About

JSW Steel, part of the JSW Group conglomerate, is the largest private-sector steel company in India by market capitalisation. With 2015-16 revenues of over $5bn and over 11,000 employees, the company is a major player in the Indian and global steel production markets. Rajiv Bakshi, who has been their general counsel since 2013, therefore finds himself overlooking legal matters that can have ramifications for the business world in India and beyond. However, Bakshi’s extensive legal career puts him in good stead to be able to deal with the challenges that present themselves in the role. Bakshi had exposure to dispute resolution back in 1984 as a legal trainee, before moving on to hold a corporate lawyer position at ICI India. Bakshi’s next roles include a long tenure at chemical company Jubilant Organosys, and then almost four years at Godrej Consumer Products. Now at the head of a team of 26 at JSW Steel, Bakshi has made a number of organisational improvements to the department’s structure. Key legal business sectors such as litigation, M&A and contracts have now been attached to specific sub-units, and ‘each vertical is headed by a professional who is well trained in the job with overall responsibility resting with me as a departmental head’. Bakshi also mentions that he allowed legal staff a greater level of autonomy, and ‘empowered the team leaders to take independent decisions’. As many of Bakshi’s initiatives are based around getting the best out of the gifted individuals in his team, it is perhaps unsurprising that he points to talent retention as the biggest challenge he has faced during his career. The ‘new generation’ in particular, can be impatient to become GCs themselves, so keeping their ambitions in check while building a top-quality team is essential.