For Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, the encomiums just keep coming. What's more, the septuagenarian soft-spoken business leader has come to enjoy the aam admi's good wishes especially since he unveiled the 'Nano'. "A promise is a promise," he said at the unveiling of the small car.
The government recognition for the business leader is in keeping with the contribution he has made to the Tata group, with 98 operating companies, and bringing it on the global stage.
Though represented on several government forums, the business house was hard done by vested interests. But, that has not bothered the business statesman, who continues to ply on the road of innovations, and acquisitions. Among other things, he represents the prime minister's investment commission, which is responsible for getting many foreign companies to look at India as a business opportunity.
An award to Lakshmi Mittal may come as a surprise to many. While his steel establishment is situated abroad, what would have endeared him to the establishment is his lobbying skills, especially in East Europe where he made it big before taking on Arcelor. ONGC Videsh's partnership with Mittal under the then oil and petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had to do a lot with this attribute. In the coming years, he plans to establish his steel presence in the East and also take huge exposures in petroleum refineries, real estate and finance.
N R Narayana Murthy is the man who brought entrepreneurship to the centre stage in the country. Listing Infosys on Nasdaq was a first for any Indian company. Having inspired many middle class Indians to aspire and build companies from start-up stage and leading Infosys for 21 years, he now occupies a non-executive role in the company. Last year, some noises were heard that he should be the next president. "Fantastic," was the response from former president APJ Abdul Kalam. Murthy, who has made many Infoscions millionaires, including a few peons and drivers, is known to lead an unpretentious lifestyle.
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Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, P R S Oberoi's father, had dispatched him to travel around the world and savour and experience the world's ritziest hotels.
Since then, P R S, popularly known as Biki, has in a steadfast manner put India and Oberoi on the globe's hospitality map. Many of his hotels now rank among the top five properties in the world. The Oberoi chain has put to shade many iconic and marquee names in the business in terms of style, location and hospitality. Biki is now grooming his son Vikram and nephew Arjun to succeed him.
All eyes are on Vikram Pandit, the new CEO of Citigroup, as he tries to pull off the biggest turnaround in the banking world. Block by block, he's chopping away dead assets, unwieldy manpower and has managed to woo sovereign funds to invest billions of dollars in his troubled bank. For Pandit who hails from Nagpur, the opening up of the banking sector closer home will be an easier task to handle in view of his origins.
Shiv Nadar, called Magnus by his friends, is the chairman and chief strategy officer of HCL Technologies. He founded HCL in 1976 with four colleagues. A native of Moolaipozhi village in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu, he features regularly in the Forbes list of 500 richest people.
Kundapur Vaman Kamath turned sixty in December. Reports suggest he is the favourite to take over the chairman's post from his mentor Narayana Vaghul when the veteran retires this year. Kamath is currently in Davos, attending the global economic summit. But, for the pioneer of universal banking in the country, the mind will be on one of the bank's most audacious moves yet –- listing subsidiary ICICI Securities.
ICICI Bank may have given away the title of the most valuable bank in the country to State Bank of India, but with the restructuring now underway, one can never be too sure. The man, who loves to watch formula-one racing, is in a tearing hurry.
A few days back, Baba Kalyani had a miraculous escape when his helicopter crash landed near his manufacturing plant in Karnataka. For the man who put India's auto component sector and Bharat Forge on the world map the coming days will be challenging. After creating global capacity in high quality forgings and making niche acquisitions his focus in the coming years is entering the lucrative aeronautic segment.
