Jayant Sinha: From private equity to power corridor

Sinha inclusion in Modi's cabinet is reason for cheer for the private equity industry

The private equity industry in India, which is waiting for a revival with 'Modi magic,' has reason to cheer. A leading private equity fund manager has been sworn into into the Modi ministry on Sunday's cabinet expansion.

Jayant Sinha, son of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, got appointed on Sunday with a cabinet berth.

Jayant Sinha, former India head of Omidyar Network, had defeated three-time Congress MLA Saurabh Narain Singh by a margin of 1,59,000 votes from Hazaribagh constituency in Jharkhand in this year's general elections. Yashwant Sinha had vacated Hazaribagh constituency in favour of his elder son - Jayant.

Though other veterans from India Inc such as RBS's India head Meera Sanyal and Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan have joined the political bandwagon, Jayant is the first private equity veteran to contest in Indian elections and achieve a victory. Jayant, 51, had come back to India after an over 20-year service in the US.

Yashwant Sinha's younger son Sumant Sinha, is the former CEO of Suzlon Energy and founder of Renew Power.

"Someone who is qualified and understand the industry well, will be a good candidate in the government. He will be in a better position to understand the issues well with his first hand experiences," Sumant Sinha told Business Standard about his brother.

Jayant, graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, studied at Harvard Business School, has worked with consulting firm McKinsey & Co before joining the Omidyar Network, an investment firm established by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar.