CHAPTER 1: THE GREAT INDIAN ENTREPRENEUR

1.1 RONNIE SCREWVALA

Born

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Nationality Indian
Occupation Founder UTV

Group (Now Walt

Disney India), Founder Trustee of

Swades

Foundation,

Founder

of

Unilazer Ventures, Board of Advisor

AIESEC India

Rohinton Soli "Ronnie" Screwvala is an Indian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the
founder and CEO ofUTV Group (UTV Software Communications, Bloomberg UTV, and UTV
Motion Pictures), which was founded in the year 1990. Screwvala was the Managing Director of
Disney- UTV India, Managing Trustee of the Swades Foundation and Founder & Advisor: at
Unilazer Ventures Ltd., (a privately held PE/VC & Business Company). He has also founded
UpGrad (UEducation Pvt. Ltd.), an online education company.

In January 2014, Ronnie exited the company he founded and in the process he also exited media
and entertainment sector.
He has been named on Esquire's List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century
(September 2008) and ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the Time
100 (complied by Time Magazine, 2009). He was also listed amongst 25 Asias Most Powerful
by Fortune Magazine, titled the Jack Warner of India byNewsweek, and named Entrepreneur of
the year by Ernst & Young.
Early life and education
Screwvala was born in Mumbai in a Parsi family. His father was an executive at the British firms
J L Morrison and Smith & Nephew. Screwvala studied at Cathedral and John Connon
School and Sydenham College.
Screwvala also had a keen interest in theatre while in school and acted in professional plays with
Bombay theatre greats like Pearl and Alyque Padamsee. He portrayed the roles of Harold
Happy Loman in Death of a Salesman and Cassio in Othello. Screwvalas theatre career ended
when he stopped going for rehearsals to start his own toothbrush business.

Personal life
Screwvala is married to Zarina Mehta, his second marriage. They live in Breach Candy, South
Mumbai.His first wife's father was Suresh Nanavati, Chairman ofNanavati Hospital in Mumbai
and owner of Western Outdoor Advertising which at the time was one of India's largest postproduction studios.
As of 2015, Ronnie Screwvala is also authoring his book. He announced its title named Dream
With Your Eyes Open. Pre-Orders for the book begin in March with an eventual release date of
April 2. In an interview with Livemint, Screwvala also mentioned the possibility of a TV Show
following the release of the book.

Career
Network
Screwvala started off as a local cable TV operator in Mumbai under the company Network in
1981. At the time when there was only Doordarshan, the state television provider, Network
offered a three-hour video channel showing movies to some homes in Maker Towers in the
affluent Cuffe Parade area of Mumbai. He also started producing advertisements and content for
Doordarshan with serials like Lifeline and Shanti.
United Television Group (UTV)
Screwvala founded the UTV Group in 1990 providing television content to broadcasters. In a
span of less than 2 decades, UTV expanded into broadcasting, gaming, film and other businesses.
The first film produced by his company was Dil Ke Jharoke Main. He also launched
the Hungama Channel in 2004 which was highly successful and become one of the leading
children's television channels in India UTV group became listed on the Indian Stock Exchange in
2005.

UMumba
In 2014, Ronnie Screwvala became the owner of U Mumba - the Mumbai Kabaddi that plays in
the Pro Kabaddi League. They were the runners up in this First year and winner of Pro Kabaddi
League 2015 and Kabaddi has become the second most watched sport in India on TV after
cricket.
Arr
In January 2016, Screwvala promoted an online entertainment content platform called Arr along
with B. Sai Kumar, Ajay Chacko, and Sanjay Ray Chaudhary through their joint-venture digital
media company, UDigital. The subscription- and branded content-based startup produces and
publishes videos, audio series, web series, documentaries, and doodles through its online
channel.However, in April 2016, Screwvala left the venture after which Enam Group acquired
his stake.[

Current ventures
In February 2012, The Walt Disney Co. took over UTV and Ronnie Screwvala stayed on as MD
of the Walt Disney Company India. Then in October 2013, he handed over the reins to
protg Siddharth Roy Kapur and exited the company he had founded, thereby exiting the media
and entertainment sector completely. He is now focusing on private equity on strategic
investments and philanthropy. He already holds a 40 percent stake in INI farms and aims to
produce premium farm products. His e-commerce ventures include zivame.com, a lingerie estore and lenskart (lenskart.com) an eyewear shopping portal and he is in the process of
developing an e-shopping website for furniture as well. He has also forayed into online education
with UpGrad, an online education platform offering new ages courses to working professionals.

Philanthropy
Swades
Screwvala laid the foundation of Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate (SHARE) for rural
development in Maharashtra.
Swades, under his former brand name SHARE, in the last five years has provided 39,000 people
in 139 villages in rural Maharashtra with drinking water. Through Swades, Screwvala sees
empowering communities with choices for themselves and their families, the capability of
transforming their own lives.
On 30 September 2014, Screwvala was awarded the GQ Philanthropist of the Year for his work
with Swades Foundation.
Unilazer Ventures Ltd
Screwvala owns a private equity business called Unilazer Ventures Ltd. Unilazer has invested
in Dogspot, Zivame, Lenskart, Shopclues among others.

UTV
1990 2014 (24 years)Mumbai Area, India
I started my Entrepreneurial journey with Pioneering Cable TV in India way back in 1981. In
1990 we founded UTV that grew to become one of the largest and most diversified Media and
Entertainment entities in India - spanning Television Content, Games, Broadcasting channels and
a Movie Studio. In early 2012 Disney acquired UTV, after many years of actively being invested
in the company. I continued for 2 years thereafter as MD DisneyUTV to complete the transition.

FILMOGRAPHY

Peter Gaya Kaam Se - 2015 ( Hindi )

Star - 2015 ( Hindi )

Season Greetings - 2015 ( Hindi )

7G Rainbow Colony - 2014 ( Hindi )

Anjaan - 2014 ( Tamil )

Raja Natwarlal - 2014 ( Hindi )

Naan Sigappu Manithan - 2014 ( Tamil )

Sigaram Thodu - 2014 ( Tamil )

Ivan Vera Mathiri - 2013 ( Tamil )

Kai Po Che - 2013 ( Hindi )

Race 2 - 2013 ( Hindi )

ABCD - Aadalam Boys Chinnatha Dance - 2013 ( Tamil )

Abcd - Anybody Can Dance - 2013 ( Hindi )

5

Satyagraha - 2013 ( Hindi )

Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana - 2012 ( Hindi )

Alibaba Aur 41 Chor - 2012 ( Hindi )

Rowdy Rathore - 2012 ( Hindi )

Vettai - 2012 ( Tamil )

Hook Ya Crook - 2012 ( Hindi )

Kumki - 2012 ( Tamil )

Barfi - 2012 ( Hindi )

Paan Singh Tomar - 2012 ( Hindi )

Husbands In Goa - 2012 ( Malayalam )

No One Killed Jessica - 2011 ( Hindi )

Thank You - 2011 ( Hindi )

Delhi Belly - 2011 ( Hindi )

ExTerminators - 2010 ( English )

Guzaarish - 2010 ( Hindi )

I Hate Luv Storys - 2010 ( Hindi )

Tees Maar Khan - 2010 ( Hindi )

Udaan - 2010 ( Hindi )

Chance Pe Dance - 2010 ( Hindi )

Whats Your Raashee? - 2009 ( Hindi )

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna - 2009 ( Hindi )

Dev-D - 2009 ( Hindi )

Agyaat - 2009 ( Hindi )

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge - 2009 ( Hindi )

Kaminey - 2009 ( Hindi )

Phir Kabhi - 2009 ( Hindi )

Delhi 6 - 2009 ( Hindi )

Aagey Se Right - 2009 ( Hindi )

Welcome To Sajjanpur - 2008 ( Hindi )

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye - 2008 ( Hindi )

Game On - 2008 ( Hindi )

Aamir - 2008 ( Hindi )

Jodhaa Akbar - 2008 ( Hindi )

Mumbai Meri Jaan - 2008 ( Hindi )

Fashion - 2008 ( Hindi )

Kannamoochi Enada - 2007 ( Tamil )

Hattrick - 2007 ( Hindi )

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal - 2007 ( Hindi )

Life In A Metro - 2007 ( Hindi )

Chup Chup Ke - 2006 ( Hindi )

Khosla Ka Ghosla - 2006 ( Hindi )

Rang De Basanti - 2006 ( Hindi )

D - Underworld - 2005 ( Hindi )

Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh - 2005 ( Hindi )

Awards
Year Award

2007

National

Category

Film Best

Awards

Popular

Film

Film

Entertainment

Providing

Wholesome
Rang

De

Basanti
2007 Filmfare Awards

Best Film

2009

Jodhaa Akbar

2013

Barfi!
7

Rang

2007

2009

De

Basanti
IIFA Awards

Best Film

Jodhaa Akbar

2013

Barfi

Ronnie Screwvala the man who doesnt like to be labelled

Most people would like to take a break after exiting a company they had run for 24 years. But
Ronnie Screwvala is not most people.
The founder of media conglomerate UTV, which he exited in 2014, Ronnie is now busier than
ever he is a startup Co-Founder, Investor, Pro Kabbadi League team owner and, along with
wife Zarina, Founder of a philanthropic foundation. To top it all, this year, he also turned author,
publishing his book Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey. He is doing this
after building and exiting ventures like UTV, Vijay TV, and Hungama in an entrepreneurial
journey that has spanned over three decades.

I didnt move out of media and entertainment to take a break. I moved out of media and
entertainment because it was the right strategy at that point, says Ronnie. He adds that he was
very clear that whatever he would do has to create greater impact. That obviously means I
would have to work that much harder because I was starting from scratch. And Ronnie loves
building things up from scratch.
Dont give up

In the early 1980s, when entrepreneurship was not the cool buzzword that it is today and no one
used the term startup, Ronnie decided to set up something on his own. Those were the days
when only Doordarshan was around and the national channel also had just a few hours of
programming. He set up a local cable TV network that started by providing services to a few
homes in Mumbai. It sounded like such a brilliant idea, but for a year there were no takers for
it, recalls Ronnie. I got my grounding as an entrepreneur in that first year by knocking on more
than thousand doors and making demonstrations.
He says one of the most important lessons he learnt then was believe in your idea. This is
highly relevant for entrepreneurs today. When not even a single person wants to subscribe to
your business, it can be highly crippling, highly demotivating, says Ronnie, who was in his 20s
then. But Ronnie stuck at it, bootstrapped and innovated to build the business. He started
providing cable services to hotels to expand his customer base. He says he removed the option of
shutting down from the whole equation.
I think that makes a big difference. Today, a lot of people question their ideas if there are no
results for three months or if they dont get funding. Either you believe in your idea or you
don't, he says.
The experience of building up his cable TV venture gave him a good foundation for UTV. The
media house, which has interests in television content, games, broadcasting channels and a
movie studio, was bootstrapped for many years.

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Dont startup planning an exit

The successful scaling up of UTV is a well-documented journey. From creating content for other
media houses to having multiple broadcasting channels and producing blockbuster movies like
Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday, Delhi Belly, and No one Killed Jessica, UTV has come a long way.
After its acquisition by Disney in 2012, Ronnie stayed on for about two years as Managing
Director. Despite having many exits to his name, he says he has never planned an exit. I think
most people think you wake up one morning and say I have done this, now I want to exit. Never
happens, says Ronnie. The more I thought (of Disneys offer to buyout UTV) the more it made
sense for the company, it made great sense for all the team members because they could go to the
next level.
This is one of the reasons why he does not like to be called serial entrepreneur. To me serial
means pre-mediated and that to me is flaw, he says. Ronnie says an entrepreneur should never
start a venture with an exit in mind. An exit does not happen because of strategy. It wouldn't
happen because you planned it. It happened because you got a product that you wanted; you had
an open mind.
Second innings
Ronnie set up his venture fund Unilazer around the time Disney acquired UTV as he wanted to
stay involved with startups. However, he says, being just an investor was not in his DNA.
Starting up again was the other option. This time around Ronnie has opted to be a co-founder,
allowing him to focus on multiple interests.
His online education venture, UpGrad, focusses on higher education for working professionals
and is offering a 15-week programme in entrepreneurship. His digital media venture, Arre, will
produce original content in both fiction and non-fiction. He expects both to be nothing less than
market leaders.
He has also set up Unilazer Sports, a sports-marketing firm focussed on kabbadi, football, and
motorsports. Ronnie, through Unilazer Sports, owns pro-Kabbadi League team U Mumba, runs

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football training programme U Dream Football, and will launch the motorsports focussed U
Moto 250 in 2016.
It was his many discussions with young entrepreneurs once he turned investor that led him to
write a book. He realised that the stigma attached to entrepreneurship had not really changed
since the 1980s. People used to say Ronnie couldnt land a job and thats why he became an
entrepreneur. That was not true. That attitude still prevails, says Ronnie. He hopes the book and
his talks with founders will result in more youngsters taking to entrepreneurship. What are
10,000 entrepreneurs among 1.3 billion people? We need 10 million in the next five years to
create an impact, says Ronnie.
Mayank Kumar, one of the Co-Founders at UpGrad, says freshly minted entrepreneurs like him
can learn a lot from Ronnies experience. Mayank says he learnt how to think of long-term scale,
while solving immediate issues. Another learning is the importance of building a brand. Also,
the importance of ignoring the clutter and come to quick decision, says Mayank, who was
earlier Vice President at Bertelsmann India Investments.
As Ronnie gets comfortable in his new innings, what excites and motivates him? Ronnie says
wanting to do something disruptive and impactful keeps him motivated. I was blessed to take up
a hobby and turn it into a profession, and today again I am blessed with the luxury of doing what
I want to do and not what I have to do, says Ronnie.
Ronnies top tips for founders
1.

Raising funding is not the goal; dont benchmark yourself against your ability to raise
investments.

2.

Stick to your idea, give it time, and think innovatively.

3.

Think big and think scale right from the start.

4.

Learn to bootstrap and to do more with less.

5.

Understand your customer well.

6.

Dont plan for an exit when you are starting up. Build for yourself.

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Always wanted to be an entrepreneur, entertainment business

was luck: Ronnie Screwvala

Ronnie Screwvala, one of the most successful media barons who sold his company to Walt
Disney for Rs 2,000 crore, feels the entertainment business was serendipity for him. Media
was serendipity to me. I dont think I had a clear vision that I wanted to be in the media and
entertainment segment. I was clear that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, he said speaking at the
annual Tiecon.
Screwvala sold his stake in UTV to the American entertainment major Walt Disney in a Rs
2,000-crore deal in 2011, and donned multiple hats, including being a venture capital investor,
owning a Kabaddi team. Addressing the summit, Screwvala reminisced his journey which started
with dabbling in theatre. But, fearing a possible persuasion by parents to study accountancy, he
started what turned out to be the countrys first home cable in the tony Cuffe Parade area in south
Bombay in 1981.
After running it for six years, he chanced upon the availability of toothbrush making machines in
Britain and imported them to India. He then entered the media world with a production house
under the brand name UTV, which saw many setbacks. Screwvala recollected how the usage of a
phrase in a show made for public broadcaster Doordarshan offended the parliamentarians.
Though he exited media, he is still bullish about it, saying the industry has potential to grow by
four-times in its revenues if cable TV is brought under some regulatory ambit. There is a
Telegraph Act, theres a Copyright Act, there is now Trai. In all these, cable TV is the only arm
that is not defined, and it is not a legal entity and we still call it an industry here, he wondered.
He said consumers should ideally be paying Rs 400 per month for the content for which they are
paying only Rs 100, which compresses the industry's revenues. Screwvala, who recently started
dabbling in the non-profit sector, also spoke against the foreigners for sermonising Indians about
philanthropy. "We don't really need foreigners to come here and tell us how to be philanthropic. I
think we are an extremely giving country," he said.
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Entrepreneurs don't really need the government, sops and schemes: Ronnie
Screwvala
Jan 17, 2016, 04.00AM IST

By Ronnie Screwvala

Every strong initiative needs an evangelist... and for entrepreneurship in India, our prime
minister donned that mantle very well last evening. Every entrepreneur needs to lead from the
front, inspire thousands to follow her/his vision and think at scale; and so we have a role model
here in PM Modi.

By the way his last disclosure as per the RTI Act said he has never taken a day off since
becoming the PM something all of you looking to start up in India would need to get used to.
Our statistics says India had about 5,000 startups in the last year, but let's face it: we need 1
million first-generation entrepreneurs in the next three years and 10 million in the next seven, for
a county of close to 1.3 billion people. We believe we are an entrepreneurial country and it's in
our DNA, a lot of it coming from the fact that we have a legacy of family businesses, but most of
them have not scaled and the next generation is not looking to take it forward.
Not much has changed from when I decided I wanted to be an entrepreneur more than 30 years
back. It was very tough then. No funding, no VC or PE. Family pressure was to get a good
degree and job and tread the safe path.
I believe we do not need sops from the government nor funding from VCs to jump into the world
of startups; you need to get over your fear of failure. Once we cross that red line, knowing we
will fail not once but 100 times and learn how to get up and go forward that's when we will
be a nation of many million startups.
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Entrepreneurship is about courage and the ability to take risks and then stay with it.
Entrepreneurship is about people and teams and culture. Then comes capital and funding. My
deepest concern of late is the benchmark everyone has: "for starting up I need to be funded." But
if you see the real success stories, they're of people who failed many many times before they
succeeded and the same ones who started with no funding and yet learnt to bootstrap.
As an entrepreneur you do not really need the government or the sops. We need the government
to make it easy to do business and we are heading in the right direction.
For all of you waiting to startup bring your own bugle (or drum or sitar) and running shoes,
set your sights on the peak and settle for nothing else. As a country we have this one more big
chance. The odds are an even 50/50. And remember: it is not just about starting up; it's about
staying the course. Are you ready?
(The writer is founder, Unilazer Ventures)

Ronnie Screwvala: India's Latest Evangelist For Entrepreneurship

(And Failures)
Esha Chhabra ,
CONTRIBUTOR
I write about the growing "industry" of social innovation.
.

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Ronnie Screwvala says India needs more entrepreneurs. But thats been a hard sell in a culture
where parents prize a high-salaried, stable corporate gig instead of the unknown entrepreneurial
journey. So, hes taken it upon himself to sell the latter.
And who better? Screwvala is known for his work in media and storytelling. In 1990, he set out
to build UTV, a media company that spanned TV, film, and gaming. Over the years, UTV took
gambles on films with heart and a social message, thinking beyond formulaic Bollywood films.
In 2012, he sold UTV to Disney. Throughout his media carer, hes been on countless lists
Esquire, Newsweek, Timeas an influential figure. Now, hes using that influence to
evangelize entrepreneurship through his first book, Dream with Your Eyes Open.
I met Ronnie for breakfast in Delhi to discuss his book, his new ventures, and his thoughts on
how to create social change in India.

Esha Chhabra: Why did you write the book?

Ronnie Screwvala: I was moving out of entertainment and media after 20 years. It was a good
transition point when I was meeting a lot of entrepreneurs. Meeting them, I started to look back
to see if the entrepreneurial ecosystem had really changed in the last 20 years.

16

Photo Courtesy of Subject.

Chhabra: And what did you find?

Screwvala: The reality is it hasnt. If India wants to be superpower, were going to have to
harness entrepreneurship in a big way.

Chhabra: Why do you think that is?

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Scerewvala: Not much has changed in the last 20 years for two main reasons. Of course theres a
lot more buzz these days in the media about entrepreneurship but mostly in the e-commerce
space. But India really needs many more entrepreneurs in the other sectors.
People still go for the safety of a good job that perception has to change. Even those who
wanted to take the plunge feel pressure from their families. And then those who do become
entrepreneurs, its more of a plan B. As in, you couldnt land a good job so you decided to start
something of your own.
Entrepreneurship has not been evangelized enough. The acute fear of failure is also really high
here compared to the United States, for example. Thats why 50 percent of my book talks about
failures.

Chhabra: Why did you choose to do a book? Why that medium to take your message forward?
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Screwvala: This is India so you cant really talk to just 100 or 200 people, you have to talk to
millions of people and I thought why not use a book to do so. The book is not a business book or
a difficult read, its a quick read with lots of examples, suitable for everyone.

Chhabra: So how does India get beyond just investing in e-commerce? Where else do you see
opportunities? Manufacturing seems like a daunting task in India given logistics.

Screwvala: You dont have to go into manufacturing. Theres still a lot to explore in service
sectors. Health and technology is massive. As is something like waste management. These
service sectors are huge and open right now.

Chhabra: Are there enough investors in India to support more new entrepreneurs?

Screwvala: Yes. Theres a fair amount of investment capital. Anything more than that would
destroy the environment. Because there are a lot of young people picking up large amounts of
money, that too sometimes young people who shouldnt be getting so much.

Chhabra: After selling UTV to Disney, you became an investor. Do you plan on investing in
more companies?

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Screwvala: I sold UTV to Disney in 2012 and was in a transition period. At that point I could
only make investments at an arms length because I was also running a company full time. I left
in 2014 and within a few weeks I realized that I was a doer not an investor.

Chhabra: What takes up most of your time now?

Screwvala: Since leaving corporate media, most of my day has been spent on building three new
companies, writing the book, and my foundation Swades Foundation that I run with my wife,
Zarina.

Chhabra: Tell us about the companies that youre building.

Screwvala: They are in three different sectors: online education, sports, and digital media.

Chhabra: How did you find co-founders for these companies?

Screwvala: I met alot of people. I needed someone younger who would be very complimentary
to me. There would be things that he or she would bring to the table that I would not and vice
versa. You let serendipity play a role and I spent a lot of time meeting people, one connection
leading to another.

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Chhabra: For your sports enterprise, youre going into some new territory, beyond cricket.
How did that happen?

Screwvala: Ya, so one enterprise is with kabbadi. My wife was having dinner with Anand
Mahindra who mentioned something about setting up something to support kabbadi. She told
Anand that I had been talking about kabbadi for a long time. The next day, we had a call and
agreed to start a program for kabaddi in India. I told Anand though, If were going to do it, lets
do something really mad and out there. [Screwvala owns the Mumbai kabbadi team in Indias
new pro-kabbadi league].
The other two sport ventures include football and motorcross. Were taking 90 kids to Germany
to train with Bundesliga. 50 percent cant afford the training so were giving scholarships. I
spent alot of time talking to the families, trying to get them to understand why this is a good
investment for their kid. The kids have been selected because of their talent from remote corners
of the country. We make money by essentially managing these players for 15 years.
And lastly, motocross, which is tourism meets sport where we offer people the opportunity to
ride motorbikes in beautiful locations in India.

Chhabra: So thats a combination of commercial and social. What about education?

Screwvala: I was very clear that this was one sector that was really neglected. I didnt want to
go into brick and mortar. Rather, I wanted to look at online. My fourth floor neighbor came
over and had a chat. He works for the education giant, Parthenon. He helped me find
entrepreneurs in education. So, were doing online for post-graduation and specialization. Itll
have original content; the technology will be sophisticated, allow for study groups and
interaction. Online is good because it lets you keep your job and learn at the same time.

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Chhabra: Lastly, digital media, which is up your alley.

Screwvala: Yes, this one happened quickly.

Thisll be Vice meets Buzzfeed meets

entertainment. TV18 had a management change and the top management left. I called up
several of them and theyre now co-founders for digital media team. Itll cover everything like a
news site but be more video heavy.

Chhabra: And the rest of your time is spent on your foundation, Swades, which argues for scale
and a holistic approach to development. You didnt want to tackle just one issue you wanted
to do it all. How come?

Screwvala: I spent six months learning about the non-profit sector. I traveled extensively. I
must have met up with something like 400 people in NGOs. And I saw that everything was in
silos. Everything was anecdotal. There wasnt enough quantitative data. And nobody was doing
it at scale. So, my wife and I realized that we wanted to be a foundation that executed. We
didnt want to write a check.

Chhabra: So whats the ultimate goal for Swades?

Srewvala: We want to help lift 1 million people out of poverty every 5 to 6 years. We want to
work at scale. Scale thats my obsession. We have 250 people working with us, most of
whom are embedded in the villages. We want to reverse migration so more people stay in the
rural areas.
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Chhabra: And how will that happen? Whats going to entice them to stay away from the city?

Screwvala: Weve got different projects in place. For water and sanitation, weve put two taps
in every household that provides 365 days of water. Along with attached toilets.
For education, were pushing every person to pass the 10th standard and 50 percent should be in
first class.
For health, were addressing anemia, malnutrition, pre-natal care, and vision.
For livelihood, were creating opportunities by helping them buy cows that can produce milk to
sell. Others are selling sanitary pads, agarbatti [incense sticks], and even exotic mushrooms.

Chhabra: Youve been in the private sector. How do you bring that mentality into Swades,
which is a non-profit?

Screwvala: We run it like a corporation. Changing that culture to a UTV culture from a social
sector culture takes time though.

Chhabra: Some might argue that youre replacing the role of the government by providing these
social services. Do you agree?

Screwvala: No, were a catalyst in most. We have buy-in for each one. For the toilets and
sanitation, were paying 70 percent, the villages are paying 15 percent, and there is a grant thats
covering the remaining 15 percent. The locals have their skin in the game.
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Chhabra: If youre so keen on producing social change, have you ever thought about getting
deeper into impact investing where profit and social impact meet? What do you think of that
rising sector?

Screwvala: I personally dont think subsidized profit is going to work. Either its for-profit or
not-for-profit. India is a place where you need to talk about scale. Everything has impact. A 22year-old guy said to me at a talk about impact, Sir you were in media. Thats the highest impact
sector. That was very telling.

THE GREAT INDIAN ENTREPRENUER

1.2 LAKSHMI NARAYAN MITTAL

24

Name

Lakshmi Narayan Mittal

Born on

15 June 1950

Place of Birth

Sadalpur, Rajasthan,India

Ethnicity

Marwari

Educated from

St.Xavier's College,Calcutta

Position

Chairman & Executive Officer ArcelorMittal, Owner of Karrick Limited, Co-ow

Valued at

US $ 13.6 Billion

Married to

Usha Mittal

Father of

Vanisha Mittal Aditya Mittal

Awards Won

Padma Vibhushan

About Lakshmi Narayan Mittal

Until 1960's, the village Lakshmi Mittal was born into was deprived of basic amenities like
electricity, water etc. His family then moved to Calcutta in West Bengal, where his father Mohan

25

Lal Mittal set up a small steel plant. He has two siblings (brothers), Pramod and Vinod Mittal,
who run the family business.
Personal Background of Lakshmi Narayan Mittal
In Calcutta, Mittal studied business and accounting at the reputed St. Xavier's College. After
classes, he used to work with his father in the family steel mill. He graduated as Bachelor of
Commerce

in

accounting

and

business

with

first

class

distinction.

He is married to Usha Mittal, who was, then, the daughter of a well settled moneylender. Today,
she

handles

the

Indonesian

business.

They have two children, Vanisha and Aditya Mittal, who are members of the Board of Directors
of Mittal Steels. Lakshmi is known for spending extravagantly on his family. His daughter's
marriage

was

five

day

event,

which

cost

him

more

than

$55

million.

Virtues

He is an active philanthropist.

Mittal Champion trust was set up with US $ 9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with
world-beating potential.

A CSR system has also been set up to produce safe sustainable steel.
An astute businessman, with a knack of calculating risks to his own advantage, he has practically
made his mark in the world.
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal's Career

His first step towards reaching the billionaire club, took place in the early seventies, when
he started working in his father's steel firm. In 1976, he moved to Indonesia, on the realization
of the fact that opportunities for higher growth were limited to him in India.There, with his
father's backing, he found a steel plant, Ispat Indo and made this company a success.

A shrewd businessman, his success has largely been built on buying up loss making state
owned firms and turning their fortunes around.

26

In 1989, he turned a government owned firm that was making a loss of $1 million a day,
in Trinidad and Tobago, into a profitable business. It was a situation, where US consultants and
German experts had failed to find any solution.

With the similar strategy, he went ahead acquiring various firms all over the world,
proving every risk worth its effort.

His list of acquisitions is a lengthy catalogue, including

1.

Sircasta: Mexico's third largest steel producer, in 1992,

2.

Steel Blast furnace plant, owned by the state in Kazakhastan,

3.

Steel plant in Europe,Germany in 1995, along with the formation of two new
companies Ispat international Ltd and Ispat Shipping to assist the group.

Meanwhile, in 1994, a partition in the family business transferred all its foreign business under
Ispat International.

Awards and Achievements won by Lakshmi Narayan Mittal

Once ranked as the richest man in United Kingdom (in 2011), and the sixth richest in the world,
with a personal wealth of US $31.1 billion, today his wealth has come down to $16 billion and
his rank has dropped to 82nd place in March 2015. He has won many awards to his credit, and is
a member of many prestigious groups of societies.

2007, he won the Padma Vibhushan , by the President of India.

Fellowship of King's college, London.

Grand Cross of Civil Merit, by Government of Spain.

2004, Entrepreneur of the year, by Wall Street Journal.

European businessman of the year, Forbes

Times magazine, named him in their list of ''100 most influential people of the world".
ArcelorMittal- Company Profile

It was in the year 2004, when Mittal steel was formed through the merger of Ispat
International and LNM holdings.

During the same period, Ispat International also merged with International Steel Group
Inc.
27

ISG was an Ohio based company, which became the world's largest steel producer, with a
net worth over $22 billion.

Mittal's steel empire stretches over 14 countries of the world.

In 2006, after major negotiations and oppositions, Mittal Steels took over European Steel
giant Arselor for $33 billion, becoming the world's largest 100 million tonne steel entity. This
merged entity was called, Arcelor Mittal, with the family owning 43.6 share of the group.

Apart from the mainstream steel business, they have diversified into shipping, coal,
power, oil enterprises.
Problems Faced by Arcelor Mittal

In 2001, Mittal Steel had to close down on the Irish Steel plant. It led to a lot of criticism,
as it left 400 people redundant and affected the concerned environment.

2002, 'The Mittal affair, exposed links between UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and
Lakshmi Mittal. Mittal's LNM steel company, sought Blair's aid in its bid to purchase steel
industry in the state of Romania. Blair, on his part, wrote a letter to the Romanian government,
hinting that the privatization of the firm and it's sale to Mittal might help them smooth their way
into the European union.

Apart from this, multiple fatalities in his mines have raised questions about safety
conditions. He has also been accused of 'slave labour'.

Early life and career

Mittal studied at Shri Daulatram Nopany Vidyalaya from 1957 to 1964. He graduated
from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, with a B.Com degree in first class from the University of
Calcutta. His father, Mohan Lal Mittal, ran a steel business, Nippon Denro Ispat. In 1976, due to
the curb of steel production by the Indian government, the 26-year-old Mittal opened his first
steel factory PT Ispat Indo in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. Until the 1990s, the family's main
assets in India were a cold-rolling mill for sheet steels in Nagpur and an alloy steels plant
near Pune. Today, the family business, including a large integrated steel plant nearMumbai, is run
by his younger brothers Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal, but Lakshmi has no connection with it.

28

Social Benefit
Sports
After witnessing India win only one medal, bronze, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and one
medal, silver, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Mittal decided to set upMittal Champions
Trust with $9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential. In 2008, Mittal
awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs. 1.5 Crore (Rs. 15 million), for getting India its first individual
Olympic gold medal in shooting. Arcelor Mittal Also financed the construction of ArcelorMittal
Orbit for 2012 Summer Olympics.[citation needed]
For Comic Relief he matched the money raised (~1 million) on the celebrity special BBC
programme, The Apprentice.[citation needed]
Education
In 2003, the Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal Foundation and the Government of
Rajasthan partnered together to establish a university, the LNM Institute of Information
Technology (LNMIIT) in Jaipur as an autonomous non-profit organization.[citation needed]
In 2009, the Foundation along with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan founded the Usha Lakshmi Mittal
Institute of Management in New Delhi
SNDT Women's University renamed the Institute of Technology for Women (ITW) as Usha
Mittal Institute of Technology after a large donation from the Lakshmi Niwas Mittal Foundation.
[citation needed]

Medical
In 2008 the Mittals made a donation of 15 million to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London,
the largest private contribution the hospital had ever received. The donation was used to help
fund their new facility, the Mittal Children's Medical Centre.
Criticism and allegations
PHS
Mittal successfully employed Marek Dochnal's consultancy to influence Polish officials in the
privatization of PHS steel group, which was Poland's largest. Dochnal was later arrested for
bribing Polish officials on behalf of Russian agents in a separate affair.
29

In 2007, the Polish government said it wanted to renegotiate the 2004 sale to Arcelor Mittal.
Slave-labour allegations and questionable safety records
Employees of Mittal have accused him of "slave labour" conditions after multiple fatalities in his
mines. During December 2004, twenty-three miners died in explosions in his mines
in Kazakhstan caused by faulty gas detectors.
The Mittal Affair: "Cash for Influence"
In 2002 Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price obtained a letter written by Tony Blair to the Romanian
Government in support of Mittal's LNM steel company, which was in the process of bidding to
buy Romania's state-owned steel industry. This revelation caused controversy, because Mittal
had given 125,000 to the BritishLabour Party the previous year. Although Blair defended his
letter as simply "celebrating the success" of a British company, he was criticised because LNM
was registered in the Dutch Antilles and employed less than 1% of its workforce in the
UK. LNM was a "major global competitor of Britain's own struggling steel industry".
Blair's letter hinted that the privatisation of the firm and sale to Mittal might help smooth the way
for Romania's entry into the European Union. It also had a passage, removed just prior to Blair's
signing of it, describing Mittal as "a friend".
Queens Park Rangers
Mittal

had

emerged

as

leading

contender

to

buy

and

sell Barclays

Premiership clubs Wigan and Everton. However, on 20 December 2007 it was announced that
the Mittal family had purchased a 20 percent shareholding in Queens Park Rangers football
club joining Flavio Briatore and Mittal's friend Bernie Ecclestone. As part of the investment
Mittal's son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, took a place on the board of directors. The combined
investment in the struggling club sparked suggestions that Mittal might be looking to join the
growing ranks of wealthy individuals investing heavily in English football and emulating similar
benefactors such as Roman Abramovich.
On 19 February 2010, Briatore resigned as QPR chairman, and sold further shares in the club to
Ecclestone, making Ecclestone the single largest shareholder.
Environmental damage

30

Mittal purchased the Irish Steel plant based in Cork, Ireland, from the government for a nominal
fee of 1 million. Three years later, in 2001, it was closed, leaving 400 people redundant.
Subsequent environmental issues at the site have been a cause for criticism. The government
tried to sue in the High Court to have him pay for the clean-up of Cork Harbour but failed. The
clean up was expected to cost 70 million.
Rumour
In 2014, Mittal denied that there was any truth in the rumour that he made a bid to buy
"Blencathra" mountain lying in Northern fells mountain range in Britain's Lake district.
Personal life

Mittal's residence, 1819, Kensington Palace Gardens, London.

Mittal was born on 15 June 1950 in Sadulpur, Rajasthan. He is married to Usha Mittal. They
have a son Aditya Mittal and a daughter Vanisha Mittal.
Lakshmi Mittal has two brothers, Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal, and a sister, Seema Lohia,
who married Indonesianbusinessman, Sri Prakash Lohia.
His residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardenswhich was purchased from Formula
One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for 67 million (US$128 million)made it the world's most
expensive house at the time.[38] The house is decorated with marble taken from the
same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal. The extravagant show of wealth has been referred to as
the "Taj Mittal". It has 12 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and parking for 20 cars. He is
a lacto-vegetarian.
Mittal bought No. 9A Palace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerly the Philippines Embassy, for
70 million in 2008 for his daughter Vanisha Mittal who is married to Amit Bhatia, a
31

businessman and philanthropist. Mittal threw a lavish "vegetarian reception" for Vanisha in
the Palace of Versailles, France.
Mittal owns three prime properties collectively worth 500 million on "Billionaire's Row" at
Kensington Palace Gardens.
In 2005 he also bought a colonial bungalow for $30 million at No. 22, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
Road, New Delhi, one of the most exclusive streets in India, occupied by embassies and
billionaires, and rebuilt it as a house.
In December 2013, Mittal's niece Shrishti Mittal got married in a three-day celebration that is
said to have brought Barcelona to a standstill and cost up to 50m. Some 200 butlers, cooks and
secretaries were reportedly flown into Spain from India and Thailand while the 500 guests were
made to sign confidentiality agreements.
Personal wealth
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2016, Mittal and his family had an estimated
personal net

worth of GB7.12 billion, a

decrease

of

$2.08 billion

on

the

previous

year. Meanwhile, in 2016 Forbes magazine's annual billionaires list assessed estimated Mittal's
wealth in 2016 at as the 135th wealthiest billionaire with a net worth of US$8.4 billion. Mittal's
net

worth peaked

in 2008, assessed by The Sunday Times at GB27.70 billion, and

by Forbes at US$45.0 billion, and rated as the 4th wealthiest individual in the world.

Wealth rankings

Year

Sunday

Times Forbes

Rich List

The World's Billionaires

32

Ran

Net

(GB) bn

worth

2005

Rank

Net
(US$) bn

$25.00

2006

14.88

$23.50

2007

19.25

$32.00

2008

27.70

$45.00

2009

10.80

$19.30

2010

22.45

28.70

2011

17.50

$31.10

2012

12.70

21

$20.70

2013

10.00

41

$16.50

2014

10.25

52

$13.70

2015

9.20

82

$13.50

2016

11

7.12

135

$8.40

Legend

33

worth

Icon

Description

Has not changed from the previous year's list

Has increased from the previous year's list

Has decreased from the previous year's list

Awards and honours

Year of Award or
Honour

2008

2007

2004

2004

Name of Award or Honour

Forbes Lifetime Achievement

Award

Fellowship

Awarding Organization

Forbes

King's College London

European Businessman of the

Year

Entrepreneur of the Year

34

Forbes

Wall Street Journal

2004

1996

8th honorary Willy Korf Steel American Metal Market and World
Vision Award

Steel Dynamics

Steel Maker of the Year

New Steel

Lakshmi Mittal wins Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award

AGENCIES Sep 8, 2008, 07.36pm IST
NEW YORK: Lakshmi Mittal, the London-based NRI steel tycoon, is being conferred the Forbes
Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest recognition of global business success bestowed by the
US business magazine for what it calls "a hero of entrepreneurial capitalism".
35

Mittal is set to get the award Monday night at Forbes Global CEO Conference 2008, being held
in Singapore and expected to be attended by over 400 business leaders. Speakers at the three-day
conference include quite a few Indians and NRIs.

Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, earlier named by Forbes as the fourth richest man in
the world with a net worth of $45 billion, will receive the third Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime
Achievement Award from Steve Forbes, chairman-CEO and editor-in-chief of the magazine,
known for billionaire lists, the magazine's statement said.
The award is named after Steve Forbes's father, who was the magazine's publisher.
Born in Churu district of Rajasthan, Mittal, who turned 58 Sep 2, entered the steel business in
1976. He later acquired numerous steel companies around the world. Mittal Steel was merged
with Arcelor in 2006 to form ArcelorMittal, which became the largest steel company in the
world.
Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong-based chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison
Whampoa, a diversified group, was the winner of the inaugural Forbes Lifetime Achievement
Award in 2006.
The Forbes CEO conference this year has the theme: "The Winning Hand". It is scheduled to
discuss strategies in dealing with global uncertainties and issues such as the rise of India and
China, US presidential polls, real estate, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Billed Indian speakers at the conference include S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO and managing director
of Infosys Technologies, TCS CEO and managing director S. Ramadorai, and Suzlon Energy
chairman and managing director Tulsi Tanti. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will
deliver the keynote address.

The six wealthiest Indians on the planet

POULOMI DAS0AUG 17, 2016, 02.33 PM
36

Let's get this out- India is a land of extremes. On one hand, the country witnesses extreme
poverty- even while the world became poorer by $70 billion, according to Forbes. But, on the
other hand, the country also houses some of the wealthiest persons on the planet.
Business Insider lists down the six richest Indians, as of 2016.
1. Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani's dominance in the list is hardly a surprise- infact it's an obvious fact by now.
With a net worth of $19.3 billion, Ambani senior is the richest Indian in the planet as of now.
He's left behind brother Anil Ambani way way behind.
2. Dilip Shanghvi
Dilip Shanghvi, the founder and managing director of Sun Pharmaceuticals is the second
wealthiest Indian on the plant with a combined net worth of $17.3 billion- even after his assets
dwindling by $3.3 billion.
3. Azim Premji
Wipro's Azim Premji ranks third on this list with a net worth of $15 billion.
4. Shiv Nadar
The founder and chairman of HCL, Shiv Nadar is the fourth richest Indian with a net worth of
$11.9 billion.
5. Cyrus Poonawala
The colourful Cyrus Poonawala, patriach of the Poonawal Group's net worth of $8.5 billion
makes him the fifth richest Indian on the planet.

6, Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Mittal, who once used to enjoy the honour of being the richest Indian in India has now
slipped to the sixth spot with a net worth of $8.4 billion.
37

Anand Mahindra, Lakshmi Mittal among world's greatest leaders.

PTI Mar 21, 2014, 01.49AM IST

NEW YORK: Indian business honchos Anand Mahindra andLakshmi Mittal are among the
world's 50 greatest leaders, according to Fortune magazine.
The list of leaders, which includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama
and Pope Francis, through their leadership are "energizing" their followers and making the world
better, it said.

38

"The World's 50 Greatest Leaders list out today is topped by the 77-year old Pope, who has in
just over a year electrified the church and attracted legions of non-Catholic admirers by
energetically setting a new direction.
"In an era that feels starved for leadership, we've found men and women who will inspire you -some famous, others little known, all of them energizing their followers and making the world
better," Fortune said.
The Pope, who has washed the feet of a female Muslim prisoner, created a group of eight
cardinals to advise him on reform, which a church historian calls the "most important step in the
history of the church for the past 10 centuries.
On the 40th spot is Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra and Mahindra group.
"A third-generation corporate aristocrat, Mahindra has aggressively expanded the big
conglomerate through acquisitions in autos, computer services, aeronautics, and more, while
maintaining the company's standing as one of India's most sought-after employers.
The company remains well regarded in Indian society as he has reinforced a policy of integrity in
a notoriously corrupt environment," Fortune said of the 58-year old business leader.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal secured the 48th rank. The CEO of ArcelorMittal created the
world's largest steelmaker by "pursuing a decades-long, impossibly audacious plan of
consolidation -- working with governments, powerful labor unions, and other constituencies to
rewrite the rules of the old steel industry in tough times."
The list features Indian-origin engineer Arati Prabhakar, 55 who heads the United States Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
"Running the military's technology innovation lab in the middle of the austerity era is no easy
task. But Prabhakar, who first led a major federal office when she was only 34 and later spent

39

time as a venture capitalist, is meeting the challenge with an outsider's enthusiasm," Fortune said
of Prabhakar, who is ranked 45th.
The list includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet,
former US President Bill Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, actress Angelina Jolie, Starbucks CEO
Howard Schultz and girls' education activist Malala Yousafzai.

40