, managing director and CEO of VI eTrans, very happy. For Acharya is a proud Bengali who chose to headquarter his three-and-a-half year old integrated logistics support services company VI eTrans Pvt Ltd in Kolkata.
VI eTrans offers magnetic swipe card -based logistics solutions for the road transport industry and is a joint venture between Winex Trans Pvt Ltd and electronic gateway company Venture Infotek and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).
In the last three years, the company has roped in several blue chip clients such as Nestle, Maruti Udyog, Hero Honda, Hyundai, Hindalco, Honda-Siel and Tata Steel.
These companies use the 'etrans' system to track their transport vehicles with the help of a magnetic card that is swiped at nearly 200 highway locations "� BPCL petrol pumps, STD booths and popular dhabas. The data captured at the swipe stations are sent back to the shippers.
But Acharya is now looking at targeting thousands of truck owners directly. He is setting up 'retail hubs' to help truck owners warm up to the vehicle tracking system.
These retail hubs are basically centres where one can become a member of the etrans system, buy temporary or permanent swipe cards and get advice on fleet management.
"Till now companies or shippers were pushing their transporters to adopt it. We feel it is time for the transport industry to wake up to the benefits of the logistics system that improves fleet utilisation and turnaround time," says Acharya.
The retail hubs will also allow truck owners to get complete information on where to get return loads. By February, three retail hubs will be up and running: Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, Nasirabad in Rajasthan and Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar in Delhi.
By June-July 2005, monitors will be set up on the highways. These will also offer information on the availability of return loads to trucks going to different destinations.
Discussions are also on to tie up with a global system for mobile (GSM) service company for setting up a mobile-communication based tracking model. But Acharya promises to talk about it once the plans are finalised.
Acharya says that his desire to set the chaotic Indian road transport industry in order was born when he saw it at close quarters as the managing director of Indian Container Leasing Co. And his experience at Balmer Lawrie & Co only helped realise his dream.
Acharya is said to have turned around the company's cargo division. Later, he went to Templeton College in Oxford to complete his Certificate in Marketing Management.
But he returned to Balmer Lawrie to set up its new business in the United Kingdom. He set up the international container leasing activity for the company in the UK and also started its tea trading and packaging activity in the country.
Of course, he could not stay away from India, especially Kolkata, for too long. That this Jadavpur University chemical engineer is a die-hard Kolkata fan is quite evident in his social work organisation Soham. Set up with the help of his friends, Acharya is working with the street vendors of Kolkata through Soham.
"We're currently working with hawkers selling food. We teach them how to keep and offer hygienic food. A model food kiosk has also been developed for them," he says. No doubt all this will help improve the state of the City of Joy.
