Promoters & Founders

It took 12 and half years to decide to quit his job and get started. It was his worthwhile experience after stint with Gordon Woodruff Limited, he joined Binny's company as an office assistant, accepting the challenge to give fresh lease of life to the dying shipping business, really allowed him to have glimpse of the future. It was a profoundly formative experience. For one thing, he got to see up close the awe-inspiring efforts of the seniors, effectively mobilizing the market share in doing good business. The discipline, training, punctuality and leadership experience would stick with him forever. "When people ask him what principles have guided your work force since you started Sravan Shipping Services Private Limited with meager Rs. 5 lakhs years ago," G.Sambasiva Rao, the man beyond the organization, founder and Managing Director says, "my answer often startles them: It's the leadership tenets that I learned from his ex-boss Mr.S.A. Joseph who has guided him throughout.

It was his own intuition, his radar-like feel for establishing first ever container Freight Station in the port city of Visakhapatnam being nearer to natural port in the state of Andhra Pradesh in 2004 with requisite infrastructural facilities along with emerging technologies and to provide end-to-end logistics services, how they could be brought together to create, in his words, "insanely great", that ultimately made the difference. Fittingly enough, on the first day of his Container Freight Station, a reporter from local daily asked him what type of studies he had conducted to ensure there was a study demand for the CFS. In a nearly laughter mood, he retorted, "Did Alexander Graham Bell do any market research before he invented the telephone?"

Some 16 years later, he's still at the helm of SRAVAN SHIPPING SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED GROUP which was established as renowned logistics, warehousing and other allied shipping support services provider in the city of destiny i.e. Visakhapatnam as a strategic location as it is having natural port, which is a natural gate way to the vast industrial market of the far east countries too and nearby coastal area like Kakinada on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh. Not only that, he is the only one having 150 Acres of own land purely for infrastructure landscape adjacent to the port with proper railway siding developed with the help of Visakhapatnam Port Trust, adjacent to warehousing complex / Container Freight Station for handling of full railway rake. This has redefined his vision of new type of logistics leader meeting the challenges of global trade with a mission to facilitate trade through innovative logistics solutions employing more than 1,200 people and turnover valued at 100 crores turn over per annum with values of Expansion is our buzz word, Accountability & Transparency, Motivation of sense of belongingness and camaraderie & Customer relationship is our supreme. He was in no hurry then and he is in no hurry now to boost profits at the expense of building "an important and lasting company."

Now, he is 53, demonstrated that he could do what most founders are said not to do: challenge the old way of doing things. He is one of those rare birds who have made a meaningful mark in the landscape of logistics sector in the city of destiny. Purpose inspires people like him. Who else should make that cut?

His core competitive strength is his ability to respond flexibly as a group to changes in the business environment, and will continue to closely monitor our position and direction. Turning to the future, he intends to make sure that the winds of change constantly adapting to meet the needs of modern society by using his comprehensive strengths and progressive business models. As part of this, he had decided to launch a new infrastructure projects in future like Free Trade Warehousing Zone and container freight stations for the benefit of Major imports of coal, crude oil, Project Machinery Cargo, Fertilizers and other POL products arrive in this port and exports of mineral and metals viz., iron ore, Ferro Silicon, Manganese, Aluminum Ingots, Quartz, Food Commodities, and Sea Food etc, for which he had already got the approval from the Ministry of Commerce.

Admittedly the list of the successful entrepreneurs in Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh is subjective. But, he based it largely on social and economic impact; the world-changing vision which inspires employees and other entrepreneurs alike; a record of innovation; and the actual performance of their companies over time. He created and then nurtured healthy, sustainable organization that now has a silver lining. Yet those numbers only touch the surface. Likewise. From time immemorial, an organization sits at the nucleus of a thriving ecosystem that has cultivated and nurtured dozens if not hundreds of other enterprises. He has been our generation's quintessential entrepreneur. Visionary, Inspiring, Brilliant & Mercurial.

For him, Leadership handbook draws heavily upon his past experience. "He tells his executives that the key to their success is to rely on their first-level managers to set an example themselves, and to praise in public when someone has done a good job. All those are standard operating procedure in the Sravan Shipping Services private Limited. "Years ago," he once told an interviewer, "the business schools used to pose it as a conundrum. They would say, `Well, who comes first? Your employees, your shareholders, or your customers?' But it's not a conundrum. Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees' right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follow from that."

His personal innovation efforts and his organizations' achievements in systematic innovation capabilities are nothing short of heroic. These efforts and their outcomes collectively demonstrate and indeed prove that he can successfully do more than just be an ordinary man for the world, and that even in that endeavour, that innovation can be a real differentiator! He has shown how systematic innovation capability can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Being active member among the Visakhapatnam Industrialists as Chairman - Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-Visakhapatnam zone) for 2013-14, Chairman of CFS ( Container Freight Station ) Operators Association, Visakhapatnam, President - Visakhapatnam Customs House Agents Association, President - Visakhapatnam Warehouse Owners Association, EC Member in Steam Ship Association, EC Member in National Association for Container Freight Stations, Member in CII A.P. Chapter for (i) PCPIR (ii) Ports & Logistics (iii) EXIM Panel, Vice President, Kakatiya Cultural & Educational Society,

Visakhapatnam, Treasurer, Kakatiya Public School, External member for Industry-Institute - Interaction Cell - TEQIP-II for Gitam Institute of Technology under Gitam University, Visakhapatnam he every so often takes up the prevailing issues like shortage of power to industries, bottlenecks in the infrastructural facilities and startup of 24/7 operations of flights to and from Visakhapatnam with the local bodies, district administration, state governments and central governments with the coordination of Visakhapatnam Development council members.

His important lesson: An organization starting from scratch must coalesce around a team of people with an enduring value system. It's important to have someone who you totally trust, who is totally committed, who shares your vision, yet who has a little bit different set of skills and who also acts as something of a check on you." His last piece of advice - Every organization should be traditionally been decentralized and technology minded to a degree even a rare in our competitors and it shows how its development of the organization business unit reflects the organization of the need for more globalization of business process, culture and knowledge sharing.

After years of unfailing determination, progressive endeavors and rigorous tapasya, he is on the verge earning operational supremacy today. His values of integrity, commitment, passion, speed and seamlessness, have been his driving forces in this journey. In terms of customer service and on time delivery, it has been his impulse to command excellence since 2004. Passion sprouts in every inch of his commitment. Great ideas are hard to come by. Putting them to work is even harder. Yes, he turned concept into company and changed the face of business by moving forward with determination by setting new benchmarks.

Smt. G Hanumasree aged 50 years, is an Arts Graduate. She is wife of Sri G Sambasiva Rao, and joined him to promote SSSPL. Smt. Hanumasree is taking care of administration of the Corporate Office and the banking operations of the company.