Tulsi Tanti

Tulsi Tanti - Suzlon Energy Ltd

Chairman of Suzlon Energy Ltd, Ranks among top 10 richest men of India.

Tulsi Tanti is the Chairman of Suzlon Energy Ltd, a company dealing in wind energy. He is one of those first time entrepreneurs who saw potential in an inchoate idea, ventured into it, and made it big. Today, he ranks among top 10 richest men of India.

A commerce graduate and a diploma holder in mechanical engineering, Tulsi Tanti originally hails from Gujarat and is presently based in Pune, Maharashtra. Tulsi Tanti was earlier into textiles. He started his textile business in Gujarat. But he found that the prospects stunted due to infrastructural bottlenecks. The biggest of them all was the cost and unavailability of power, which formed a high proportion of operating expenses of textile industry.

In 1990, Tulsi Tanti invested in two windmills and realized its huge potential. In 1995, he formed Suzlon and gradually quit textiles. Suzlon Energy is the sixth largest wind energy company in the world and the largest in Asia. It is presently building what will be among the world's largest wind parks of its kind at 1,000 MW capacity.

Suzlon is currently concentrating on global expansion drive. It recently acquired Hansen Transmissions, a Belgian maker of wind-turbine gearboxes. Suzlon is also building a rotor-blade factory in Minnesota and has invested $60m in a factory in Tianjin, China. Tulsi Tanti is poised to make India a wind-power export hub.

Subhash Chandra

Subhash Chandra - Zee TV

Founder of Zee TV, India's first private TV channel

Subhash Chandra is the founder of Zee TV, India's first private TV channel. This onetime rice trader from Hissar, Haryana has today transformed into a media baron and his other interests include packaging, theme parks, lotteries and cinema multiplexes.

Subhash Chandra launched Zee Telefilms Limited in October 1992 as a content supplier for Zee TV - India's first Hindi satellite channel. Subash Chandra was the first in India who sought to harness the huge business potential of satellite television channels. Before the launch of Zee TV viewers in India were under the firm grip of Doordarshan, the state-controlled terrestrial network. It was Subhash Chandra's vision that helped give birth to the satellite TV industry in India and inspired others to follow suit.

After the launch of Zee TV, he commenced Siticable operations in 1995 and also started a joint venture with News Corp. In 1995, he launched two new channels, Zee News and Zee Cinema. In 2000, Zee TV became the first cable company in India to launch Internet over Cable services. In 2003, Zee TV became the first service provider in India to launch Direct to Home (DTH) services. In a short span of time Zee TV has become a big media and has give tough competition to international media moghuls such as Rupert Murdoch.

Subhash Chandra's meteoric rise in the past decade is somewhat similar to the rise of Dhirubhai Ambani in 1980s and 1990s.

--
Cheers
Raj

Lalit Suri

Lalit Suri - Bharat Hotels

Achievement: Chairman of the Bharat Hotels chain and the single largest hotel owner.

Lalit Suri can be called as the uncrowned hotel king of India. He is the Chairman of the Bharat Hotels chain and is the single-largest hotel owner with over 1600 rooms. Bharat Hotels chain comprises seven hotels which include the flagship InterContinental The Grand in Delhi, and six Grand hotels in Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Srinagar, Udaipur and Khajuraho.

Lalit Suri is an alumnus of St Columbus and Sri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi. He represented both his school and college in swimming and athletics at the state level. Lalit Suri was trained as an automobile engineer and started his career manufacturing vehicle bodies. He commissioned his first hotel in Delhi in 1988. Since then there has been no looking back.

In the last few years Bharat Hotels has invested Rs 500 crore on its properties in Mumbai and Goa. In addition, the group has spent Rs 42 crore on a 30-year lease on the former Bangalore Ashok, and a further Rs 40 crore on renovations. Lalit Suri is currently on an expansion mode. Sites for hotels have been identified and negotiated in Amritsar, Ahmedabad and Jaipur, while search is on for the right locations in Chennai and Hyderabad. In the first phase hotels will be constructed in Amritsar, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur adding 400-600 rooms to the Grand chain, while the next phase in Chennai, and Hyderabad) will take the tally up by another 500 five-star deluxe rooms.

Apart from a successful businessman, Lalit Suri is also an avid traveler and an art lover. Presently, he is also a Rajya Sabha MP.

K.P. Singh

K.P. Singh - DLF Group

Born: August 15, 1931
Achievement: Chairman of DLF Group; Recipient of the 'Delhi Ratna' Award for his valuable contribution to Delhi

K.P. Singh is the Chairman of DLF Group and can be christened as the real estate baron of India. DLF has a strong leadership presence in Indian real estate industry and the company is credited with developing the modern township of Gurgaon.

K.P. Singh (Kushal Pal Singh) was born on August 15, 1931 at Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh. After graduating in Science from Meerut College, he went to UK to study Aeronautical Engineering. While pursuing engineering in UK, K.P. Singh was selected to the prestigious Indian Army, by British Officers Services Selection Board, UK. He joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and was later on commissioned into The Deccan Horse-a renowned cavalry regiment of The Indian Army.

In 1960, K.P. Singh joined American Universal Electric Company, a joint venture between Universal Electric Company of Owosso, Michigan and his family. Thereafter, K.P. Singh promoted another company, i.e. Willard India Limited in collaboration with ESB inc of Philadelphia for manufacturing automatic and industrial batteries in India and became its Managing Director.

In 1979, K.P. Singh joined DLF Universal Limited. When American Universal Company merged with DLF Universal Limited, K.P. Singh became the Managing Director of the new company. K.P. Singh had the vision to buy land in Gurgaon, which was then a barren village on the outskirts of Delhi. He had the foresight to saw the untapped potential of the place and today Gurgaon is one of the real-estate hotspots of the country. Presently, DLF has 100 million square feet under development in residential, commercial and retail projects all over the country.

Kushal Pal Singh also held a number of professional positions in India. He was the President of the ASSOCHAM (Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India) and the PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry. K.P. Singh is also the recipient of the 'Delhi Ratna' Award for his valuable contribution to Delhi.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-Biocon Ltd

Born: March 23, 1953
Achievement: Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd; Felicitated with Padmashri (1989) and Padma Bhushan (2005).

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd, India's biggest biotechnology company. In 2004, she became India's richest woman.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was born on March 23, 1953 in Bangalore. She had her schooling at Bishop Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel College at Bangalore. After doing completing her B.Sc. in Zoology from Bangalore University in 1973, she went to Ballarat University in Melbourne, Australia and qualified as a master brewer.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw started her professional career as trainee brewer in Carlton & United Beverages in 1974. In 1978, she joined as Trainee Manager with Biocon Biochemicals Limited in Ireland. In the same year, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw founded Biocon India in collaboration with Biocon Biochemicals Limited, with a capital of Rs.10,000. She initially faced many problems regarding funds for her business. Banks were hesitant to give loan to her as biotechnology was a totally new field at that point of time and she was a woman entrepreneur, which was a rare phenomenon.

Biocon's initial operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Under Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's stewardship Biocon transformed from an industrial enzymes company to an integrated biopharmaceutical company with strategic research initiatives. Today, Biocon is recognised as India's pioneering biotech enterprise. In 2004, Biocon came up with an IPO and the issue was over-subscribed by over 30 times. Post-IPO, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was regarded as India's richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards. These include ET Businesswoman of the Year, Best Woman Entrepreneur, Model Employer, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare, Leading Exporter, Outstanding Citizen, Technology Pioneer, etc. Government of India also felicitated her with Padmashri (1989) and Padma Bhushan (2005).

B.M. Munjal

B.M. Munjal - Hero Group

Chairman of the Hero Group; Honored with Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2001

B.M. Munjal (Brij Mohan Lall Munjal) is the Chairman of the Hero Group. He is a first generation entrepreneur who started very small and through sheer hard work and perseverance made it to the top. Today, Hero Group is the largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world and Brij Mohan Lal Munjal is the man widely credited with its success.

B.M. Munjal's journey began in 1944 at the age of 20. Brij Mohanlall along with his three brothers, Dayanand (32), Satyanand (27) and Om Prakash (16) moved from his birthplace Kamalia in Pakistan to Amritsar. The brothers started supplying components to the local bicycle business. After partition in 1947, the family was forced to move to Ludhiana. The town of Ludhiana was already a major hub of the Indian bicycle business and an important textile center. The Munjals slowly spread their bicycle component distribution network in other parts of the country and became one of India's largest bicycle parts suppliers. In 1952 Munjals made a shift from supplying to manufacturing. They started manufacturing handlebars, front forks and chains.

In 1956, the Punjab state government announced the issue of twelve new industrial licenses to make bicycles in Ludhiana. The Munjal brothers cashed on this opportunity. Helped by the Punjab government financing of Rs 600,000 to supplement their own limited capital resources, the Munjals set up Hero Cycles. Hero Cycles was registered as a 'large-scale industrial unit' and it initially produced 7,500 units per year.

Soon Hero Cycles started giving well-established players such as Raleigh, Hind Cycles, and Atlas Cycles a run for their money. The hero cycle was comparatively cheaper and was sturdy and reliable. It gave the customers value for their money.

In January 1984, Japan's Honda, the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles, elicited interest in collaborating with the Hero Group to manufacture motor cycles in India. An agreement was signed and on 13 April 1985, the first Hero Honda motorbike was rolled out. Today, the company is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.

For his outstanding contribution to the success of Hero Group, B.M. Munjal was honored with Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2001.

Bhai Mohan Singh

Bhai Mohan Singh - Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd

Born: December 30, 1917
Achievement: Founder of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd; Awarded with Padma Shri

Bhai Mohan Singh can be called as the doyen of pharmaceutical industry in India. He is the founder of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.

Bhai Mohan Singh was born on December 30, 1917 in Rawalpindi district. His father Bhai Gyan Chand was a Hindu and his mother Sunder Dai was a Sikh. Bhai Mohan Singh began his business career in the construction business during the Second World War. His firm bagged a contract to build roads in the North East. After Partition, he left Rawalpindi and settled down in New Delhi.

Bhai Mohan Singh started business as a moneylender. Ranbaxy was started by his cousins Ranjit Singh and Gurbax Singh. Ranbaxy's name was a fusion of Ranjit and Gurbax's names. They were distributors for A. Shionogi, a Japanese pharmaceutical company manufacturing vitamins and anti-TB drugs. When Ranbaxy defaulted on a loan, Bhai Mohan Singh bought the company on August 1, 1952, for Rs 2.5 lakh.

Bhai Mohan Singh collaborated with Italian pharma company Lapetit Spa and later on bought it. Bhai Mohan Singh made his mark in the pharmaceuticals industry in the late 1960s when he launched his first superbrand, Calmpose.

Calmpose was an imitation of Roche's valium. But Roche had not patented it in India. In early 1970s when Indian adopted a regime of process patents in the Bhai Mohan Singh quickly realised that one could make any product in the world through reverse engineering. He established an R&D facility at Mohali and launched one blockbuster pill after the other, such as Roscillin, Cifran etc.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd went public in 1973. At this time Bhai Mohan Singh introduced his eldest son Parvinder Singh in the company, who later on became the company's Managing Director in 1982. Bhai Mohan Singh also co-founded Max India with his youngest son, Analjit Singh.

With liberalisation differences arose between Bhai Mohan Singh and Parvinder Singh over the expansion and professionalisation strategy of Ranbaxy. Subsequently, in 1999 in a boardroom coup of sorts Bhai Mohan Singh was forced to bow down and Parvider took over the company. This broke Bhai Mohan Singh's spirit and he retired from active company affairs. He died on March 27, 2006.

Bhai Mohan Singh was a former vice president of the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution in civic matters. For his contribution to the industrial development of Punjab, the Punjab Goverment had named an Industrial Township near Ropar after Bhai Mohan Singh.

Karsanbhai Patel

Karsanbhai Patel Success Story - Nirma

Dr. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel (b. 1945, Ruppur, Mehsana, Gujarat) is an Indian industrialist, founder of the Rs. 2500 crore (USD 500 mn) Nirma group with major interests in detergents, soaps and cosmetics. In 2005 Forbes listed his net worth as USD $640 million. He has interests in education, and founded a leading engineering college, the Nirma Institute of Technology. He is sometimes referred to as Dr. K.K. Patel.

Man behind the hugely successful brand, Nirma.

Karsanbhai Patel is the man behind the hugely successful brand, Nirma. His' is a legendary rags to riches journey during which he shattered established business theories and rewrote new ones.

Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel (K.K. Patel) came from a humble farmer family from Mehsana, Gujarat. He worked as Lab Assistant in the Geology and Mining Department of the Government of Gujarat. In 1969, at the age of 25, Karsan Bhai Patel started a small-scale enterprise. He offered a quality detergent powder, using indigenous technology, at a third of the prevailing price, without compromising on the product. Karsanbhai named the detergent powder Nirma after daughter Nirupama.

At that time domestic detergent market was limited only to premium segment and was dominated by MNCs. Karsanbhai Patel started door-to-door selling of Nirma and priced it at Rs. 3 per kg. The next available cheapest brand in the market at that time was Rs.13 per kg. Nirma revolutionized the whole detergent powder segment and in a short span of time created an entirely new market segment in the domestic detergent sector market. It gave the bigger established brands a run for their money and soon occupied the top market share. To add to all this, Nirma was made of an innovative formulation, which global detergent giants were later on compelled to emulate, it was phosphate free and hence environment friendly, and the process of manufacturing was labour intensive, which offered large scale employment.

Karsanbhai notched up one success after another. After establishing its leadership in economy-priced detergents, Nirma foray into the premium brand segment, in cakes and detergents was equally successful. It built up a 30% market share in the premium detergent segment and achieved a greater than 20% share in the premium soaps market.

Karsanbhai Patel has won many accolades on his way to success. The Federation of Association of Small Scale Industries of India, New Delhi, awarded him with the 'Udyog Ratna'. The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce felicitated him as an 'Outstanding Industrialist of the Eighties'. The Govt. of India twice appointed him Chairman of the Development Council for Oils, Soaps & Detergents.

Shantanu Prakash

Shantanu Prakash,Educomp Solutions

Shantanu Prakash

MD, Educomp Solutions

1988: Son of a SAIL employee in Rourkela, "where no one had any money", cracks IIM- Ahmedabad
1990: Set up a brick-and-mortar education company in partnership with a college friend
1994: Sets up Educomp with two employees and a scraped-together capital of Rs 100,000
Now: Along with wife Anjlee, controls 60 per cent of Educomp, whose market capitalisation stands at Rs 4,115 crore or Rs 41.15 billion. (The first venture, which the friend kept, has shut down)

In 1994, Shantanu Prakash, the managing director of Educomp Solutions, was back to the proverbial square one. He had parted ways with a college friend, who kept the brick-and-mortar education business they had started together after Indian Institute of Ahmedabad in 1988. Joining IIM-A was the culmination of a journey that took Prakash out of Rourkela to Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, and then to the famous Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi University.

erhaps because his own path was paved by education, Prakash was convinced that future success lay in helping to educate others. Information technology was a new thing at that time. Prakash, who saw himself as a pioneer, an evangelist and something of a romantic, admits to fantasising about the potential of e-learning and digital education.

"There are 100 million kids out of school in India. What can we do about them? The non-profit and charitable concept has destroyed education in India. What Educomp is doing in education is like private healthcare and making it affordable as well as profitable," says Prakash.

The beginning was tentative. With Rs 100,000 in capital and two employees, he set up Educomp and set up the computer lab at Stuart School, Cuttack. The students had to pay Rs 30 a month for using it. "It was not easy. Schools are difficult to change. To get in and set up the lab was a huge challenge," he recounts.

Today, Educomp has 1,500 employees, 10 offices, a fully-owned subsidiary in the US, a recently acquired company in Singapore and 3.6 million students on its rolls. It is the first listed educational company of the country. Its attrition rate is only 3 per cent. "It is easy to become passionate about education, rather than making colas. That is a huge component that keeps people here," he says.

The next is back to where it began, setting up 100 schools across the country, brick and mortar stuff.

K N Memani, who began many years ago as an employee at S R Batliboi, at that time a small firm in Kolkata, and retired as the chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young India, says there are many who have the potential to be successful and know what to do.

But it is the fear of failure that thwarts most of them. "Luck, timing and decision making are all important, as is a wholesome perspective. But, in the end, you have to have to courage and fearlessness."

"I have an unshakeable belief that I have a larger purpose in life - to change the world through education"

Lakshaman Dass Mittal

Lakshaman Dass Mittal

Chairman, Sonalika Group, and Consul General, Republic of Macedonia

Age: 75
1962: Makes a wheat thresher with the help of local blacksmiths in Hoshiarpur
1963: The family goes bankrupt
1970: The net worth of three generations of Mittals - clothes included - touches Rs 100,000
Now: Owns the Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) Sonalika Group, whose tractor plant is certified by Washington-based Environment Protection Agency

Some 44 years ago, Lakshaman Dass Mittal stood lamenting before his friend from the Ludhiana Agriculture University. "Achchha faida hua teri dosti ka (nice reward I have reaped for being your friend)." The Mittal family, which had been led by the young Lakshaman Dass into putting all its money, and that borrowed from friends and relatives, in making wheat threshers, had just gone bankrupt.

The machines, returned by the farmers, had been assembled by local blacksmiths who had copied the rice thresher at the university. Mittal's father was a foodgrain and seed dealer who made his money by sharing in the produce of the farmers.

ince it took up to two months to separate the grain from the chaff using bullocks, the harvested crop was susceptible to the vagaries of the weather. When storm or rain destroyed it, the young Mittal would hear his father sob through the night. The solution lay in quicker threshing, which could only be done by a machine, of which there was none.

The university friend, reeling under the charge, managed to identify the problem. The blacksmiths had installed straight cutters on the machine, not curved, as they should have been. Mittal persuaded more money out of family and friends and made the threshers all over again.

This time, they took off. Success bred more adventure in the form of forays into other farm implements. In 1970, three generations of the Mittals danced with joy when they sat down to count their wealth, clothes thrown in, and found it to have touched Rs 100,000.

The inevitable extension to making tractors happened in 1996 and, recently, the group launched a multi-utility passenger carrier, in collaboration of MG Rover of the UK. "I have seen the worst in life. As a child I had weak eyesight, but could not afford spectacles. So, I sat as close to the blackboard in class as possible. Often, the teachers would rebuke me," says Mittal. Today, a large monitor on his desk shows the goings-on in various parts of the office.

"Once I applied for dealership of Maruti Udyog but was rejected. Today, I give out dealerships"

Sudip Dutta

Sudip Dutta,Ess Dee Aluminium

Sudip Dutta

CMD, Ess Dee Aluminium Age: 35
1989: Comes to Mumbai to earn a living and joins a pouch making company for Rs 15 a day
1990: Watches his first film in a theatre
1991: Persuades the owners of the foil company, who had lost interest, to sell it to him for deferred payments
Now: Owns 65 per cent of Ess Dee, whose name is the phonetic form of his initials and whose market capitalisation is Rs 1,413 crore (Rs 14.13 billion)

Meeting Sudip Dutta, the chairman and managing director of Ess Dee Aluminium, can be a surreal experience. Here he was, on a typically wet monsoon evening in Mumbai, sitting at a corner table in Copper Chimney, a restaurant that draws the reasonably well-heeled.

His Toyota Prado was parked outside, while a Mitsubishi Pajero, a Mercedes Benz and a fourth car he could not recall were at home. Clad in a tailored suit, he looked well groomed, and well fed. But when he spoke, it was of pantha bhat, which is the previous days fermented rice, flavoured with salt, chopped onions and pickles. It is something the poor in the eastern states survive on.

Sipping Chivas Regal, Dutta said: "Often, our family would have pantha bhat for breakfast, and we didnt know where the next meal would come from." That was 1988, in Durgapur. His father, a former army man, had just died.

Preparing for his higher secondary examinations, all Dutta knew was that Mumbai was the land of opportunity. Finally, the day the practical exams ended, Dutta bought the ticket. "I have everything now. But there is one thing I know. You can control everything but hunger. If you are hungry, you have to do something about it."

As India has gone through various phases of growing up - turbulent, traumatic, fascinating and full of opportunities - people have come from everywhere and nowhere to script success stories. Dutta is part of a small group that has risen above its middle or lower middle class moorings, without legacy or capital, many of them without enough education, to spawn modern, but as yet unsung, fairy tales.

When Dutta came to Mumbai at the age of 17, he joined a company that made pouches to package medicines on a salary of Rs 15 a day. He packed medicines, loaded them on trucks and was also the delivery boy. He wouldn't go home for weeks and slept in the factory.

Opportunity knocked in 1991, after two years of toil, when the company's owners wanted to sell it. By that time Dutta had accumulated Rs 16,000 through savings and Diwali bonuses. The cost of the pouch making machine was Rs 250,000. He offered to take charge of the company. As payment, he would give the owners all the profit after paying workers salaries and keeping Rs 5,000 for himself every month. In two years, he had settled the debt.

In 1994, he managed to get distributorship from Indal, which supplied the basic aluminium foil. The first printing unit was bought in 1997. Sometime later, Dutta noticed that Hindalco, which had acquired Indal, was losing interest in foils. That was the time to integrate backwards and start aluminium foil rolling.

The initial public offer of his company was floated last year, during which Dutta admits to an inability to sleep until he heard that the qualified institutional portion had been subscribed 52 times. The first television interview, preceded by frenzied smoking, made him a nervous wreck.

Today, Dutta betrays a touch of pride when he says that of his 700 employees, at least 450 are MBAs, engineers or chartered accountants. "Education only teaches you how to respect people," he says.

"If you give me a balance sheet, I will not be able to discuss the schedules, but will tell you what the problem with the company is"

Ram Chandra Agarwal

Ram Chandra Agarwal, CMD, Vishal Retail

Age: 42
1985: Joins a rolling shutter company at Rs 300 a month
1986: Opens his garment shop, all 50 sq ft of it, rented at Rs 1,200 a month, in Lal Bazar Street, Kolkata
1989-90: Organises discount sales of MNC clothing brands
Now: Vishal Retail, of which he owns 65 per cent, occupies 1.35 million sq ft and is increasing it to 8-10 million sq ft "in a short period"
"Extraordinary work can be done by ordinary people if they have the passion and a good leader"

Ram Chandra Agarwal, CMD of Vishal Retail, cannot recall the name of the company he joined for his first job. He only remembers that it was into rolling shutters and paid him Rs 300 a month. In a year, he was fed up. His father's small business of "suiting and shirting" beckoned - his two elder brothers had already joined it - but it was not big enough to accommodate the youngest sons dreams.

He opened his own shop of readymade clothes, Vishal Garments, in Kolkatas Lal Bazar Street, occupying 50 sq ft rented at Rs 1,200 a month. The big jump came in 1989-90, with the frenzied response to his discount sale of MNC brands like Pepe. With this came the enlightenment that salvation lay in discount retail.

The first showroom came up in 1995-96 in Tiger Cinema, Dharamtalla, over 5,000 sq ft. Following the principle of competitive pricing, it had up to 300 people queuing up to get in at the time of Durga Puja. Soon, Kolkata was not big enough.

Agarwal moved to Delhi in 2001 and opened a showroom in Rajouri, charging 15-20 per cent less than the competition. By this time he had travelled across Europe and became convinced of the efficacy of the hypermarket system. His first came up four years ago on the outskirts of Delhi. "Garments alone were not enough. I wanted a big role in retail."

Agarwal, who enrolled for a five-year law course at Surendranath College, only to drop out after three, reels off the numbers with panache. In the four years to 2007, Vishal has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 86 per cent while the profit after tax has grown at a CAGR of 166 per cent. "Education helps, but you cannot teach hard work, leadership or quick decision-making."

Vishal Retails initial public offer, in June this year, was subscribed 70 times, and ended at Rs 750 a share on its stock market debut in July, against the issue price of Rs 270. Agarwals target is to be among the top three retailers in the country. For now, his Ford Endeavor, which he uses for the 10-minute drive from home to office, has nearly as much space as Vishal Garment, 9, Lal Bazar Street, Kolkata.

Prasoon Mukherjee

Prasoon Mukherjee

At 42, non-resident Indian (NRI) restaurateur Prasoon Mukherjee has everything that money can buy.

A booming business spanning six countries, a jet set lifestyle and unbridled fame that sees him rub shoulders with presidents and prime ministers Mukherjee's life is an inspiring Indian success story.

But the yarns of this rags-to-riches story were spun more than two decades ago in the by-lanes of a Central Kolkata neighbourhood where a strapping young boy, fresh out of high school, had dared to dream big.

The dream has taken Mukherjee to many continents, seen him franchise across Asia about two-dozen casual dining restaurants of the US-based group Outback Steakhouse and liaison between governments for bilateral deals.

"But the beginning was not at all easy," reminisces Mukherjee, who started by doing a course in hotel management from a premier institute here in 1981.

"It was difficult for my father to provide the Rs 1,600 fee every quarter for the four-year hotel management course. But eventually I did go through with it," Mukherjee, who is now based in Indonesia, said.

Once out of the Institute of Hotel Management, he landed a job with the indian tourisam Development Corporation (ITDC), where he worked his way up from a trainee to be a food and beverages manager.

After 10 years in ITDC, he was sent by the company to the US for an advanced course in hotel management.

"On my return, I was to become the general manager in one of the ITDC hotels, but I was ignored by a partisan management," said the suave restaurateur, his eyes glimmering behind a pair of brown square monochrome spectacles as he recalled the discrimination.

But on hindsight, that single incident emerged as a blessing in disguise as a hurt Mukherjee then got in touch with an acquaintance in Singapore and he soon found himself working as a kitchen manager in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.

"Within six months, I was made the regional manager of the TGI Friday group's Malaysia operations and I had to supervise the functioning of 11 restaurants," said Mukherjee, taking calls on his mobile phone intermittently as he spoke.

In 1994, he became South East Asia's director (operation) of TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) and was posted in Singapore. But soon enough Mukherjee quit this cushy job and shifted base to Jakarta where he took up a job with one of Indonesia's biggest corporates � the $ 25 billion Salim Group, where he worked till 1999.

"In this company, apart from my salary I received annually received two per cent of the company's shares as part my whole package. In five years the share value was $ 11 million," he said.

Mukherjee, who by then had begun dreaming of starting off on his own, sold half of his shares and with a capital of $ 5.5 million left for Los Angeles, where he was first introduced to the Outback Steakhouse chain, arguably one of the world's best casual dinning restaurant groups.

Once at Outback Steakhouse, Mukherjee knew what he wanted to do in life. He had to become a restaurateur.

"It took me three gruelling days of parleys to convince the Outback management in Atlanta to let me open franchises in South Asia. First, they weren't interested in expanding their operations in Asia. Second, they weren't convinced about my financial health.

"In 2000 I opened my first Outback Steakhouse franchise in Singapore."

Since then, he has opened 21 other Outback restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta.

"But, my biggest regret is that my father, who was the only soul to encourage me to go abroad leaving the ITDC job, couldn't see me start my own business. He died a few days after I had signed the Outback deal, but I hadn't been able to inform him," said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee, the franchise holder for all of Asia barring Japan and Korea, is opening three more Outback restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok by December.

Outback Steakhouse's Asia operation, barring those in Japan and North and South Korea, reports a turnover of $ 20 million.

Mukherjee's India plans too are in the offing. Outback president Tim Ganon was in Delhi in January to "study" the market, and Mukherjee said the chain's founder was "happy with the situation". He, however, did not specify when Outback could open an outlet in India.

Besides his entrepreneurial skills, Mukherjee is active in the diplomatic circles and he is liaisoning between the Indonesian and Bangladesh governments on a road building deal.

He is in a delegation being led by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri to Bangladesh on June 21 to formalise the deal that will see an 80-km road being built to connect Dhaka with Khulna.

Mukherjee, whose immediate aim in life is to "open 100 Outback Steakhouse outlets", said his mother, who died of diabetes, was the principal inspiration in his life in whose memory he wants to build a charity diabetes hospital in Kolkata.

Suhas Gopinath

World's Youngest CEO - Suhas Gopinath - Globals Inc.

Bangalore boy Suhas Gopinath launched Globals Inc at 14. Today, his firm is a 60-member strong with all of them aged 17 to 22 years.

It was Catch-22 with a heartbreaking twist. Even before the first faint stubble had darkened his chin, Suhas Gopinath bagged a major outsourcing project that many others would have given their right hand for. But only to be told that the law said he was too young to sign on the dotted line.

That's the story of this 17-year-old Bangalore boy wanting to be another Bill Gates. He had launched his own firm at the ripe old age of 14 years. Today, his firm, Globals Inc, is 60-member strong with representatives in the US, the UK, Canada and India—all of them aged 17 to 22 years. None of the members have had any formal computer education. Incidentally, Globals' young CEO had originally wanted to be a veterinarian, until he was in Class IX and the cyber bug bit him.

''I had no knowledge of the Internet. But when I was browsing the Internet in a cyber cafe I stumbled on a source code of a web site. I was fascinated and thought long and hard. I soon launched my own website, http://www.coolhindustan.com/,'' says Gopinath, fingering his navy blue blazer and battling a pronounced stammer, at the Bangalore IT.COM 2003 venue. That had happened when he had still not crossed 14 years.

A week later, recognition came when Network Solutions Inc, owned by Nasdaq-listed New York-based Verisign Inc gave him the certificate of a professional web developer. He was invited to Network Solutions headquarters and even asked to maintain their web site. Now hold your breath: ''I declined because I was not interested in serving a US company.''

Gopinath says it was the attachment to his family and the ambition to start his own organisation that brought him back to India.

Having passed Class XII in computer science, his veterinarian dream has faded off, but he loves spending his free time with Bushy, his pet dog. ''I don't have girlfriends,'' the tiny CEO tells you with a straight face. Globals Inc took shape initially with only four members, and Network Solutions helped him to incorporate the company in the US. ''I was told that in India, you need to pay sales tax and also have an infrastructure before you can register a firm. But all our members work from home or from a cyber cafe,'' he says.

Gopinath's company is into web-based and software solutions, mobile and e-commerce solutions—besides making web sites for corporates, advertisers and educational institutions. But Gopinath doesn't get carried away with the pricing part. ''We even have a client in Frankfurt for whom we made a corporate website. In the last two years, we have been able to generate a revenue of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000. We charge only Rs 200-Rs 300 for making a website,'' he says.

Gopinath had never thought of himself and his team as being far too young in their highly competitive domain, until a Singapore-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company, SingT Inc, approached them. ''They wanted to outsource their projects to us. Everything fell into place, until the moment I found that the law wouldn't allow me to sign the contract because I was not 18 yet.''

Not that it has been too much of a dampener. He is now waiting to have the necessary infrastructure in place so that he can incorporate his company in India. ''At any cost, ours will be a purely Indian company.''

Not just that. Globals Inc has approached the University of Michigan for building a message board that can be a forum for students. ''We also approached the Karnataka Government for projects, but they said the Government projects are given out only to big companies. But we too will be a CMM Level 5 company soon,'' says a confident Gopinath, straightening his blazer.

Gopinath has already put the management structure in place. There is a chief operating officer, chief information officer, chief technology officer and vice-president (Human Resources)—all teenagers. But with only a modest Rs 40,000 revenue to be shared among the members yet, the firm has not yet thought of a chief financial officer. ''Members who use cyber cafes are given some extra money to cover that charges,'' adds Gopinath.

The boy CEO has now applied to Stanford University and is eagerly waiting for the result. But he has not let go his entrepreneurial spirit. ''If I get into Stanford, I will get business from the US too,'' he enthuses. His ambition is to found another Microsoft. ''Initially, when my mom used to scold me, I used to give her Bill Gates's example. He is my role model.''

Joining Globals Inc is simple, provided you are in the 17-22 year age group. ''The membership is free of cost. Once you fill up the form and enter your skill set, we will assign a project. And you become a part of our family,'' he says.

For, this 17-year-old believes that academic skill sets are not the end. ''We need more of personal skill sets to achieve goals,'' he quips sagely.

Lessons from Suhas Gopinath:

Youngsters must work together sans barriers. When I went to Islamabad, I delivered a lecture to 1,000 students. Other speakers were 40-45 years old, and I was 20. The students were so responsive; there were no barriers between us at all.

Never be arrogant and never underestimate anyone. I was nervous before delivering my first lecture at IIM Ahmedabad the students were older to me. But they listened to me patiently and had no ego hassles. I had a misconceptions about them. I even asked them for suggestions to improve the organization and my managerial skills.

Be humble. When I met Bill Gates some years ago and we spoke for a few minutes, I never expected him to be so humble. He said, I started my company at 20, you started yours at 14, I should be afraid of you!

Be involved and sincere. When I met the president, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, it was because my visa application had been rejected and I had to go to the Young Leaders conference in Islamabad. I felt like I was speaking to my teacher; not the president. He said that he would look into the flaws in our education system, and that we must start a single-window entrepreneurship cell.

Be considerate. The president also said that we should have a school management system by which an SMS would go to parents if their child bunked school. He said that this would be more advisable than have the teacher call out to the defaulter and embarrass him / her in front of everyone.

E. Sarathbabu

E. Sarathbabu - A crorepati who lives in a hut!

His story is an inspiration for millions. A self-made entrepreneur, his mission is to help the poor through job creation. E Sarathbabu hit the headlines after he rejected several high profile job offers from various MNCs after he passed out of IIM, Ahmedabad two years ago.

He instead started a catering business of his own, inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. As a child, he also sold idlis in the slum where he lived. "We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry," says Sarathbabu.

In August 2006, Sarathbabu's entrepreneurial dream came true with Foodking. He had no personal ambition but wanted to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother. The "foodking" still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam in Chennai. Today, Foodking has six units and 200 employees, and the turnover of the company is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it has not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a turnaround in 2007.

How has his experience as a 'Foodking' been in the last two years? Sarathbabu shares the trial and tribulations of an exciting and challenging job in an interview with Shobha Warrier.

A tough beginning
As I am a first generation entrepreneur, the first year was very challenging. I had a loan of Rs 20 lakh by the end of first year. I had no experience in handling people in business, and it was difficult to identify the right people. Though I made losses in the first year, not even once did I regret my decision of not accepting the offers from MNCs and starting an enterprise of my own. I looked at my losses as a learning experience. I was confident that I would be successful one day.

Learning Lessons:

• Entrepreneurship is needed to uplift the poor. It is not easy to be an entrepreneur, especially a first generation entrepreneur.


• There will be lots of challenges in the beginning but you should learn to look for the light at the end of the tunnel.


• Never give up even if there are hurdles. There are many who give up within a week.


• You need determination and a tough mind to cross the initial hurdles.

Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar

Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar (28 May 1903-24 April 1994) was an Indian businessman of Maharashtrian Karade Brahmin family. He was instrumental behind the rapid growth of the Kirloskar Group.

He was the son of Laxmanrao Kirloskar, who established the Kirloskar Group and the township of Kirloskarwadi. He earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.. He was also the first Indian to graduate from MIT.
Shantanurao was a global thinker and an enterprising person who had the courage and the confidence in the potential of his own country even in the pre-independence era. He often said, "Economic preparedness is as vital as military preparedness." He always looked at India as a part of the rest of the world and worked towards making India globally competitive.
After the end of World War II, the Kirloskar Group grew rapidly under the leadership of S. L. Kirloskar. In 1946, he established Kirloskar Electric Company and Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited at Bangalore and Pune respectively. He is credited with developing the manufacture of diesel engine indigenously as an import substitute after India attained independence. He penned an autobiography under the title Cactus and Roses.
He created a business empire that enjoyed one of the highest growth rates in Indian history, a staggering 32,401% growth of assets from 1950-1991. Today, the Kirloskar Group is India's largest Engineering Conglomerate.
In May 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India, released a commemorative postage stamp marking Mr. S.L. Kirloskar's 100th anniversary.
Article on SLK from Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,898274-2,00.html

While a ceremonial fusillade of firecrackers sounded outside, a black-capped Brahmin pandit recited Sanskrit prayers last week in a factory conference hall at Poona, outside Bombay. It was the time of year for worshiping Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, to whom all wise Indian businessmen annually offer their order books for a blessing. With his workers during the ceremony, his feet bare and his forehead glowing with a dot of vermilion, sat Shantanu Laxman Kirloskar, the U.S.-educated head of India's Kirloskar group, a seven-company combine that sells $46 million worth of farm and industrial equipment a year in 42 nations on every continent. Shantanu Kirloskar's respect for ancient rites is matched by his interest in modern and aggressive management. From the ceremonies, he set off on a flying trip to the U.S., Canada and seven Latin American cities to seek new sales outlets for his thriving companies.
Steel Plows for $8.40. The Kirloskar companies not only dominate their field at home (by producing 65% of India's diesel engines, 40% of its centrifugal pumps, 36% of its electric motors), but also symbolize the gradual change in India's old image as a mere exporter of raw materials. Nearly 20% of Kirloskar's diesels are sold abroad, from West Germany to California, and from the West Indies to the Persian Gulf. Kirloskar plants also turn out a neatly complementary array of products that range from air compressors to vertical turret lathes, from sluice valves to torque converters. But Kirloskar is proudest of his contribution to the revolution in farm methods that food-shy India so badly needs. Although four-fifths of the Indian peasant-farmers still use wooden plows, Kirloskar is busy selling them steel ones at enticingly low prices: $8.40 to $24.15. More important, he is persuading many farmers to shift from bullock muscle to diesel engines to pump water for irrigation.
Kirloskar-"S.L." to his friends—is a compact (5 ft. 6 in., 150 Ibs.) man of 61 with bird-bright brown eyes and a penchant for gay-toned bow ties. After graduating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1926, he got his little family-owned motor company to branch out into planters, seeders and harrows, invented a machine that speeded peanut shelling by 600% . Kirloskar has been branching out ever since, often by collaborating with foreign manufacturers. He runs his empire of nine scattered plants and 11,000 workers with a light hand. "I direct by invisible authority," he says. "If things are running right, I don't interfere." He keeps in touch by flying from plant to plant in his private twin-engine Beechcraft, relaxes in his Poona home by listening to Western classical music on a stereo hifi.
Sugar Cane & Cow's Blood. Almost alone among Indian industrial complexes, Kirloskar has no roots in textiles.

Its founder, Shantanu's late father, was a Bombay teacher who began by repairing bicycles and manufacturing plows 60 years ago. So suspicious were Indian farmers about the quality of local ironwork that it took the elder Kirloskar two years and myriad demonstrations to sell his first six plows. What he learned has governed the company's sales approach ever since. Says S. L.: "the farmer is not a fool. He is a businessman. You have to prove things to him." To prove to skeptical farmers that a sugar-cane crusher he invented would extract more juice than old models, Kirloskar borrowed already-crushed cane and extracted plentiful juices from it. Sales soared. Abroad, his salesmen have surmounted even more trying obstacles. Before closing the sale of an engine to an African chief.

Suresh Krishna

Miracle of power that elevates a few men comes out from the application of great ideas. And Suresh Krishna, Chairman and MD, Sundaram Fasteners, is one of those rare individuals whose ideas have redefined growth and success for his group. Krishna, who has worked tirelessly to bring the company to the fore, has also helped the company become a leader in automobiles parts. Born at Madurai in 1936, Krishna received his Bachelor of Science degree from Madras Christian College in 1955 and went to do his MA in literature from the University of Wisconsin. It was only after completing his post-graduate work in literature from the University of Munich, Germany that Krishna embarked on a career of growth and popularity.
An industrious and hard working person, Krishna was instrumental in making Sundaram Fasteners India's largest manufacturer of high tensile fasteners, which find major application in the automobile sector. In fact, more than 70% of SFL's production caters to the specific demands made by the automobile sector, which includes products like cold extruded parts, powder metal parts Iron powder, radiator caps, gear shifters and lots more. And it has to its credit major clients, which include General Motors, Ashok Leyland, Ford Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Delphi Automobiles, Maruti, Cummins Engines, Daimler Benz, Volvo and others. And the person responsible for such rapid expansion of SFL is none but Krishna himself. Believing that the hard work is the stuff the successful businesses are made of, Krishna's innovative ideas and his understanding of the nuances of automobiles business have helped him carving a niche for SFL.
It's no wonder that the company under Krishna is looking forward for further expansion. Recently, the ancillary manufacturer is betting on China and it hopes to enhance its revenue to 25% of total exports. Giving his best shot to SFL, Krishna has helped SFL earn sales revenue of Rs 520 crore, out of which exports accounted for around Rs 100 crore. Krishna, a known name in automobile ancillary, was the president of the Confederation of Engineering Industry during 1987-88 and the chief officiating dignitary of Automotive Component Manufactures Association of India in 1982-84. Krishna's multi-faceted talent does not remain confined to automobile industry but has found expression in various other fields as well.
He was a director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India and has been a member of the Indo-German Consultative Group, jointly set up by the Prime Minister of India and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Krishna, during his decades-long career, has won several accolades. He has been conferred with Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial Peace by XLRI in 1991 and was declared Businessman of the Year, 1995 by the Business India magazine. He was awarded the Qimpro Platinum Standard 1997 for being a role model for quality leadership for corporate India and it was not long back when All India Management Association bestowed upon him the prestigious JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award for the year 2000. With a person like Krishna heading the Sundaram Fasteners, there is no stopping to its growth and expansion.

Keshub Mahindra & Anand Mahindra

J.C. & K.C. Mahindra, the founders of the Mahindra Group, had the same ambition: to prove to themselves and the world that Indians were capable of being the best at whatever they chose to do. Accordingly, they gave up their professional careers at TISCO and Martin Burn respectively, and risked becoming entrepreneurs by setting up their own company: Mahindra & Mahindra.


It was under their inspiring leadership that Mahindra & Mahindra made the first indigenous Jeep in the country in 1949. Their innovative spirit also showed during the days when the Company was the leading importer of steel in the country. J.C. & K.C. Mahindra had to persuade the Indian Government to buy French rails for the fledgling Indian Railways because they felt that the British specifications were obsolete and not the best suited. To convince government officials of the superiority of the French product, they laid down a short length of rail line with French rails and invited the government authorities for a ride. During the journey, chilled champagne was served in glasses filled to the brim. Legend has it that the train raced along, but not a single drop of champagne was spilled, so smooth were the French rails. Needless to say, they made their point.

K.C. Mahindra
Interestingly, J.C. & K.C. Mahindra believed in globalisation decades before it had become a buzzword. Even in the fifties, the Company had British and German engineers on its rolls, and international tie-ups with Mitsubishi, Willys, Perrine and Chrysler. Every venture they set up delivered satisfactory financial results and their company, Mahindra & Mahindra, has grown into one of India's largest corporate groups. Even today the Group is driven by the same vision that drove them then.

Mr. Keshub Mahindra - Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.


Mr. Keshub Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., is a graduate from Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, USA. After joining the Company in 1947, he became the Chairman in 1963. Over five decades, his continuous involvement has enabled the Mahindra Group to reach where it is today.

He is a well-known philanthropist who redefined corporate governance by effectively channelising funds into the social sector. He has contributed immensely to the cause of building ethical corporations in India and is currently a part of numerous prestigious organizations and committees. He was also appointed by the Government of India to serve on a number of Committees including the Sachar Commission on Company Law & MRTP; Central Advisory Council of Industries etc. Today, he is an icon, an inspiring business leader and a distinguished corporate citizen that everyone looks up to.

Mr. Keshub Mahindra is on the Board of Directors of the following organisations:

•
Chairman of Mahindra Holdings & Finance Limited, Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Limited
•
Chairman of the Board of Governors of Mahindra United World College of India
•
Vice-Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd.
•
Chairman of Kema Services (International) Private Ltd.
•
Chairman, Tech Mahindra Foundation
•
Chairman, Mahindra Holdings Limited
•
Director in Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, The Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Limited, United World Colleges (International), Ltd., UK, Rodal Investments Private Limited Pratham-India Education Initiative and Tech Mahindra Foundation.




He is a member of the following organisations & committees:

•
Prime Minister's Council on Trade & Industry, New Delhi
•
Apex Advisory Council - ASSOCHAM
•
Founder Member - Indo-Hellenic Friendship League
•
Founder Member of Governing Council, Integrated Research & Action for Development (IRADe) New Delhi
•
President - Centre for Research in Rural & Industrial Development Society, Chandigarh
•
Chairman, Governing Body, Centre for Research in Rural & Industrial Development, Chandigarh
•
President Emeritus - Employers' Federation of India
•
President of the Governing Council - University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India, New Delhi
•
Hon. Fellow - All India Management Association, New Delhi



Positions held by Mr. Keshub Mahindra: A Timeline

•
1966-67 President of Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry
•
1969-70 President of ASSOCHAM
•
1991-92 President of Indo-American Society
•
1978-95 President of M.V.I.R.D.C. - World Trade Centre
•
1975-85 Chairman of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
•
1971-75 Chairman of Housing & Urban Development Corporation Limited
•
1984-89 Member of the Foundation Board - International Management Institute, Geneva
•
1986-96 Hon. Member, Business Advisory Council - International Finance Corporation, Washington
•
1983-97 Member, International Council - Asia Society, New York
•
1998-2005 Chairman, India Nominating Committee 'Single Nation Programme', Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, USA



Spearheading social causes:

•
Chairman - Mahindra Foundation
•
Chairman, Board of Trustees - Population First
•
Member, Governing Board - United Way of Mumbai
•
Member of the International Advisory Board of University of Pennsylvania, Center for the Advanced Study of India, Philadelphia
•
Vice President - National Society for Clean Cities
•
Chairman and Founder Trustee - Bombay City Policy Research Foundation
•
Member, Governing Board - Bombay First
•
Chairman - Bombay First, Health & Environment Committee
•
Chairman & Trustee - K.C. Mahindra Education Trust
•
Hon. Member - Rotary Club of Bombay
•
Member of the Governing Body of HelpAge India from 2000-2004
•
Member of the Board of Governors of Bharat Shiksha Kosh from 2002-2005



Recipient of the following prestigious awards:

•
1987 Chevalier De La Legion D'honneur
•
1985 Companion - British Institute of Management
•
1972-82 Giants International Business Leadership Award
•
1980 NIF-Mody Enterprises Man of the Year Award
•
1983 Madras Management Association Business Leadership Award
•
1989 Business India - Businessman of the Year, India
•
1990 Honorary Fellowship of All India Management Association
•
1992 Rotary Award for Vocational Excellence
•
1992 Shiromani Award
•
1993 Vikas Jyoti Award for Outstanding Services, Contribution & Achievements
•
1994 FIE Foundation - Rashtra Bhushan Award
•
1994 The Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial Peace - XLRI, Jamshedpur
•
1996 Rotary Vocational Excellence Award in the field of Industry
•
1998 IMC Diamond Jubilee Endowment Trust Award
•
2000 Motorindia Automan Award
•
2000 Dadabhai Naoroji International Award for Excellence & Lifetime Achievement
•
2003 All India Management Association Lifetime Achievement Award for Management
•
2004 Award from Overdrive for Excellence in the Indian Automotive Hall of Pride
•
2004 Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance
•
2005 Qimpro Platinum Standard - Statesman for Quality - Business Award
•
2006 Lakshya Business Visionary Award - NITIE
•
2007 Indian Business School (IBS) Kolkata Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI).
•
2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Anand G. Mahindra

BRIEF CAREER HISTORY OF MR. ANAND G. MAHINDRA
Mr. Anand G. Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., graduated from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Magna cum Laude (High Honours). In 1981 he secured an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts. He returned to India that year and joined Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Ltd (MUSCO), the country's foremost producer of speciality steels, as Executive Assistant to the Finance Director. In 1989 he was appointed President and Deputy Managing Director of the company.

During his stint at MUSCO, he initiated the Mahindra Group's diversification into the new business areas of real estate development and hospitality management.

In the summer of 1991, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., the country's dominant producer of off-road vehicles and agricultural tractors.

He has since been engaged in a comprehensive change programme in Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. to make the company an efficient and aggressive competitor in the new liberalised economic environment in India.

In April 1997, he was appointed Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and in January 2003 given the additional responsibility of Vice Chairman.

Mr. Mahindra was a co-promoter of Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd., which in 2003 was converted into a bank. Kotak Mahindra Bank is one of the foremost private sector banks today.

Mr. Mahindra frequently shares his views and ideas on Indian economy and business through his writings in some of India's leading business magazines.

Mr. Mahindra is the recipient of the following awards:

•
'Knight of the Order of Merit' by the President of the French Republic
•
Rajiv Gandhi Award 2004 for outstanding contribution in the business field
•
2005 Leadership Award from the American India Foundation for his, and the Mahindra Group's commitment to corporate social responsibility
•
Person of the Year 2005 from Auto Monitor
•
CNBC Asia Business Leader Award for the year 2006
•
The Most Inspiring Corporate Leader of the Year 2007 from NDTV Profit.



OTHER ACTIVITIES

Mr. Mahindra is the co-founder of the Harvard Business School Association of India, an association dedicated to the promotion of professional management in India. The association has grown substantially over the years.

He is Past President 2003-04 of the Confederation of Indian Industry and has also been President of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

Mr. Mahindra is a Director of The National Stock Exchange of India Limited appointed under the "Public Representatives" category.

He takes a keen interest in matters related to education and apart from being a Trustee of the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, which provides scholarships to students, he is also on the Board of Governors of the Mahindra United World College of India.

Mr. Mahindra is the Founder Chairman of the Mumbai Festival, which was launched in January 2005. The event was the first comprehensive festival to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of the city.

He is the Co-Chairman of the International Council of the Asia Society, New York.

Mr. Mahindra is a Member of the following organisations:

1.
Harvard Business School - Asia-Pacific Advisory Board
2.
Harvard Business School - Member of the Board of Dean's Advisors
3.
Harvard University Asia Centre - Advisory Committee
4.
Asia Business Council
5.
National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), Government of India - Council and Executive Committee
6.
The Nehru Centre, Mumbai - Executive Committee
7.
National Council of Applied Economic Research
8.
National Institute of Bank Management, Pune - Governing Board

The Mahindra Group is a US $6.7 billion Group and a leading manufacturer of multi-utility vehicles with significant presence in key sectors like automotive, farm equipment, financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components, after-market, IT and infrastructure. Mahindra Group. The company was set up in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed. Later, after the partition of India, Mr. Ghulam Mohammad migrated to Pakistan and became that nation's first finance minister. Hence, the name was changed from Mahindra & Mohammed to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948. Initially set up to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was first known for assembly of the iconic Jeep in India.
The company later branched out into manufacture of light commercial vehicles light commercial vehicles (LCVs)and agricultural tractors agricultural tractors and rapidly grew from being a manufacturer of army vehicles and tractors to an automobile major with a growing global appetite. At present, M&M is the leader in the Utility Vehicle (UV) segment in India, and its flagship UV, the Scorpio (known as the Mahindra Goa in Italy), has carved a distinct niche for itself with its unique combination of rugged utility and style.
By 2005, M&M had become the largest producer of SUVs in India.
Business
Mahindra & Mahindra rapidly grew from being a maker of army vehicles to a major automobile and tractor manufacturer with a growing global appetite. M&M initiated a process of product enhancement and globalization. It made strategic acquisitions of plants in China and the United Kingdom, and has three assembly plants in the USA. M&M has partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA.
M&M made its entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault JV. M&M will make its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with Mahindra International, the joint venture with International Truck, USA.
M&M’s Automotive Sector makes a wide rage of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs and three wheelers. M&M is the largest manufacturer of MUVs, offering over 20 models including new generation multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. The company is a market leader in the Utility Vehicle segment.
M&M's products are being exported to several countries including Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, Sudan and the Middle East. Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc., Mahindra South Africa and Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd.
Mahindra Farm Equipment Sector has come to be recognized as a powerful symbol of productivity and performance. M&M is the third largest tractor company in the world. It is also the largest manufacturer of tractors in India with sustained market leadership of around 25 years. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets tractors as well as farm implements. The Sector has also found significant success in the international market. Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd. manufactures tractors for the growing Chinese market and is a hub for tractor exports to the USA and other western nations. M&M has a 100% subsidiary, Mahindra USA, where it assembles products for the American market. FES received the coveted Deming Application Prize for manufacturing in 2003, for establishing Total Quality Management in all operations. This was followed by the prestigious Japan Quality Medal in 2007, making M&M Ltd. the only tractor company in the world to receive both coveted quality accolades.
Formed in 2004, by M&M, the Systech Sector is a response to the increasingly competitive automotive components industry. Providing an extensive range of services from design to delivery, Systech intends to create the world's most valuable and innovative auto components business by partnering with global customers to satisfy their business needs. Towards this goal, M&M has acquired three international companies in the forging space -- Stokes Forgings in the UK, Jeco Holding AG, and Schöneweiss GmbH in Germany. Most recently, M&M acquired Metalcastello S.p.A., a leading Italian independent gear manufacturer which will augment Systech’s ability to serve its customers from multiple locations i.e. Italy, UK, Germany and India for their auto component needs. It also strengthens the Mahindra Group’s position as a leading auto component player in the global market. This was followed by the acquisition of Engines Engineering S.p.A.which is in the business of two wheels design and developing of motorcycle prototype.Through these acquisitions and by finding value wherever it may be, Mahindra has created the fifth largest forging company in the world.
Mahindra bought Auto Designing co., G.R. Grafica Ricerca Design S.r.l (GRD), an Italian auto designing, feasibility and styling company based out of Turin, Italy to help it increase its presence in overseas markets.
At the recent Delhi auto show, Mahindra executives said the company is pursuing an aggressive product expansion program that will see the launch of several new platforms and vehicles over the next three years, including an entry-level SUV designed to seat five passengers and powered by a small turbodiesel engine. Later in 2008, it will unveil the all-new Ingenio SUV, which will be joined in 2009 by a pickup derivative.
At M&M, business is characterized by a relentless focus on the customer and his needs. Whether it is developing a world-class vehicle or creating a memorable holiday experience, processes are fine tuned to ensure enhanced customer satisfaction and technology is effectively leveraged to create innovative products for the consumer. Today, the company aims to become the most customer-centric corporation in India and eventually the world.
The Group employs over 65,000 people and has several state-of-the-art facilities in India and overseas. The company’s world-class Plant at Nashik, near Mumbai, produces the Scorpio, the Bolero and the Logan passenger car range and boasts of fully equipped manufacturing facilities in the Press Shop, Body Shop, CED Line, Paint Shop and Assembly. The Plant has an annual production capacity of 1.45 lakh/year and has won several awards and accolades since inception. In addition, M&M has one tractor manufacturing plant in China, three assembly plants in the United States and one at Brisbane, Australia.
In early 2008, Mahindra commenced its first overseas CKD operations with the launch of the Mahindra Scorpio in Egypt, in partnership with the Bavarian Auto Group. This was soon followed by assembly facilities in Brazil. Vehicles assembled at the Plant in Bramont, Manaus, include Scorpio Pik Ups in single and double cab pick-up body styles as well as sports utility.
Over the years, Mahindra has transformed itself into a group with a leadership position in all the sectors it operates in and has a growing global footprint. The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has a presence on five continents. Mahindra was honoured with the Bombay Chamber Good Corporate Citizen Award for 2006-07 and the Businessworld FICCI-SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award – 2007. The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its ‘Global 200: The World’s Best Corporate Reputations’ list.
Mahindra is also gearing up to sell the Scorpio SUV and pickup next year in North America, through an independent distributor, Global Vehicles USA, based in Alpharetta, Georgia.