J.R.D.

Tata
J.R.D. Tata, in full Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoya Tata, (born July 29, 1904, Paris, France
—died November 29, 1993, Geneva, Switzerland), Indian businessman who expanded
the Tata Group, India’s largest industrial empire. Tata was born into one of India’s wealthiest
families, his mother was French, and he spent much of his childhood in France. As a result,
French was his first language. After studying in France, Japan, and England, He returns to
India to assume his role in the Tata family business in 1925. Established in 1868 by Tata’s
great-grandfather, the Tata Group was one of India’s largest business companies. 'Jeh', or
'JRD' as he was commonly known, came to be regarded as the most famous industrial pioneer
in modern India.
After the death of his father Tata took his place as director of Tata Sons, the group’s flagship
company. In 1938, when Tata took charge as chairman of the Tata Group, he was, at age 34,
the youngest member of the Tata Sons board. J.R.D. Tata was a visionary far ahead of his
time. An industry leader with a deep commitment to India's development, his pioneering
efforts in combining nation-building with business growth were instrumental in conditioning
the thinking of Indian businesses. He was famous for succeeding in business while
maintaining high ethical standards - refusing to bribe politicians or use the black market.
Over the next half-century Tata strengthened existing businesses such as steel, power, and
hotels and drove the group to diversify its interests to include chemicals, automobiles,
pharmaceuticals, financial services, and information technology. When Air India was
nationalized in 1953, Tata was retained as chairman, a position that he held until 1978. In
1991 he stepped down from Tata Sons at age 87; the more than 80 companies
that constituted the Tata Group empire generated approximately $4 billion annually.
Under J R D's chairmanship, the number of companies in the Tata Group grew from 15 to
over 100. Assets of Tata group grew from Rs 620 Million to over Rs 100 Billion. JRD Tata
was one of the most enterprising Indian entrepreneurs.
JRD Tata received a number of awards, including the Padma Vibhushan (1957) and
the United Nations Population Award (1992). In 1992 he received India’s highest civilian
honour, the Bharat Ratna.
In this, JRD was a true leader. He headed the country's largest industrial empire whose
destiny he guided for over half a century. Under his leadership, the Tata group's assets
climbed from Rs 620 million in 1939 to over Rs 1,00,000 million in 1990. Over the years he
helped establish many new enterprises—the number of Tata ventures grew from 13 to around
80, encompassing software, steel, power generation, engineering and hotels, among others.
It is important that leaders fight for the right cause. JRD saw the country's developmental
process as an integral part of business growth. To quote his own words, "No success in
material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its
people".
He inspired the Tata group to become one of the most respectable and successful business
houses in the country.

Dhirubhai Ambani
Dhirubhai Ambani, in full Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, (born December 28, 1932,
Chorwad, gujarat, British India—died July 6, 2002, Mumbai, India), He matriculated from a
college in Gujarat’s Junagadh while staying at a hostel. In his early days, he dreamt of
owning a car or a jeep someday, but as fate would have it, ended up founding India’s most
profitable company and became one of richest persons in the country.
He Indian industrialist who was the founder of Reliance Industries, a giant petrochemicals,
communications, power, and textiles conglomerate that was the biggest exporter in India and
the first privately owned Indian company in the Fortune 500. At the age of 17, he migrated to
the British colony of Aden to join his brother. He started his career as a clerk at A. Besse &
Co., which in the 1950s was the largest transcontinental trading firm. There he learned
trading, accounting, and other business skills. In 1958 returned to Mumbai and started
Reliance Commercial Corporation with a total capital of Rs. 15,000 at an office in Bombay’s
Bharat Bazaar. He began by exporting spices to Aden, where he had developed a network
during his stint at A. Besse & Co and later branched out into imports of polyester yarn.
Ambani began a business trading in spices in the late 1950s, calling
his growing venture Reliance commercial corporation. He soon expanded into other
commodities, following a strategy of offering higher-quality products and accepting smaller
profits than his competitors. His business grew quickly. After deciding that the corporation
had gone as far as it could with commodities, Ambani turned his attention
to synthetic textiles. He made his first venture into backward addition with the opening of the
first Reliance textile mill in 1966. Continuing a policy of backward integration and
diversification, he gradually shaped Reliance into a petrochemicals and later added plastics
and power generation to the company’s businesses.
However, Ambani’s business of importing rayon and nylon yarns and fabrics made a lot of
money in 1970s. In 1977, when banks refused to finance him, Ambani went public with
Reliance Industries, and the rest is history.
In 2000, Reliance commissioned the world's largest grassroots refinery in a record 36
months: the Jamnagar petrochemicals and integrated refinery complex. The
company entered the Infocomm business and brought about a revolution in mobile telephony
in India. In 2005, Reliance made a strategic decision to reorganise its businesses through a
demerger. Power generation and distribution, financial services and telecommunication
services are demerged into separate entities.
Ambani was credited with introducing the stock market to the average investor in India, and
thousands attended the Reliance annual general meetings, which were sometimes held in a
sports stadium, with many more watching on television.
Ambani handed over the day-to-day running of the company to his sons, Mukesh and Anil, in
the mid-1980s but continued to oversee the company until shortly before his death in 2002.
When he breathed his last in 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani he was ranked by Forbes as the
world’s 138th-richest person, with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion.

Aditya Birla
The grandson of the legendary G.D. Birla, Aditya Vikram Birla was one of the most
inspirational and outstanding industrialists that India has ever had. His innovative ideas and
marvelous abilities helped India to expand trade to foreign countries, thereby leaving an
landmark on the corporate landscape. He was one of the first Indian industrialists to set up the
largest multinational empire, thereby creating India’s first truly global corporation. Apart
from carrying forward his grandfather’s legacy, he introduced the concept of “sustainable
(maintaining) livelihood”, wherein he taught people to work and feed themselves and their
families for lifetime rather than simply living on the food given. With this, he not only gained
name and fame amongst the masses but also set an example for other businessmen to learn
from him. With his magnificent and phenomenal efforts to develop his business across India
and overseas, he became the new face of Indian business - professional, modern, and forward
looking.

After Aditya completed his degree course in chemical engineering, he returned to India and
was handed over a part of Birla Company to run. Not to be satisfied with just that, he started
his own textile business with Eastern Spinning Mills that became an instant hit in Kolkata.
With this, he put the company’s sinking rayon and textile business back on track. This was,
however, just the beginning as he showed immense interest and paved the group towards
success with every assignment handed over. Aditya’s next challenge was the expansion of the
group’s oil sector which again was a victorious attempt. However, with Indira Gandhi’s
socialist ideas of preventing foreign trade, importing world-class technology, and expansion
of old plants, Aditya concentrated on Indian rayon with accepting bigger challenges of taking
it worldwide. Instead of moving towards the West, Aditya focused on the east and set up
Indo-Thai Synthetics Company Ltd. in Thailand in 1969, thereby launching the group’s first
overseas company.
After the flying success of Indo-Thai Synthetics Company Ltd., Aditya established P.T.
Elegant Textiles for manufacturing spun yarn in Indonesia in 1973. This was the company’s
first project there. In 1974, he incorporated the group’s Viscose Rayon Staple Fiber as Thai
Rayon in Thailand. In the following year in 1975, the first Indo-Filipino joint venture
producing spun yarn was established with The Indo Phil Group of Companies in The
Philippines. Over the next few years, Aditya launched several more companies and joint
ventures throughout the Southeast. He established Pan Century Edible Oils in Malaysia in
1977, which later became the world’s largest single-location palm oil refinery. In 1978, he
launched the group’s first carbon black company, Thai Carbon Black in Thailand and in
1982, P.T. Indo Bharat Rayon in Indonesia. These were just some efforts that transformed the
Birla Group into a blooming blue-chip company and one of India’s largest business
conglomerates. Aditya, himself became one of India’s foremost businessmen. With immense
profits from overseas joint industrial ventures, Birla Group became the largest multinational
company set up by a resident Indian industrialist. By the 1980s, Aditya had established 19
companies in South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
It was under the dynamic and influential leadership of Aditya Birla that the company was
able to intensify and firm its presence in the core sectors. Even before the word globalization
was included in India’s dictionary, Aditya set up a global business empire, thereby placing
India on the world map in 1969. Under his guidance, the companies were making immense
profits in key sectors of textiles, cement, aluminium, chemicals, fertilizers, fibre, financial
services, sponge iron, software, and petro-refinery. Aditya is said to be highly responsible for
building and improving the country’s commodity business. With the marvellous success of
his Grasim, Hindalco, Indian Rayon, and Indo Gulf Fertilizers, he helped several companies
prosper.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Indian businesswoman
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Kiran Mazumdar, (born March 23,
1953, Banglore, Mysore state (now Bengaluru, Karnataka state), India), Indian
businesswoman who, as chairman and managing director (1978– ) of Biocon India Group, led
a pioneering enterprise that utilized India’s home grown scientific talent to make
breakthroughs in clinical research.
The daughter of a brew master for India-based United Breweries, Mazumdar-Shaw originally
planned to follow in her father’s footsteps. She earned an undergraduate degree in zoology
from Bangalore University in 1973 and a graduate degree in brewing from the University of
Ballarat, Melbourne, in 1975. Upon returning to India, however, she found no companies
willing to offer a brewing job to a woman.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw worked at Kolkata based Jupiter Breweries Limited, as a technical
consultant and at Standard Maltings Corporation, Baroda as a technical manager between
1975 and 1977. Kiran also worked in Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne as a trainee
brewer and at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia as a trainee maltster. She was offered a
position in Scotland. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the former chairperson of the Indian Institute
of Management, Bangalore. Kiran is listed as the 65th most powerful woman in the world by
Forbes.
Instead, she did consulting work for a few years before meeting Leslie Auchincloss, then
owner of an Irish firm, Biocon Biochemicals. Impressed by Mazumdar-Shaw’s drive and
ambition, Auchincloss took her on as a partner in a new venture, Biocon India, which was
launched in 1978 and produced enzymes(chemical/ protein/bacteria/) for alcoholic beverages,
paper, and other products.
Within a year Biocon had become the first Indian company to export enzymes to the United
states and Europe, but progress was slowed as Mazumdar-Shaw continued to
face discrimination. She found it difficult to find employees in India who were willing to
work for a woman. Investors were equally hard to come by, and some vendors refused to do
business with her unless she hired a male manager. Nevertheless, the company had begun to
turn a profit by the time Auchincloss sold his interest in Biocon India to Unilever in
1989. Imperial Chemical Industries bought Unilever’s stake in 1997 but eventually agreed to
sell its shares to Mazumdar-Shaw’s husband, textile executive John Shaw, who subsequently
joined Biocon’s management team.
In 2001 Biocon became the first Indian company to gain the approval of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) for the manufacture of a cholesterol-lowering molecule. The
company subsequently expanded exponentially. Profits jumped more than 42 percent in 2003
alone. After a wildly successful initial public stock offering the following year, Biocon’s
stock-market value skyrocketed, and Mazumdar-Shaw, with a nearly 40 percent stake in the
company, became the richest woman in India. Over the following years, Biocon continued its
trailblazing work, with the testing and development of the world’s first orally
consumed insulin product among its most notable undertakings.
Kiran is listed on the Financial Times’ top 50 women in business list. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
had earlier featured on the lists of the most powerful women in the world at 77th in 2016 &
2017 and 71st positions respectively.
Meanwhile, Mazumdar-Shaw became the recipient of numerous awards. The World
Economic Forum (an international conference for the discussion of world economic, political,
and social development) recognized her as a “Technology Pioneer” in 2000, and Ernst &
Young named her best entrepreneur in the field of health care and life sciences in 2002. She
was honoured as the businesswoman of the year by the Economic Times in 2004. In 2005
Mazumdar-Shaw also received the Padma Bhushan award, one of India’s highest civilian
honours, for her pioneering work in industrial biotechnology.

Karsanbhai Patel
Karsanbhai Patel is an Indian businessman and industrialist who founded the Nirma group.
The company deals in cement, detergents, soaps, and cosmetics. As of 2021, Patel’s net
worth is US$ 3.9 billion. In addition, Patel also founded a leading pharmacy college, Nirma
Institute of Pharmacy, and a leading engineering college. From selling detergent door-to-door
to building Rs. 52,500 crore company.
Karsanbhai Patel was born in 1975 into a farmer family in north Gujarat, India. At the age of
25, he finished his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and worked as a lab technician. Initially,
he worked at the New Cotton Mills in Ahmedabad. Later, at the Geology and Mining
Department of the State Government. Karsanbhai decided to open a detergent business all by
himself.
In 1969, Karsanbhai started selling detergent powder which he manufactured and packed in
his backyard. He cycled through his neighbourhood selling handmade detergent powder door-
to-door. He ran his company all by himself. At just the price of Rs. 3 per kg, his business
became an instant success. Soon, he named the company Nirma, after his daughter. He did all
of this as a side hustle while working at his day job. Finally, Karsanbhai quit his job after
three years and decided to focus on his business full-time. He set up his own detergent shop
in an Ahmedabad suburb.
Soon, Nirma started gaining popularity and become an established company in Gujarat and
Maharashtra. The low price and high quality of the detergent made the company gain instant
success. During that time, the detergent and soap industry was dominated by multinational
corporations with expensive products. Within a decade, Nirma became the largest selling
detergent in India. In 2004, Nirma employed around 14,000 people and became a leading
employer.
Karsanbhai is ranked 30 by Forbes magazine in the list of India’s richest persons. He also got
awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Florida Atlantic University. He received this for his
entrepreneurial achievements. In 2010, he also got the Padma Shri Award by the Government
of India. The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce awarded him with the Outstanding Industrialist
of the 80’s. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Development Council for oils,
soaps and detergents.
With hard work and passion to succeed, we can achieve anything. Karsanbhai was
determined to succeed and did everything he could. Passion powers the hard work,
determination, and creativity that make great accomplishments possible. There is no shortcut
to success. Hard work is the only key to achieving it. It teaches us discipline, dedication, and
determination.
The year 1969 was a turning point in Karsanbhai's career, when a small farmer son and a
qualified Science graduate, Karsanbhai Patel, was trying to mix Soda Ash and few
ingredients to make detergent produce. One fine day, he got the formula right and it was then
that he started producing detergents in the 100sq ft backyard of his home as an after office
business.
A one-man company, Karsanbhai would cycle through the neighborhoods selling handmade
detergent packets door to door at a price of Rs 3 per kg, (one-third the price of leading
detergent brands) and it was his instant success Mantra. Karsanbhai branded his detergent
soap, Nirma, after the name of his daughter. The good quality and low price of the detergent
made a remarkable journey from Karsanbhai 100sq ft backyard to the middle-class house in
India for a great value. Fuelled by housewife-friendly advertisement jingles, Nirma
revolutionized the detergent market, creating an entirely new segment in the market for
detergent powder.
In 1995, Karsanbhai Patel gave a different identity to Nirma when he founded the Nirma
Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad. Thereafter, in April 2003, Nirma University was
established by the first three institutions, under a special act passed by the Gujarat State
Legislative Assembly.
Unit 2
Ekta Kapoor – Balaji Telefilms
Ekta Kapoor is an Indian television producer, joint managing director, film producer, and the
Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms. Ekta Kapoor has bagged many awards and she was
awarded the fourth highest civilian award in India, Padma Shri in 2020. She is among the “50
most powerful women in Asia”. She is a famous female entrepreneur and her company is
having 3 subsidiaries “BOLT Media Limited, ALT Entertainment & Balaji Motion Pictures, ”
Ekta has completed her schooling from Bombay Scottish School, Mahim. She obtains her
degree from Mithibai College.
Kapoor has also created around 130 Indian soap operas. Kapoor has also launched around 35
films and 40 web TV series online through her digital app ALTBalaji under this banner. Ekta
Kapoor has also launched her fashion series with EK Label.
Ekta Kapoor, the "Queen of Indian Television" praised for her ability to present innovative
storytelling and tackle unconventional and socially relevant themes in television productions
has recently added a major achievement to her name. The 51st International Emmy
Directorate Award will be presented to Ekta Kapoor on November 20, 2023, in New York
City for her contributions towards her production house Balaji Telefilms. She has gained an
immense number of followers and audiences throughout India and South Asia who watch her
content and the OTT platform. Under the able leadership of Ekta Kapoor, Bajaji Telefilms
pioneered an entire genre of television content by mastering the art of storytelling through TV
soaps, that became popular not only amongst the masses across the knooks and corners of the
country but also amongst the Indian populace the world over.
India’s satellite television boom Balaji’s shows continued to be channel and TRP drivers for
the entertainment broadcasters. As a creative director Ekta has moved ahead of the times
with rapidly changing television scenario. Facing the digital challenge head-on, she
transformed Balaji into a digital platform launching ALT Balaji an OTT platform that
received 3 million downloads within 5 weeks of its launch, thus becoming a serious
competitor in the space.
Narayan Murthy- Infosys
Narayana Murthy was born in 1946, in Karnataka, India. He acquired a degree in Electrical
Engineering from Mysore University, and later studied Computer Science at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur.
Narayana Murthy received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Mysore and went on to pursue his Masters at the prestigious Indian Institute of
Technology, Kanpur. After completing his education Narayana Murthy went on to work as a
Research Associate at IIM Ahmedabad.
His career progressed and Murthy was appointed as the Chief Systems Programmer at IIM.
Here he worked on India’s first time-sharing computer system. In addition to this, he also
designed and implemented a BASIC interpreter for Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. But
despite achieving this he always had a burning desire to venture into entrepreneurship.
Narayana Murthy’s entry into entrepreneurship was filled with obstacles. However, her father
did not appreciate Murthy’s entrepreneurial plan. He expected Murthy to have a job with a
stable income. During this period Murthy founded a company in Pune called Softronics- an
IT firm for the domestic market. Although this marked his entry into entrepreneurship the
venture did not survive for long. Softronics closed down 1.5 years.
Murthy then joined Patni Computer Systems as General Manager. This allowed him to marry
Sudha Murthy a year later in 1978.
However, Sudha noticed that her husband has now stuck in the corporate world a place he
desperately wanted to get out of. She gave him Rs. 10,000 from her savings and 3 years to
explore his desire for entrepreneurship. She told him not to worry as she would take care of
the household.
In January 1981, Narayana Murthy met with 6 of his software engineering friends at his
apartment to create a company. Hence Infosys Consultants Pvt Ltd. was founded on 2nd July
1981. The company was founded by Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, N. S. Raghavan, S.
Gopalakrishnan, S. D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh, and Ashok Arora. They moved to Pune where all
of them used Murthy’s house as an office.
Finally, Infosys had a breakthrough when they got into a joint venture with Kurt Salmon
Associates. But this too fell apart in 1989. This put Infosys in trouble of shutting down. The
co-founders now had to decide whether to continue or save themselves in case things got
worse. Ashok Arora decided to move out and sold his stake to the other partners. Murthy
gave the same option to the other partners as well but they decided to stick with the
company.
There was no stopping them now as their revenues touched $100 million by 1999. The same
year they also listed on Nasdaq. Today Infosys provides business consulting, information
technology, and outsourcing services. For the financial year 2020-21, Infosys made revenues
of $14 billion with a net profit of $2.7 billion.
The company has over 2.5 lakh employees and is one of the largest IT companies in India
with an MCap of 5,24,106 Cr. Narayan Murthy served as the CEO of Infosys for 21 years
before stepping down in 2002.
He is often referred to as the Father of the IT sector after being described as such by Time
magazine.
Achievements and Honours
 The 'Pathbreaker of the Year' Award, 2014.
 Philanthropist of the Year, 2013.
 25 Greatest Global Indian Living Legends, 2013.
 Hoover Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2012.
 Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India, 2008.
 Officer of the Legion of Honor by the Government of France, 2008.
 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of The Year, 2003.
 Padma Shri by the Government of India, 2000.
 Under his leadership, Infosys became the first Indian company to be listed on the
Nasdaq. It also became the first listed Indian company with revenue of $1 billion a year.

Sanjiv Bajaj- Bajaj finserv

Sanjiv Bajaj, the younger son of Rahul Bajaj, was born on November 2, 1969. He completed
his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune and his M.Sc.
(Manufacturing Systems Engineering) with distinction from the University of Warwick, UK.
He also did his MBA from Harvard Business School, USA.
Sanjiv Bajaj is the Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv Limited, the holding
group company for all the financial service businesses of the Bajaj Group. He is also the
President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2022-23.
He has several awards to his credit including AIMA’s Managing India Award’s Entrepreneur
of the year 2019, ET’s Business Leader of the year 2018, Financial Express’ Best Banker of
the year 2017-18, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the year in 2017 and Transformational
Leader award at the 5th Asia Business Responsibility Summit in 2017. He is also a recipient
of the Business World’s Most Valuable CEOs in India for 2015 & 2016.
Sanjiv is on the board of his group operating companies as the Chairman of Bajaj Finance
Ltd., Maharashtra Scooters Ltd., Bajaj Finserv Asset Management Limited and the two
insurance subsidiaries i.e. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., and Bajaj Allianz
General Insurance Company Ltd. Since 2012, he is the Managing Director of Bajaj Holdings
& Investment Ltd. He is the former Executive Director of Bajaj Auto Ltd., and presently its
non-executive director.
Under his leadership, Bajaj Finserv Limited has emerged as one of India’s leading diversified
financial services companies with solutions across lending, life insurance, general insurance,
and wealth advisory categories. With a consumer-first, digital approach and a culture focused
on excellence through innovative disruption, he has reshaped digital consumer financing in
India.
Today, BFS operates as the financial services holding company of the group, and holds stakes
in three key businesses: Bajaj Finance Ltd (BFL), the non-banking finance company, Bajaj
Allianz General Insurance (Bagic) and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance (Balic). BFS holds 57.5
percent in BFL and 74 percent each in the insurance firms which are joint ventures with
Allianz of Germany.
The fact that a financial services firm was scouting the landscape in Silicon Valley to
understand the ecosystem and also explore opportunities to partner with some fintech
companies is evidence of BFS’s approach. Bajaj says innovation is at the heart of how the
group thinks. Together with innovation, a single-minded focus on sustainable profitability is
what differentiates BFS and its companies from the rest of the pack.
BFS apart, Bajaj is also managing director of Bajaj Holdings and Investments, the group’s
holding company which holds 31.49 percent in BAL and 39.17 percent in BFS. His role there
includes building strategy and team, and guiding this company which has approximately $1
billion in cash and investments.
The focus on profitability also played out when BFL took the decision to move out of
infrastructure lending in 2011, an area which many felt was lucrative when the group entered
the business. Bajaj says while infra lending is a good way to build the book, the number of
lenders makes margins very thin, in good times.
However, Bajaj adds that his idea of long-term profit is also linked in a way to a certain size,
though the latter is not the objective.

Uday Kotak- Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd

Kotak’s family was into trading cotton and other agricultural commodities, with offices in
Shanghai, Mumbai (then Bombay) and Karachi. His father had returned from Karachi to
India after Partition and 60 family members lived on one floor in a large house in Babulnath,
sharing a single kitchen.
Kotak’s first love was cricket, and second, playing the sitar. He is out of both now but he has
not lost his passion for figures. He was a math magician who could see the larger picture
beyond the numbers and topped his university in B. Com.
After finishing his MBA at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Kotak was set to join Hindustan
Unilever (Hindustan Lever then). He was not keen on joining the family business, where he
would have to deal with 14 family members and convince each of them on every decision.
His father persuaded him to set up his own business, offering him a 300 sq. ft office space at
the Navsari Building premises. Kotak started his financial consultancy there at the age of 23.
Rejecting his family's trading business, Uday Kotak started a finance firm in 1985 then went
on to convert it into a bank in 2003. The banks were then offering very little interest to savers
and charging high rates from borrowers, enjoying a huge spread. Kotak sneaked in as an
intermediary, offering cheap money to companies discounting their bills.
Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd (now Kotak Mahindra Bank) applied for a banking licence in
2001, based on January 2001 RBI licensing norms. These norms allowed promoters to hold
40% of paid-up capital in the bank. In 2002, the RBI modified its bank licensing norms to
increase the promoter stake from 40% to 49% of paid-up capital. In 2003, the RBI gave a
banking licence to Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd—the first non-banking finance company
(NBFC) transforming into a bank.
Today, Kotak Mahindra Bank is a one-stop financial shop which does everything from
commercial banking to investment banking, insurance, mutual fund and asset reconstruction.
Its consolidated balance sheet is ₹3.4 trillion and retail loans (including loans given to small
and medium enterprises) constitute 70% of it. Its 1,400 branches serve 14.5 million customers
and the bank is adding half a million new customers every month.
Another interesting feature which distinguishes his bank from others is that it started most of
its subsidiaries with foreign partners and eventually bought them out.
His Kotak Mahindra Bank is now among India's top four banks in the private sector, boosted
by its 2014 acquisition of ING Bank's Indian operations. In June 2020, Kotak sold some
shares to reduce his stake in the bank as mandated by the Reserve Bank of India. In
September, Kotak stepped down as CEO and managing director of the bank, four months
ahead of his retirement. He's now a non-executive director on the board.
His son, Jay Kotak, a Harvard Business School grad, has been working with the bank since
2017.

Unit 3
Sachin Bansal- Flipcart
The Indian startup circuit has witnessed the rise of many successful companies. Amongst
these, the story of Flipkart is more of an inspiration for many people.
Flipkart had to take the long road to success. Initially starting as an online bookstore from a
two-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru, the company has come a long way in becoming one of
the biggest names in the startup circuit. The story of Flipkart and Sachin Bansal has inspired
many entrepreneurs. Hence, Sachin Bansal has become a celebrity in his own right and has
provided the benchmarks for others to follow.
Sachin was born in Chandigarh and was a genius since his initial days. His father was a
business, man and Sachin became a tech geek during his school days at St. Anne’s convent
school. Sachin was a student from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Being a computer science student, his future was bright. This was mainly because during that
era, the technology sector was advancing exponentially. After completing his graduation, he
bagged a job in Techspan and later on, he joined Flipkart.
Flipkart was the Indian e-commerce’s biggest success. With a $16 billion acquisition by
Walmart, the brand became one of its kind. Hence, Flipkart was in the scene to give a tough
competition to Amazon. Initially, Sachin met Binny Bansal in 2005. They both were students
of the same institution IITD. In 2007, they launched a startup named Flipkart. This brand was
introduced to revolutionize the e-commerce sector forever.
Cash has been an indispensable part of the Indian economy. Hence, to attract more
customers, Flipkart founders introduced the Cash on Delivery payment option. This enabled
customers to pay for their purchase in cash upon the doorstep option. Ekart was the logistics
company that came forward to deliver all the products to the customers. Apart from the
introduction Cash on Delivery option, the brand also brought in a 30-day return policy for its
customers. The product falling under the 30-day return policy category were Music, Movies,
Games, Electronics, and Mobiles.
Flipkart under Sachin decided to expand its service. Therefore they adopted a marketplace
model to bring third-party sellers into the frame. This was a decision that changed Flipkart’s
fortune as it was able to sell 100,000 books per day. To attract more customers, the team lead
by Sachin decided to introduce the Next Day Delivery Scheme. Flipkart also started to accept
international cards for online transactions to accept international orders. After taking giant
strides, the company raised $360 million in two rounds successfully.
The story of Sachin Bansal has been an inspirational one. His leadership skills enabled
Flipkart to grow in an environment that was ruled by Amazon. With perfect planning and
execution, his ideas were successfully implemented. Today, Flipkart is a huge company with
massive revenues and thousands of employees. Even though the founders might have left
Flipkart, let us not forget that Flipkart wouldn’t have reached where it is today without the
long term vision of Sachin Bansal and operational skills of Binny Bansal who worked at
making Sachin’s lofty dreams a reality.
Awards and recognition
The Economic Times named him Entrepreneur of the Year for 2012–2013.
Founders debuted at #86 on Forbes’ India Rich List, with a combined net worth of $1.3
billion.
Founders were selected to Time magazine’s annual list of the worlds’ 100 most influential
people in April 2016. At Flipkart, there was no milestone that Sachin didn’t celebrate.
Founder of Paytm: Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm, is a prominent Indian tech entrepreneur and
business mogul responsible for a major responsible for a major transformation in India’s
digital payment landscape. Through his dynamic leadership, he reshaped Paytm from a
mobile content platform into a versatile powerhouse in digital financial services. Sharma’s
forward-thinking and dedication to promoting financial inclusion have cemented his status as
one of India’s most impactful and prosperous entrepreneurs.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is best known as the founder, chairman and managing director of
One97 Communications, the parent company of the iconic consumer brand Paytm. With
his innovative approach to financial technology, Sharma has not only revolutionized the way
India transacts but has also become one of the country’s most prominent and influential
businesses figures.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s journey towards entrepreneurship began in Aligarh, Uttar
Pradesh. He embarked on his college education at the astonishing age of 15 and achieved a
B.Tech degree in engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi
Technological University) when he was just 19 years old.
In 1997, while still a college student, Vijay Sharma founded the website indiasite.net. His
entrepreneurial flair was evident as he successfully sold the website for an impressive sum of
US$1 million within just two years. This early success was an evident to his vision and
ability to identify promising opportunities in the emerging digital landscape.
In 2000, Vijay Sharma founded One97 Communications, a company that initially offered
mobile content services, including news, cricket scores, ringtones, jokes and exam results.
Little did he know that this venture would become the foundation for something much bigger.
In 2010, Sharma launched Paytm, a digital payments and financial services platform
that would change the way India transacted. Paytm’s user-friendly interface and its ability to
facilitate seamless digital transactions quickly gained popularity among Indians. Over time,
Paytm expanded its services to include mobile recharge, bill payments, online shopping and
even financial products like digital wallets and digital banking. The platform’s ease of use
and convenience played a pivotal role in promoting digital financial inclusion across India.
Vijay Sharma is not only a successful entrepreneur but also an angel investor who has
supported numerous tech startups. His contributions to the startup ecosystem have helped
foster innovation and entrepreneurship in India.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma received several awards and recognitions, these are:
Year Awards/ Recognitions
2022 Best Serial Entrepreneur Award
2018 Entrepreneur of the Year
2017 Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people
2016 ET Entrepreneur of the Year
2017 Dataquest IT Man of the Year
2016 Honorary Doctorate from Amity University, Gurgaon
2016 Yash Bharati
2016 Business of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards
2016 NDTV Indian of the Year
2016 Impact Person of the Year
2015 India’s Hottest Business Leader under 40
2015 CEO of the Year

Supam Maheshwari - FirstCry

Supam Maheshwari serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the baby care firm,
FirstCry based in Pune, Maharashtra, India. He is a first-generation entrepreneur who has a
sharp business mindset. He is a brilliant executioner and is well known for his leadership
skills. He first established a company called Brainvisa Technologies, with its co-founder
Amitava Saha. However, the venture was sold and thereafter, he launched FirstCry through
BrainBees. First Cry is bestowed with the Most Popular Online Site award in Child Awards
held in Delhi in 2013. He is also the co-founder of Xpressbees Logistics Service provider.
Supam Maheshwari was born in 1974. He studied at Delhi college of engineering and IIT
from Ahmedabad.
The idea of establishing a baby care brand evolved while finding the right products for his
child. He found that Indian markets are lagging behind in this sector both in terms of quality
and variety. This eventually led him to start his own baby care company, FirstCry.
Supam applied his supreme talent and experience to form a baby and kids products business,
Firstcry in 2010, with Amitava Saha. The company has its presence both in online and offline
mediums. Firstcry has its physical presence in cities like Dehradun, Bhilai, Haridwar,
Bharuch, Kanpur, etc. There is also a FirstCry mobile application and website for people
to buy products online.
Supam Maheshwari is currently the CEO of Firstcry. Under his leadership,
Firstcry acquired a pre-school chain, Oi Playschool. This acquisition marked its first strike
into the educational space. The company has also acquired Baby Oye for INR 362 Crore.
Also, the company launched its own private label called Baby Hug, which is an apparel brand
and Cute Walk, which is a footwear brand. This addition counted for 20% of their revenues.
Firstcry has tied up with 6000 hospitals across the country and they gift the Firstcry box to
the new moms as a congratulating token. It has now become one of the largest online
shopping portals for kids and expecting moms across Asian countries. Firstcry net worth is
estimated to be around USD 300 to 350Million as of 2016. It has raised over USD 125
million in funding from investors.
Supam Maheshwari is a genius and successful businessman who knows where the money is.
He has shown what consistency and determination can give us. There are so many people
who admire Supam Maheshwari for his work.
Policy bazaar- Yashish Dahiya
The story of Policybazaar is seen as inspirational for many reasons. Often, it is so because
the kind of storms it has weathered and come out victorious as a unique, homegrown Indian
brand. This is the story of an eight-year-old boy who found himself to be misfit among
peers but grew up to do truly awe-inspiring things. This is the story of Dahiya and how he
carved a name for himself as a runner at school and an entrepreneur par excellence in the
startup world.
For Policy bazaar insiders and outsiders alike, Yashish Dahiya is a untouchable leader. The
man himself, however, works towards a different agenda. He said, “I genuinely don't do
things to be a leader - I like being free and I assume that others are like me. At Policy
bazaar, managers have more equity than the founders. Our culture is rooted in empathy, the
ability to think about others. Selfish people do not carry on at Policy bazaar - once in a
while, we put others before ourselves.”
 Yashish started his career in 1996 with Illinios Tool Works as a Business Unit Head.
In 2001, he worked as a management consultant with Bain & Co. From 2003 to 2005,
Yashish worked in Ebookers Plc as the Managing Director. In 2005, he founded an insurance
aggregator business called, First Europa and became its CEO. In 2008, he co-founded Policy
bazaar along with Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar (left in 2011).
Yashish Dahiya founded Policy bazaar in 2008 after his first venture which aggregated
insurance companies failed. Dahiya is the Chairman and CEO of PB Fintech, the parent
company of Policy bazaar, Paisa bazaar.
PB Fintech, the parent company of India’s largest insurance aggregator Policy Bazaar, has
finally filed for its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) today, August 2. The company
plans to raise rs. 6017 crore with this issue, which will provide partial exit to Japanese
company Soft Bank.
Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar started PB Fintech (formerly known as
EtechAces Marketing and Consulting) in 2008. The company has three main subsidiaries —
Policy Bazaar, Paisa bazaar and DocPrime.
Some of the highest paid employees of PolicyBzaar (PB Fintech) include the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) Yashish Dahiya who took home over ₹2.80 crore for the year ending March
2021, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Alok Bansal got ₹2.1 crore and Sarbvir Singh for
₹1.48 crore.
Yashish Dahiya started as a businessman who started his entrepreneurial journey with
PolicyBazaar.com in 2008 along with Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar (left in 2011). He is
also known by the name ‘ironman’ for completing the ironman triathlon (which included
back-to-back swimming, cycling, and running) in less than 12 hours.
Yashish Dahiya holds deep knowledge about the consumer financial market in India. His
effective long-term strategies and dedication allowed him to establish his financial services
company, Policy bazaar, as a well-known brand in just 5 years.

Falguni Nayar- Nykaa

Falguni Nayar, founder of beauty startup Nykaa, is one of the richest self-made
entrepreneur in India. Her total net worth is 200Cr USD. Clearly, Nykaa [meaning ‘heroine’
in Sanskrit] is her passion and the enthusiastic workforce is proof that she leads by example.
Falguni Nayar founded Nykaa in 2012 with the vision of building a multi-brand omnichannel
beauty-focused retail business. By empowering customer choices and enabling brands to
reach the breadth and depth of the country, Nykaa has emerged as India’s leading beauty
retailer playing a critical role in developing the beauty market in India. Currently, Nykaa
offers 4,000 beauty, personal care and fashion brands online, and has around 80 retail
stores across the country.
After graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, Falguni started her career in consulting with
A.F. Ferguson & Co. She then spent 18 years at the Kotak Mahindra Bank, wheeling several
businesses and was the Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Investment Bank, and was
director at Kotak Securities – the bank’s institutional equities division. It is quite a
challenging resolution for an individual to resign from their established professional life at
the age of fifty and consider commencing a business from scratch. Falguni Nayar bid farewell
to her well-established profession, only to go back to the drawing board and work for her
entrepreneurship vision, Nykaa. Since then, every bit of her business decision has made her a
worthy name among the list of phenomenal business leaders.
At the end of March 2019, the company had almost double sales that mean, it
estimated 180 dollars. The founder of the company Falguni Nayar has expended the business
and raised 51 million dollars in funding. April 2019, Nykaa received investment 14.4 dollars
from TPG Growth for an undisclosed stake, this deal increased the Nykaa value that has 724
million dollars. Falguni and her family handle over 50% share of this company. Her husband
Sanjay Nayar is the CEO of KKR and country head in India, he has invested in Nykaa in his
personal capacity.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Nykaa creator Falguni Nayar has
become India’s wealthiest self-made woman billionaire, with a net worth of $6.5 billion, after
shares of the company rose as much as 79% when they began trading on November 10.
Nykaa’s parent company, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, is India’s first women-led unicorn to
be listed on the stock market. In 2012, she founded the e-commerce platform, which sells
beauty and personal care goods via a mobile app and website.
Falguni Nayar soon discerned that due to scarcity of resources, beauty was an
underutilized market in India although there are many top beauty courses available for
students. She anticipated an upcoming boom in the Indian beauty market. Her gamble was
worth it and Nykaa is now touching newer heights every day. The company has made
substantial headway since its foundation with its headquarters in Mumbai. Falguni Nayar’s
estimated net worth touched a whopping $743 million and had a profit of INR 2.31 crores in
the financial year 2018-19. Nykaa has since established a stronghold in the e-commerce
platform & retail label. Now it has some 400 brands and offers approximately 40 thousand
products on its official website.
She truly is a source of inspiration to all those women who are forced to believe that
life comes to a full stop after marriage or having children. She is an embodiment of the
saying that women can do anything. Falguni Nayar is an apt example of women
empowerment. She has revolutionized the global cosmetics industry with elegance and
inspired many. We salute your resilience and vision Falguni Nayar!
She has now become the 7th self-made billionaire this week as a result of the
company’s successful initial public offering (IPO). And now, Nayar has some words of
wisdom for those who have founded or are going to create their own business. She is now
pushing more women to rise to positions of authority and equality.
Falguni has received many awards throughout her career. She was awarded the
‘Woman Ahead’ award at the Economic Times Startup Awards 2017. In the last year alone,
recognising her contribution to the Indian beauty industry, Falguni was awarded the
Businesswoman of the Year at the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2019.
She was also listed as one of Asia's Power Businesswomen 2019 by Forbes Asia and named
Businessperson of the Year 2019 by Vogue India. Most recently, she was awarded EY
Entrepreneur of The Year 2019 – Start-up Award by Ernst and Young. She is on the board of
several companies, including ACC, Dabur, Endurance Group and Tata Technologies.
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