AHMEDABAD | MUMBAI: The recent silver streaks in his beard lends an air of sobriety and gravitas but don’t let the unassuming exterior or the taciturn nature fool you.Hirenbhai K Patel is the quintessential Gujarati with a no-nonsense attitude, a weakness for khichdi and a silent aggression. The 42-year old son of Nirma founder Karsanbhai Patel -- who once gave sleepless nights to MNC rivals HLL – is today the change agent responsible for globalising the $1.5 billion conservative business house, daring them to dream of new frontiers.Nirma had captured the imagination of middle class India with its price war and glamourous advertising blitz using Bollywood divas in the 90’s, but of late this zealously publicity shy group slipped off the public radar almost entirely post its delisting in 2012.On Monday, Nirma made a strong comeback on the front pages of business dailies across the country with a stunning buyout that had a nail biting finish. It out smarted bigger rivals and savvier deal-makers like Ajay Piramal and Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Cement to bag Lafarge Cement for $1.4 billion.From spotting the deal opportunity to stitching up financing, shortlisting the banks; from personally visiting Lafarge’s plants for diligence to fronting the negotiations with the Lafarge top bosses in London from the middle of last week Hiren Patel has effortlessly slipped into the big shoes of his father – an intrepid and sagacious entrepreneur himself.As one of the world’s leading soda ash player also gets ready to bulk up in cement, it’s clear that baton at Nirma has been passed on to the Gen-Next.Old time group watchers say cement as a diversification strategy was always the brainchild of Patel Junior. “The company could only grow that much in soda ash. Cement was a natural business extension considering the operational synergies,” quipped an old time associate. “It’s also a bet on India infrastructure that has got bolstered on the back of PM Modi’s Make in India pitch. With so many smart cities, investments in defence, cement is in the cusp of high growth after years of sluggishness,” added another official.So far the cement strategy was largely organic in nature but it faced severe headwinds as plans to build a 2 MTPA Gujarat plant got mixed up in land acquisition related litigations. Lafarge was a once in a lifetime opportunity to grab a profitable platform and scale up.“He is a person in control. He knows what his business is, what the cash flows are, the risks and challenges and how to mitigate them. The decision to shop for Lafarge was made much before he approached us and that was the key differentiator,” said a banker working with Nirma on the deal.Patel, an MBA with specialization in Finance & Marketing from Drexel University , Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, to boot, came on board his family business in 1998 as a director but took over MD only in 2006. Today he is the fulcrum who drives strategy, upcoming projects, procurement and even M&A.“His is a hands on approach,” paraphrases another associate. “He is not Mane badhu avadeche (I know everything in Gujrati). He has earned his spurs going through the grind.”But outside of work, most perceive him to be a loner who he keeps off socialising with friends or hobnobbing with the rich and famous. With Chairman Karsanbhai still highly politically connected – his proximity to PM Narendra Modi since the latter’s days as the chief minister of Gujarat is well known – Hiren has to make little efforts to break through the political corridors, sources tell ET.But others swear by his ethical business practices. “Recently, when there was a shortage of sulphuric acid in the market, most players increased prices to Rs 8 a kg. But Nirma struck to its price of Rs 6.20 per kg as Hiren didn’t want to earn profits the wrong way considering the raw material prices had remained unchanged,” he explained.For Hiren, the winds of change also means fresh ideas as well as new blood within the storied organisation. Most of Nirma brain trusts – directors like Kaushik Patel or CFO Rajendra Jashipara -- have been group lifers for over 2 decades. Sources say, Hiren is building his own A team across commercial, operational and strategic group functions like finance where a new crop of stars like Suketu Shah is gradually coming up the ranks.Many in his hometown of Ahmedabad still remember Patel for the relief work that he spearheaded as a young man in Kutch after the earthquake of 2001. At that time he helped rebuild other people’s homes. Now he’s reshaping the empire that his father so painstakingly created as a first-generation entrepreneur.