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WELCOME TO THE CLUB The Billionaire Club has been flooded with new entrants this year, with as many as 89 paying the billion rupee admission fee, reports Shobhana Subramanian With the stock markets on a roll, it’s not surprising that the Billionaire Club has been flooded with new entrants this year, with as many as 89 entrepreneurs paying the billion rupee admission fee. The number is way above that in previous years – an indication that India is turning out more successful entrepreneurs, a savvy crop that’s spotting the opportunities and willing to take risks. Many of these entrepreneurs cashed in on the booming equities market last year to list their companies, in the process earning themselves a huge market capitalisation.
But when it comes to television, it’s not the soaps that his channels air, that he’s into. On the contrary, Maran switches on to National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. He also loves to surf the net and reads almost all newspapers and magazines. Maran who recently launched a Tamil daily and has bagged 45 radio licences, says he doesn’t plan growth. “If I did, I would be fixing a limit.So, I’d rather put commas, not full-stops,”he quips.
“We got a good response even though the retail boom hadn’t happened” says the 39 year old, who’s also been dabbling in distribution having picked up rights for films like Chicago, Aviator and Omkara. Today PVR is on its own, having bought out VR’s 40 per cent stake and has 70 screens and also the largest multiplex in Bangalore with eleven screens under a single roof. The target: 250 screens. What wasn’t he taught in management school? “Passion,” he quips.”It works for me. It helps to get all the other Ps in place.”
He also doesn’t miss out on his yoga sessions. He also spends time with the family in Pune. “We live in a joint family of fourteen and though we have separate kitchens, we eat together every night,” says he, adding that he doesn’t mind what his two children – a son and a daughter do in life – after they finish their courses in finance in the UK, where they’re currently studying. Tanti says he’s always been ambitious and that’s why he gave up his textile business to set up his wind power farms in 1991, when he found the power costs were eating into the margins.
Sasken has been rated a top-notch employer possibly because “we give people space and also responsibility”, says Mody, adding that “we’ve created an environment where people can raise queries”. Mody, who’s heavily into philosophy and enjoys reading biographies and literature, believes that it’s the folks closest to customer who know it best, not the people at the top. Sasken, which acquired Botni Hi Tech of Finland recently, has an open office policy and what he loves doing often is to test out some management practice or other.
“The acquisition is working well, says Shetty, adding that though the acquired company was five times the size of Allcargo, there haven’t been any problems. The ardent golfer that he is, Shetty’s eagerly looking forward to the day when he can swing his clubs at the St Andrews course. That’s if he has the time. Meanwhile, he’s not missing out on his trips to Vaishno Devi, Sabarimala and Tirupati, his favourite temples.
Talwar wants to venture into complementary products and accessories and also bring the real estate business into Nitco. “We’re looking to develop housing and commercial property,” he explains. Talwar’s an outdoor person and enjoys playing tennis and right now he’s learning to play golf. When he has the time, he catches up on some fiction.
“We are open to expanding into any region,” says he. Gupta believes there’s money in the internet space too and plans to launch an e-shopping portal for which he’s talking to other portals. The outdoors advertising business, he claims, can also be a moneyspinner. His stock, however, hasn’t done too well since the IPO.
“Not only are we helping these firms with money, we’ve hired a team of professionals from consultancy firms such as BCG and Accenture to help these entrepreneurs with expertise in fields such as recruitment, finance and marketing,” says the ebullient Jhunjhunwala. If
Jhunjhunwala’s successful with his protégés,
next year’s list of new billionaires might be even longer.• HOME Business Standard • October 2006 |
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Take
Sun TV’s Kalanithi Maran, who saw the market for television
viewership opening up way back in 1992 and today has built up an
enviable market share in the four southern states. After a dream
debut on the bourses, Sun TV’s market cap today is Rs 8,496
crore. Maran, a self-made man says no one really inspired him to
get into business. “I just felt there was opportunity, so I
took the plunge,” says he. The 40-year old media baron enjoys
watching Tamil films – his favourite hero is Rajnikanth –
so it’s not surprising that Sun TV owns a huge library of films.
If
Maran spotted the potential in television, Ajay Bijli believed that
people needed to watch films in a better ambiance. Inspired by the
Dolby system in Sterling Cinema, Mumbai, Bijli decided he wanted
to set up a chain of multiplexes. He started off by giving Priya
Cinema in Delhi a makeover and once he had forged an alliance with
Village Roadshows of the US, built India’s first multiplex
in 1997. 
Meet
Tulsi Tanti, a self-made man, who’s also made to the list this
year. He’s not deeply religious but Tulsibhai, as he’s
popularly known, believes there is some ‘energy’ that
helps us all when we’re down. So he makes annual trips to Tirupati
and Vaishno Devi. Tanti is passionately into technology and engineering:
he’s set up seven R&D centres across the world to develop
technology for wind turbines and he doesn’t miss a chance to
read up on the subject. 
Also
into energy saving and management is Suresh Shah, who bought the
ailing Asian Electronics and was paid a million dollars in the bargain.
Shah’s mission is to advise consumers and generators on how
to save electricity. “We also make equipment which will help
consumers,” he explains, adding that some of the equipment
he produced was installed in the Prime Minister’s Office in
May 2006. “I am a philosopher and believe in the karma theory,
says the 62 year old mechanical engineer. Shah loves number crunching
whether it’s for politics or sports. Little wonder that both
his daughters are into finance. The younger one is also a ballet
dancer. “She keeps everyone on their toes,” he says jokingly.
Like
Shah, Rajiv Mody too came back to India after working in Silicon
Valley, where he worked for seven years, writing software used for
designing silicon chips. Mody founded Sasken Technologies which
now focuses exclusively on the telecom vertical. The 48 year old
technology buff manages to hit the gym at least three times a week;
if he doesn’t work out at home. 
Another
entrepreneur in a hurry to grow is Shashi Kiran Shetty. After acquiring
the Belgium-based ECU Line NV for Euro 23 million, Allcargo Global
Logistics is now looking to consolidate its business. Says Shetty,
“Our USP is that we are a one-stop solution for customers being
a multi-modal transport operator. For us customer confidence and
relationships are very important, and bring in repeat business,”
observes the affable 49 -year old, who wants his company to become
one of the leading players in the world.
Vivek
Talwar’s not deeply religious but does say his prayers everyday.
What he is deeply into is product development because he believes
innovation alone can help him grow his tiles business at Nitco Tiles.
“We’re looking to grow at 40-45 per cent a year, if the
market stays this way,” he says, adding that Nitco’s turnover
should cross Rs 1,000 crore in about five years. 
Not
M M Gupta, who prefers newspapers. His favourite newspaper, he says
is his own paper, Dainik Jagran, but the newspaper baron also enjoys
reading the ToI and the HT. As much as he enjoys playing cricket,
billiards and chess. Gupta’s ambitious: he wants to be a media
tycoon – the family’s into television and radio already
and he’s eyeing both an English and Kannada newspaper down
south after having launched an edition in Siliguri last July. 
Talking
of stocks, investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s wealth now officially
stands at around Rs 1,400 crore. That is an estimate of his stake
in listed companies such as Titan. But Jhunjhunwala’s more
interested in start-ups and has become more of private equity player
of late. By his own admission around 20 per cent of his investments
are in unlisted firms which range from a school, a security firm,
a dredging company and a radio station.