Sulajja Firodia Motwani

Sulajja Firodia Motwani
Born	Sulajja Firodia (1970-08-26) 26 August 1970
Nationality	Indian
Education	MBA
Alma mater	Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation(s)	Indian businesswoman, Board of Advisor AIESEC in Pune.
Employer(s)	Vice chair of Kinetic Engineering Limited and Founder & CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions Limited,

Sulajja Firodia Motwani (born 26 August 1970) is an Indian entrepreneur. She is currently the vice chairman of Kinetic Engineering Limited and Founder & CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions Limited. The Kinetic Group witnessed tremendous expansion during her term. From being a mere moped manufacturer it has set its foothold in the industry as a manufacturer offering a complete range of two wheelers right from mopeds, scooters to motorcycles. She has recently restructured the group to expand group activities into automotive systems and green energy. Most notably, she has founded a company, Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, that aims to be an expert in green mobility and electric vehicles and aims to bring this technology to the masses through launch of electric autos, buggies and small electric taxis.

Early life

Sulajja is born on 26 August 1970. She completed her graduation in Commerce from Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce, Pune University in 1990. She is an MBA holder from the reputed Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh. She is the granddaughter of Late Shri H. K. Firodia, Founder of Kinetic Engineering and daughter of Padmashree Arun Firodia, Founder & present Chairman of the Firodia Group. Throughout her studies, she has been a rank holder. Her name appeared in the toppers list in the SSC examinations and she topped the state in HSC examinations. She was a Vice President for a youth run organization, AIESEC in Pune for which she is currently a Board of Advisor.

Personal life

Sulajja is married to Manish Motwani and is the mother to a 19-year-old son, Sidhant. She is a fitness enthusiast and a marathon runner. She has been enthusiastic about sports especially badminton. She is also fond of pursuing adventurous sports like skiing, sky diving and scuba diving.

Career

Under her leadership, Kinetic Green has risen to be the leading manufacturer of Electric Three Wheelers in the country. The company aims to be a global leader in light electric mobility, with a vision to bring green mobility to the masses. With an emphasis on “Make in India”, she recently formed a JV with Tonino Lamborghini, SpA, to bring global design and technology for electric and solar golf carts and tourism vehicles, which will be manufactured in India and marketed globally

She is also the Vice Chairperson of Kinetic Engineering Ltd. She is responsible for Kinetic group’s overall business strategy and development. Kinetic Group’s business interests include Automobile Manufacturing, auto components including Powertrain Systems, Green Energy, Multilevel parking solutions, Elevators & Escalators. Kinetic’s partners include companies like Hyundai, Lamborghini, Taigene Electrical, Magna etc. Sulajja plays a key role in steering the Group’s business strategy and in its implementation across group companies.

Before joining Kinetic Motor Company, she worked for a period of four years with an investment analytics company, BARRA International, based in California. She played a major role in setting the operations of the Kinetic Motor Company in India. Sulajja played a major role in designing and implementing new strategies for the company. She is also performing the role of the Director of Kinetic Motor Company and Kinetic Green Energy limited. She is in charge of the Group`s overall business developmental activities.

Awards

Sulajja has received numerous awards for her achievements. World Economic Forum selected her as a “Young Global Leader“. Sulajja has been the recipient of the Society Young Achiever’s Award for Business,  Young Super Achiever Awardby Business Today, MTV’s coveted Style-icon Award, “India's Most Powerful Women award”, Top Management Consortium’s Award of Excellence,  Outlook’s Women of Worth (WOW) 2019 Award, Zee’s Dare to Dream Award, Rotary International’s Vocational Excellence Award, Pride of BMCC award, Nari Shakti Award, among others.  She was featured as a business “Face of the Millennium” by India Today; and was voted among the top 25 Business Leaders of the Next Century in a poll of industrialists conducted by Fortune. IESA recently accredited her among Women at the forefront of EV ecosystem and Energy Storage around the globe.

She has been invited to lead and speak at a large number of industry forums and associations.  Sulajja is currently Chairperson for FICCI Maharashtra and a member of National Steering Committee of FICCI. Sulajja is Co-Chairperson of Electric Vehicle Task Force at FICCI, and heads the Electric Three Wheeler mobility of SMEV (Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles).

Sulajja is on the Board of Advisors of iCreate – International Centre for Entrepreneurship & Technology, an initiative of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sulajja is also the Industry nominee on the Development Council for Electrical Mobility of India from the Ministry of Heavy Industries. She has also been a member of the National Executive Committee of CII, member of the prestigious Governing Body of CSIR (Council of Scientific and  Industrial Research, India), and National Chairperson of FICCI Young Leaders Forum.  She has been a Director on the Board of Invest India, apex Investment Promotion Agency for Government of India.Sulajja is the Brand Ambassador for Plan International, for their “Save the Girl child” initiative.

External links

• Indian Entrepreneurs:Sulajja Firodia Motwani