Indian Heroes : Indian Entrepreneurs/BIOGRAPHIES

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Achievement: Chairman of the Bajaj Group

Rahul Bajaj is the Chairman of the Bajaj Group, which ranks among the top 10 business houses in India. The Bajaj Group has diversified interests ranging from automobiles, home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. Rahul Bajaj is one of India's most distinguished business leaders and internationally respected for his business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit.

Rahul Bajaj is an alumnus of Harvard, St. Stephen's and Cathedral. He took over the reins of Bajaj Group in 1965. Under his stewardship, the turnover of the Bajaj Auto the flagship company has risen from Rs.72 million to Rs.46.16 billion. Rahul Bajaj created one of India's best companies in the difficult days of the licence-permit raj. He established factories at Akurdi and Waluj. In 1980s Bajaj Auto was top scooter producer in India and its Chetak brand had a 10-year waiting period.

The initiation of liberalization in India posed great challenges for Bajaj Auto. Liberalisation brought the threat of cheap imports and FDI from top companies like Honda. Rahul Bajaj became famous as the head of the Bombay Club, which opposed liberalization. The scooter sails plummeted as people were more interested in motorcycles and the rival Hero Honda was a pioneer in it.

The recession and stock market collapse of 2001 hit the company hard and it was predicted that the days of Bajaj Auto were numbered. However, Bajaj Auto re-invented itself, established a world-class factory in Chakan, invested in R&D and came up with Bajaj Pulsar Motorcycle. Bajaj Pulsar is currently a leader in its segment.

Recently, Rahul Bajaj was elected to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra.

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Born: September 16, 1954
Achievement: Founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd; Chosen as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Services in 1999

Ramalinga Raju is one of the pioneers of the Information Technology industry in India. He is the founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

Ramalinga Raju was born on September 16, 1954 in a family of farmers. He did his B. Com from Andhra Loyola College at Vijayawada and subsequently did his MBA from Ohio University, USA. Ramalinga Raju had a stint at Harvard too. He attended the Owner / President course at Harvard.

After returning to India in 1977, Ramalinga Raju moved away from the traditional agriculture business and set up a spinning and weaving mill named Sri Satyam. . Thereafter he shifted to the real estate business and started a construction company called Satyam Constructions. In 1987, Ramalinga Raju founded Satyam Computer Services along with one of his brothers-in-law, DVS Raju. The company went public in 1992. With the launch of Satyam Infoway (Sify) Satyam became one of the first to enter Indian internet service market. Today, Satyam has a global presence and serves 44 Fortune 500 and over 390 multinational corporations.

Ramalinga Raju has won several awards and honors. These include Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Services in 1999, Dataquest IT Man of the Year in 2000, and CNBC's Asian Business Leader - Corporate Citizen of the Year award in 2002.

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Born: December 28, 1937
Achievement: Honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in 2000.

Ratan Tata is presently the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. Ratan Naval Tata is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. He has taken Tata Group to new heights and under his leadership Group's revenues have grown manifold.

Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in Bombay. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1962. Ratan Tata had a short stint with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, California, before returning to India in late 1962. He joined the Tata Group and was assigned to various companies before being appointed director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO) in 1971. Ratan Tata was appointed Chairman of Tata Industries in 1981. He was assigned the task of transforming the company into a Group strategy think-tank, and a promoter of new ventures in high technology businesses.

In 1991, Ratan Tata took over the Chairmanship from JRD Tata. Under him Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors came up with Tata Indica, the first truly Indian car. The car was the brainchild of Ratan Tata.

Ratan Tata was honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in 2000. He was also conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick.

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Born: 1922
Achievement: Founder of Raunaq Group; Elected as a member of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris

Raunaq Singh was one of the earliest entrepreneurs of independent India who made it big. He was the founder of Raunaq group. The Raunaq Group's major companies include Apollo Tyres Ltd, Bharat Gears Ltd, Bharat Steel Tubes Ltd, Raunaq International Ltd, Menarini Raunaq Pharma Ltd, and Raunaq Automotive Components Ltd.

Raunaq Singh was born in 1922. After initial struggle he went on to become a powerful figure in corporate India. At one point of time in his life he could afford only one paisa a day for meals and when he retired his group was employing 9000 people on his payroll.

Raunaq Singh was a great advocate of economic liberalization and globalization of the Indian business. He worked tirelessly to put the Indian industry on the global map. He held several key leadership positions in Industry & Trade Associations. These included President Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), President The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Chairman Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Chairman Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, and President Federation of Indian Export Organization.

Raunaq Singh won several awards for his entrepreneurship. He was often referred as "Mr. Exporter", because of his inclination for exports and export promotion for Indian Industry. Raunaq Singh also won international recognition for his entrepreneurial skills. was elected as a member of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris for a three-year term.

Raunaq Singh died on September 30, 2002.

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Achevement: Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL), India's largest infotech conglomerate

Shiv Nadar is the Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL), India's largest infotech conglomerate. He figures in the Forbes list of Indian billionaires.

Originally hailing from Moolaipozhi Village,Trichendur,Tutocorin District, Tamil Nadu, Shiv Nadar moved to Delhi in 1968. He worked as an engineer with DCM Ltd. But the entrepreneur in Shiv Nadar wanted to set up his own business. Therefore, he along with six of his colleagues launched a firm making office products like copiers.

In late 1970s, when IBM quit India, Shiv Nadar's HCL stepped in to fill the vacuum. In 1982, HCL came out with its first computer. Today, HCL derives 80% of its revenue from computers and office equipment. HCL has also been spreading its global reach. Its Singapore subsidiary, Far East Computers, achieved a breakthrough in imaging technology, which, among other applications, enables computers to read handwritten tax returns.

HCL has adopted innovative practices to achieve growth. In the U.S, a software subsidiary, HCL America, has reaped huge dividends by taking advantage of global time zones. Every morning, the company's Chennai office receives software assignments from the U.S, just after work stops there for the night. A team of Indian engineers, with salaries much lower than those of their American counterparts, complete the jobs and send them back in the evening.

In a short span of time, Shiv Nadar has reached pinnacle of success by his hardwork, vision, and entrepreneurial spirit.

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Achievement: 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.

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Achievement: Chairman of the Sahara Group

Subroto Roy, is the head of the $10bn (£5.5bn) Sahara Group. Sahara Group has interests in banking, aviation, media and housing.

Subroto Roy began his journey in 1978, when he founded Sahara in 1978 with three workers in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh as a small deposits para-banking business. Today, the group has diversified into a giant business conglomerate with interests in housing, entertainment, media and aviation.

Sahara Group presently runs a private airline, entertainment and news television channels, a newspaper, and claims to own some 33,000 acres of real estate across India. It also sponsors the Indian cricket and hockey teams and intends to move into life insurance, housing finance, consumer products, sportswear, and healthcare.

Sahara Group has come up with one of the most prestigious real estate projects in India, namely Amby Valley Project. The project boasts some of the biggest name in Indian entertainment and sports arena as well as some former international Olympic medal winners as its brand ambassadors. Sahara Airline was recently in news for its merger with Jet Airlines. But the deal fell through.

Sahara Group has a huge complex in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The complex is known as Sahara City. Subrato Roy is famous for his flamboyant lifestyle. The wedding of his two sons became talk of the town. The who's who of Indian elite attended it and its expenditure ran into hundreds of crores. Subroto Roy calls himself as the group's "chief guardian".

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Achievement: Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group, India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service provider; IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award from World HRD Congress.

Sunil Mittal can be called as originator of cellular phone revolution in India. He is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group and runs India's largest GSM-based mobile phone service.

Sunil Bharti Mittal's father was an M.P. Sunil did not followed his father's footsteps. After graduating from Punjab University in 1970s, he set up a small bicycle business in Ludhiana in partnership with his friend. By 1979, Sunil Mittal realized that his ambitions could not be fulfilled in Ludhiana, so he moved out to Mumbai from Ludhiana.

He spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1982, Sunil Mittal started a full-fledged business selling portable generators imported from Japan. This gave him a chance to acquaint himself with the nitty-gritty's of marketing and advertising. His business was running smoothly but later on the government banned the import of generators as two Indian companies were awarded licenses to manufacture generators locally.

In 1986, Sunil Bharti Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. Gradually he expanded his business and by early 1990s, Sunil Mittal was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear.

In 1992, when the Indian government was awarding licenses for mobile phone services for the first time, Sunil Mittal clinched Delhi cellular license in collaboration with French telecom group Vivendi. In 1995, Sunil Mittal founded Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Soon, Bharti became the first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti Cellular Limited also rolled out India's first private national as well as international long-distance service under the brand name IndiaOne. In 2001, BCL entered into a joint venture with Singapore Telecom International for a $650-million submarine cable project, India's first ever undersea cable link connecting Chennai in India and Singapore.

Today, Sunil Mittal runs a successful empire with a market capitalization of approximately $ 2 billion and employing over 5,000 people. He has been honored with several awards. Sunil Bharti Mittal was chosen as one of the top entrepreneurs in the world for the year 2000 and amongst 'Stars Of Asia', by 'Business Week'. He also received IT Man of the Year Award 2002 from Dataquest and CEO Of the Year, 2002 Award (World HRD Congress).