familyand has been deeply involved in their lives.
Besides heading an international leader with 40,000 member cooperatives, Dr Awasthi also has a keen interest in music, paintings and other forms of art.