Category: Leaders

The long-running trademark tussle between real estate heirs Abhishek and Abhinandan Lodha has taken a personal turn, with their mother, Manju Lodha, stepping in to urge a resolution.

In a letter dated February 21, she reminded her sons of the 2017 family agreement, calling it the binding document that should settle their differences.

The conflict centres on the use of the ‘Lodha’ trademark, with Abhishek Lodha’s publicly listed Macrotech Developers suing House of Abhinandan Lodha (HoABL) for alleged trademark infringement. Macrotech claims that HoABL has misused the Lodha name, creating brand confusion and misleading consumers.

The lawsuit, filed in the Bombay High Court, seeks ₹5,000 crore in damages. The legal case references two family agreements—2017 and 2023—both of which, according to Macrotech, establish that the Lodha name and all related intellectual property belong exclusively to Macrotech. The agreements state that Abhinandan must develop a distinct brand identity for his ventures, a condition he allegedly violated by applying for similar trademarks, bidding for the Lodha name on Google, and using the brand in advertisements.

In her letter, Manju reminisced about the brothers' childhood, when they were affectionately called "Ram and Lakshman," emphasizing their once inseparable bond. She issued six commandments, urging them to refrain from speaking ill of each other, avoid conflicts, acknowledge separate business ownership, make no financial demands from each other, respect business boundaries, and bring an end to all disputes while supporting each other’s growth. She stressed that the 2017 family agreement remains final, confirming that neither brother has any rights over the other’s business, assets, or shareholding.

Abhishek Lodha responded to his mother’s appeal, stating, “I respect my mother’s letter and will abide by it. The 2017 agreement clearly states that the Lodha real estate business and its IPR, including trade name ‘Lodha,’ is owned by, and will exclusively be used by, Macrotech / Lodha Developers. I wish my younger brother, Abhinandan, all success in his business. I hope that he brings an end to this dispute by implementing the 2017 agreement and starts using a distinct and separate identity which does not lead to any confusion with our highly recognised and valuable brand name—Lodha.”

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, was awarded the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in recognition of his contributions to UK-India business relations on February 22.

The medal was presented at a formal investiture ceremony at the British High Commissioner’s residence in New Delhi, attended by his family and close associates. The honorary knighthood was announced in 2024 with the approval of King Charles III.

Lindy Cameron, British High Commissioner to India, said, “I was delighted to present Sunil Bharti Mittal the KBE medal on behalf of His Majesty the King. Mittal is a great friend of the UK – with significant investments, including BT, Gleneagles, Norlake Hospitality, and OneWeb. Mittal’s leadership has made a lasting impact on the UK-India partnership, including through his work with the India-UK CEO Forum. Most recently, he led a senior Indian business delegation to the UK to meet with Prime Minister Starmer, the Foreign Secretary, the Chancellor, and other Cabinet Ministers to identify opportunities for accelerating economic growth across both nations. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Mittal and congratulate him once again.”

Receiving the honour, Mittal said, “It is an honour to have received the KBE from His Majesty, King Charles III. As India and the United Kingdom continue to chart remarkable scale in our bilateral relations, I acknowledge this recognition both as a privilege and a responsibility. I remain committed to working with stakeholders in our nations towards advancing India – UK business relations. On the occasion of this very special milestone, I extend my gratitude to all for their support through this journey.”

Uday Kotak, founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, expressed apprehensions regarding the future of India's economy due to a waning enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, which he refers to as a decline in economic 'animal spirits'.

He cautioned against a diminishing entrepreneurial zeal among younger business families who are increasingly inclined towards investment management over active business operations.

Speaking at Kotak Institutional Equities' investor conference, Chasing Growth 2025, Kotak pointed out a significant shift in mindset among young business heirs. "What concerns me is that many in this generation are taking the easy way out, especially in the post-Covid world. They claim to be managing family offices and investments, trading in the stock market, allocating funds to mutual funds, and treating it as a full-time job," he said. He added: "If someone has sold a business, they should be thinking about starting, buying, or building another business. Instead, I see many young people saying, 'I'm running my family office. They should be creating real-world businesses. Why not start from scratch?"

Kotak raised questions about why individuals aged 35 or 40 were not directly contributing, despite recognising the significance of startup funding. "I would love to see this generation be hungry for success and build operational businesses. Even today, I firmly believe that the next generation must work hard and create businesses rather than becoming financial investors too early in lif

He also voiced apprehension about over-financialisation in the Indian economy. He warned that over-reliance on financial instruments could potentially harm the economy, as uninformed investors pour their savings into equities without considering their true valuations. 

"Should we continue encouraging retail investors to keep buying? Retail investors in India are funneling money into equities daily, contributing to domestic institutional flows. Money from individuals from Lucknow to Coimbatore is flowing to Boston and Tokyo," he said, noting that foreign companies were taking advantage of high valuations to book profits and repatriate funds. According to Kotak, the US dollar is behaving like a vacuum pump, draining capital from emerging markets due to the rise in US Treasury yields exceeding 4.5%. Indian stock valuations continue to be notably higher than the majority of global markets. He emphasised that there has been a shift in the dynamics of capital flows, signaling a need for adaptability in the economic landscape.

He further emphasised that India must steer clear of protectionist policies and instead focus on leveraging the changing global market conditions to enhance the competitiveness of the Indian industry. The Economic Survey for 2024-25 also highlighted over-financialisation and observed that such a phenomenon has resulted in unprecedented levels of public and private sector debt in developed economies.

Viraj Bahl, Veeba Foods founder and managing director and Shark Tank India season 4 judge, recently shared his take on the 90-hour work week debate. Bahl said that making people work for such long hours is "utter nonsense". He said that he himself works more than that because he is the biggest beneficiary of Veeba's success.

"I think this 90-hour work hour, 90-hour work week, and 70-hour weeks is utter nonsense. I mean it is so wrong, I work more than that, but I am also the biggest commercial beneficiary of the success of Veeba." Bahl said at an event earlier this month. He added that it only makes sense to make people work this hard if business owners and/or companies share the same level of commercial benefit with their employees.

"Either I share the same commercial benefit with all the 2,500 employees that I have or do not expect them to work for 70 hours. I am very clear about that." His take concurs with that of his fellow Shark Tank India judge and Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar.

She said that expecting employees to invest excessive work hours is a "crock of bull***". Thapar mentioned that while founders and high-level stakeholders have a huge financial incentive to put in long work hours but expecting the same from employees is not only unreasonable but also harmful.

She also mentioned that when Emcure went public, the company was valued at $3 billion. "Obviously, we could work 20 hours a day, which is what we all do. But the employee? Emcure has 10,000 employees. My accountant, for instance, is making a salary. He doesn't have the same financial upside of putting in that kind of hours.

Instead, he'll face serious physical and mental health issues," she said. Some of India's corporate giants have advocated for long working hours to boost productivity and growth. While Infosys' Narayana Murthy suggested a 70-hour work week, Larsen & Toubro chairman SN Subrahamanyan went a step ahead and suggested a 90-hour work week to employees including working on Sundays.

Last year, Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal supported 70-hour work week and said the concept of holidays on Saturdays and Sundays was brought from the West and should not be there in India.