Steel tycoon OP Jindal dies in air crash

Former Haryana CM's son, Surendra Singh, & pilot TS Chauhan too die in the crash.

Om Prakash Jindal, the chairman of the OP Jindal Group and Haryana Power Minister, died today in a helicopter crash near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Jindal, 74, was travelling with three others including the Haryana Agriculture Minister and former Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal's son, Surendra Singh, in a King Cobra helicopter acquired by the OP Jindal group a few months ago.

Jindal was on his way from Chandigarh to Delhi after attending a political meeting when the helicopter developed a snag and crashed around 12:30 pm at Menghi village in Saharanpur district. Jindal and Singh died on the spot.

Two others "" Ved Goyal, a relative of Jindal, and head constable Vinod Kumar "" who were also in the helicopter were injured in the crash. The pilot, TS Chauhan, died on the way to hospital.

The cremation will take place at Hissar tomorrow morning. Jindal had recently won the Haryana Assembly elections from Hissar on an Indian National Congress ticket.

A few days ago, Forbes had ranked Jindal as the 548th richest man on earth and the 12th richest in India with a personal wealth of $1.2 billion in its annual ranking of billionaires.

Calling him a "self-made" billionaire, Forbes had said Jindal "controls the $3 billion (sales) Jindal organisation, a leading steel and power conglomerate".

The OP Jindal Group includes India's largest stainless steel producer Jindal Stainless Ltd, Jindal Iron & Steel Company Ltd, Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd and Saw Pipes Ltd.

Jindal had divided these companies amongst his four sons: Prithviraj was given charge of Saw Pipes, Sajjan was given Jisco and JVSL, Ratan got Jindal Stainless and Navin got JSPL. Each brother was running his business independently, though the companies were all part of the O.P. Jindal Group.

In the last ten years or so, Jindal had taken a backseat and the business was being run by his sons. Meanwhile, his involvement with politics and social welfare started growing.