Month: July 2018

An immensely successful international business leader who chose to don the role of a public representative as a member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, the man of many shades Dr. Kanwar Deep Singh is richly contributing towards the welfare, growth and prosperity of the nation

A first generation entrepreneur, Dr. Kanwar Deep Singh ventured into the world of business at a young age of 19 as he wanted to chart a unique course for himself. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, he had lot of dreams and a whole lot of conviction and willingness to work hard to realize his dreams despite the fact that he had no background in business,  no Godfather and no money in hand, he ventured forth like an efficient frontrunner and ultimately charted newer territories of success owing to his sheer determination to excel.

Dr. Singh laid the foundation of Alchemist Group in the year 1981 with a borrowed sum of Rupees 20,000 from a bank to initiate a trading business in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. Realizing that to grow to the next level he had to get into the manufacturing business, he launched the first factory of the group in 1988. After casting indelible impressions in the manufacturing sector with sheer hard work and innovative thinking, he set out to expand and explore.

EMBRACING CHANGE WITH OPEN ARMS

Charles Darwin has rightly postulated that it is neither the strongest nor the most intelligent of the species that survives but the one which is most adaptable to change. This theory has proved to be true in case of Dr. Singh who utilized the opportunities, which a liberal environment offered, to the fullest. In the beginning of 1990s, the winds of liberalization had started flowing in India and the economy started opening up – the economic reforms which were kick-started in 1991 brought about expansion of the services sector helped largely by a liberalized investment and trade regime which increased consumer choices and reduced poverty significantly.

Taking advantage of the changing economic scenario, Dr. Singh listed his company on the stock exchange and his organization’s first IPO and listing on Bombay Stock Exchange occurred in 1994. Thus, there was no looking back for Dr. Singh, who kept on expanding the Group by organic growth and also by the way of acquisitions of businesses and today the conglomerate has eleven companies operating in different segments and an asset base of more than 2 billion dollars and more than 10,000 employees.

As Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Alchemist Limited, Dr. Singh has achieved outstanding success whilst forging a reputation of integrity and promotion of fair business practices across a plethora of industries under his Group such as Food processing, Hospitals, Pharmaceuticals, Tea Estates, Aviation, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Hospitality and education.

BUILDING THE NATION

Bent on giving back to the society by serving at the political front, Dr. Singh ventured into the field of politics as he decided to embark on nation-building.” He was inspired by Ms. Mamta Banerjee’s sense of simplicity and her untiring struggle for the upliftment of “Maa, Maati and Maanush,” her honesty and ideals rooted in one’s own identity, own soil and roots and one’s own people – which propelled him to join the Trinamool crusade.

Citing reasons for joining a regional party, he elaborates, “I didn’t want to get lost in a party like the Congress or BJP and sit idle. So I scanned through the regional parties and Trinamool Congress (TMC) came closest to what I wanted. There was instant chemistry and our thoughts gelled.” He was elected to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, in 2010. Regarded as respected and dedicated leader, he was made the head and party in-charge of 13 Northern and North Eastern states of India for All India Trinamool Congress party.

He further elaborates, “Expansion in eastern India is on my radar and I’m targeting West Bengal, Jharkhand and the North-East.” He already operates three tea estates in Darjeelingand two in Assam and intends toopenat least four hospitals in the upcoming years. His deep commitment to public service and industrial reform is quite explicit from his tenure as the Chairman of the Central Advisory Board on Minimum Wages, and as Chairman of the National Meat and Poultry Processing Board when he took adequate steps aimed at revolutionizing the food processing industry.

“i didn’t want to get lost in a party like the congress or bharatiya janata party (bjp) and sit idle.  so i scanned through the regional parties and trinamool congress (tmc) came closest to what i wanted”

A PASSIONATE PROMOTER OF SPORTS

Having completely realized the significance of games and sports and the positive implications they have for a sportsperson’s mind and body, in addition to being a platform for bringing laurels for the nation, Dr. Singh has always encouraged sports. An avid sportsperson himself, he likes to attend sports championships and encourage the emerging talents. His brand, Alchemist Group sponsored the Federation Cup hockey tournament organized by the Indian Hockey Federation in 2013 and he has held the positions of President of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and the Hockey Association of Haryana in the past.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Dr. Singh’s dedicated efforts in the public and professional spheres have been recognized through a number of awards, including the Rashtriya Ratan Award from the Integration and Economic Council of India, the Udyog Ratan Award from the Institute of Economic Study, and the Jewel of India Award from International Solidarity in New York. In view of his excellent business acumen, versatile personality, innovative thinking, exemplary contribution and introduction of an entrepreneurial revolution in India, a renowned and prestigious Accreditation body of UK – ASIC has awarded him with its highest honor of Honorary Lifetime Fellowship. He has also been bestowed with the Doctorate of Business from Anglia Ruskin University, UK in view of his extraordinary leadership, business acumen and strategic management skills.

An inspirational business leader and dedicated social worker, Dr. Singh has relinquished all positions within Alchemist Group of Companies, which  he very passionately established and spearheaded for more than three decades. After creating history in the corporate world with his numerous successful ventures in varied spheres, he has completely dedicated his life to social welfare by bringing about positive social, industrial and economic changes in India. Incessantly working on building the nation, Dr. Singh is a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs and passionate individuals who dream to make a mark for themselves.

Conferred with the Padma Shri Award by the President of India, Mrs Pratibha Patil, Mr Karsanbhai Patel has been quite well-known as an entrepreneur and philanthropist and the Founder of Nirma who has developed it to a stage where it has more than 18,000 employees and a revenue of more than Rs. 7,000 crore

STORY OF PERSEVERANCE

Karsanbhai Patel’s story is one of the most inspiring success stories of businessmen of all eras. Born into a farmer family from north Gujarat, Mr Karsanbhai Patel worked as a lab technician after finishing his B.Sc. in Chemistry. However, with an urge to start a business of his own, he started selling detergent powder, which he both manufactured and packaged in his own backyard in a 10 x 10 ft room in his house. However, he could not afford to resign from his job, and started this detergent powder business in the time left after his office. Initially, it was entirely a one-man show, where he himself used to bicycle through the neighbourhoods selling his handmade detergent packets door to door. He would sell 15 to 20 packets daily while going to his office on his bicycle, which was roughly 15 kms away. As he used to sell his detergent at one-third the price of leading detergents, his business was an instant success.

Within three years, he set up a shop at a small workshop in an Ahmedabad suburb, and thus established the brand Nirma washing powder, which is known as one of the most popular household detergents in many parts of India.

He kept the name of his detergent as Nirma, based on his daughter’s name Nirupama. Though it took him three years to bring his business to a level where he could quit his job, he showed a remarkable spirit of enterprise, and made a successful business. The lack of any such precedence in his family meant that the chances of failure were bigger than the chances of success; however, he quickly established Nirma as a brand in Gujarat and Maharashtra. The level of his success can be gauged by the fact that in 2017 his net worth was USD 3.6 billion.

BUILDING THE NATION

Taking acute interest in education, he has also founded a leading pharmacy college – Nirma Institute of Pharmacy, and a leading engineering college – Nirma Institute of Technology, both of which have grown into leading colleges. Next, he instituted an Institute of Management, and then consolidated the entire structure under the Nirma University of Science and Technology in 2003, which is overseen by the Nirma Education and Research Foundation. He has also started the Nirma Labs education project, through which he trains and incubates entrepreneurs.

Born in 1945 in Mehsana, Gujarat, Mr Patel likes to be low-profile and has been unofficially leading a retired life, leaving his two sons and a son-in-law to manage the show. Mr Rakesh Patel takes care of procurement and logistics, Hiren Patel takes care of marketing and finance, and Kalpesh Patel manages human resources and healthcare – the Nirlife Healthcare. There was a time when his low-price Nirma brand had sparked a detergents war with bigger rivals like Unilever and Procter & Gamble; however, today Nirma is one of the largest producers of soda ash in the world, and is so successful that in 2016 it acquired the Indian operations of the French cement major Lafarge.

Bringing a Ray of Hope to Patients with Critical Condition

Mayank J. Shah is a prominent name in the pharmaceutical industry as a gutsy and energetic leader who has forayed into the pharmaceutical sector as the Director of Biochem Pharmaceutical Industries. This energetic stalwart has made the utmost use of his business acumen to enter into collaboration with the leading international pharma giants from Germany, the UK and Japan to introduce pharmaceutical products that have brought a ray of hope to different patients suffering with critical diseases or disorders and have proved quite effective in their successful treatment, thus establishing the reputation of the Group as a House of Antibiotics among the medical fraternity in India.

This strategic visionary has also been a prominent member of the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association, serving as its honourable secretary for 15 years. A foresighted industrialist, he is quite focused and adopts a hardworking as well as a smart approach to consistently strive for his customers, creating great values through innovation, quality, commitment and customer service building a great bond of trust with them.

Offering Customised Financial Solutions

Following a successful stint in the pharmaceutical industry, this stalwart divested the pharmaceutical business in 2011 and made long-term investments through M J Shah Capital in leading real estate funds, including HDFC, ICICI, Ask, Peninsula, Reliance, IIFL and Indiareit. Shah’s visionary thinking and able guidance has led the Group to successfully venture into the real estate sector with a strong portfolio of residential and commercial projects.
Under his strategic guidance, the Group has four residential real estate projects being developed in Bandra (W), Upper Chembur, Lower Parel and Navi Mumbai of over 50 lakh sq. ft with the objective of providing housing to more than 2000 families by 2022.

Shah and his team of financial experts enable custom-made financial solutions through M J Shah Capital Pvt Ltd in the field of capital markets, corporate finance, commercial real estate & mortgages, infrastructure project & structured finance, and debt capital markets & syndication to empower its customers to follow professional growth plans and carry out value-creating transactions. All these initiatives help the company’s customers by providing them finance for investments in the capital markets offering them the benefit of meeting their liquidity requirements. The SMEs and corporate clients are also benefitted with customized financial solutions to meet their working capital and finance needs, and customers are also benefitted with loans against property, lease rental discounting, commercial property purchase loan and construction finance. Setting his eyes on the emerging opportunities in the infrastructure, core and emerging sectors, Shah has been instrumental in expanding the company’s product portfolio to cover project and structured finance solutions serving the needs of growing mid-market customers around India. To achieve maximum excellence, Shah is committed to designing a unique architecture, and developing and executing an exclusive project, thereby, setting the highest standards of innovation and creativity in the real estate sector for its valued customers.