Innholdsfortegnelse for November 1, 2021 i India Today

Speaking at the India Today Conclave earlier this month, writer-journalist Thomas Friedman underlined the relativity of power. Mother Nature, he said, was the mother of all superpowers. It is hard to argue with that when you see the world’s sole great power, with an arsenal capable of destroying the Earth 10 times over, brought to its knees by a simple globetrotting virus. The pandemic has disrupted human lives across the world, like no other event in recent history. It has proved that power is ephemeral. For a second year running, it has brought a churn in the INDIA TODAY power list. Our annual exercise profiles people who wield power in areas beyond their own and who have an outsized impact on our lives. Their clout is a result of factors…

• Highest number of covid test and vaccination in the country • First rank in PM Kisan Sammon Nidhi Yojana • For the 4th consecutive year, Number 1 in government purchase from gem portal • Highest in sugarcane, ethanol, sugar and sanitizer production • Maximum 4143 units established under PM rojgar srijan karykram • Free of cost power connection to 1.38 crore houses under saubhagya scheme • Number one in food grain, wheat, potato, mango and milk production • On the top position in the country by giving permission and construction of more than 42 lakh houses under PM aawas Yojana • 1.67 crore eligible families got free of cost LPG connection under Ujjwala scheme • First state in the country to establish women help desk in all police stations…

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL, 63 Chairman, Bharti Enterprises BECAUSE in a year that saw major telcos, such as Vodafone Idea, struggle for survival, Bharti Airtel took market leader Reliance Jio head on, adding 3.8 million subscribers this June to take its mobile user base to over 350 million. Some analysts say the company may report better average revenue per user and stronger sequential growth in mobile revenue than Jio in the second quarter of FY22. The group plans to invest $673 million (Rs 5,050 crore) to expand its data centre business BECAUSE the planned fleet of 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites of its subsidiary OneWeb will bring high-speed, low-latency connectivity to India’s remotest corners, on land, water and air. OneWeb is the first private player to launch satellites from ISRO…

SHIV NADAR, 76 Founder and Chairman Emeritus, HCL Technologies ROSHNI NADAR MALHOTRA, 39 Chairperson, HCL Technologies BECAUSE HCL Technologies continues to innovate and ranks among the top 20 largest publicly traded companies in India, with a market capitalisation of $50 billion (Rs 3.76 lakh crore) as in September 2021. According to Roshni Nadar Malhotra, the company has had its highest compounded annual growth rate over the past four years, with exceptional performance across all metrics in 2019-20 as compared to other technology players around the world BECAUSE the Nadars are among the select few Indian billionaires on global rich lists. With a net worth of $31 billion (Rs 2.33 lakh crore), Shiv Nadar ranked third in the 2021 Forbes India’s 100 Richest List. Roshni Nadar Malhotra was 54th on the…

NARESH TREHAN, 75 Chairman & MD, Medanta Heart Institute BECAUSE he is on the Supreme Court-appointed National Covid Taskforce to streamline oxygen allocation across India. He is also chairman of the National Healthcare Council at CII BECAUSE Medanta has been the go to hospital for VIPs during the pandemic. It set up a 700-bed Covid ward at the height of the waves BECAUSE he has taken up the initiative of providing quality healthcare across states. Medanta is now present in Bihar, UP, Haryana, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh BECAUSE he believes in reducing patient stress through complete healthcare solutions. Medanta’s Cancer Institute brings together super-specialists from all fields of cancer so that patients can access diverse expertise at a single place BECAUSE he advocates research-based medicare. Medanta is pioneering research on…

RAKESH JHUNJHUNWALA, 61 Owner, Rare Enterprises; investor, trader and film producer BECAUSE at a time when India’s stock markets are rising—with the Sensex crossing the 60,000 mark just last month—the ‘big bull of the stock markets’ is among the most sought-after people in India for investment advice. His portfolio is currently worth over Rs 40,000 crore BECAUSE he is known to choose stocks that give bumper returns, with Tata Group companies Titan and Tata Motors being his biggest bets BECAUSE the Centre has approved his plans for the operation of a new airline, Akasa Air, supported by ex-Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and with former IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh also on board. The airline is expected to take off next year INVESTMENT PLANS Jhunjhunwala says he usually books profits (sells his…

SANJIV GOENKA, 60 Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group BECAUSE Goenka spearheads a conglomerate with business interests across sectors, from media to FMCG to IT to power. He turned around Saregama, Philips Carbon Black Ltd and First Source and is targeting a group turnover of Rs 40,000 crore in five years, led by power distribution and FMCG BECAUSE As a former CII president, Goenka is one of the definitive voices from the industry. He is also a member of the PM’s council on trade and industry, and often provides feedback to the government on policies, or flags issues hurting industry BECAUSE he is betting on the future with recent media investments. The group publishes Fortune magazine and has a 51 per cent stake in news app Editorji HEALTHY OPTIONS After foraying into the healthy…

VIRAT KOHLI, 32 Cricketer BECAUSE he’s captain fantastic in the Test format. Under Kohli’s leadership, the team has acquired an aggressive intensity and high fitness levels that saw it reach the finals of the maiden World Test Championship. Kohli is also the most successful Asian team captain against the SENA countries—South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia BECAUSE Brand Virat continues to be an unbeatable force. With 185 million followers on Instagram, (18th globally), a barrage of endorsement deals—over 25—and being one half of power couple ‘Virushka’, Kohli is way ahead in the popularity charts. He topped the Duff & Phelps celebrity brand valuation study—$237.7 million—for the fourth year running in 2020 BECAUSE he’s one of the highest paid players in the Indian Premier League. Despite not winning the IPL…

HARISH SALVE, 66 Advocate, Supreme Court of India BECAUSE he is one of the most trusted lawyers of the Union government, particularly in global courts. The Kulbhushan Jadhav spy case, which was related to the Hyderabad Nizam’s money in a British bank, the bid to extradite fugitive Mehul Choksi from the Dominican government’s custody, Salve argued them all. Now the Uttar Pradesh government has hired him to represent it in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case BECAUSE he is the go to lawyer for the big corporates, from the Tatas to Vodafone to Adani Power to Yes Bank’s Rana Kapoor to WhatsApp BECAUSE his enviable win record makes him one of India’s highest paid lawyers, even though he is now a London resident, and also part of the bar of England…

PRASHANT KISHOR, 44 Election strategist BECAUSE Kishor is a one-man election-winning army. In the battle for West Bengal earlier this year, he was a crucial part of the TMC’s (Trinamool Congress) win against the BJP’s massive election machinery led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also correctly predicted the BJP would not win even 100 seats. Now, he is one of the brains behind TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s national expansion BECAUSE he has won victories in all the election battles he has fought in the past two years, for a number of parties—the AAP in New Delhi, the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh and the DMK in Tamil Nadu. As a result, his political capital has increased, thanks to his proximity to victorious chief ministers—Arvind Kejriwal, Jagan Mohan Reddy and M.K.…

BHAVISH AGARWAL, 36 Co-founder and CEO, OLA BECAUSE he was bold enough to get into the manufacturing of electric vehicles at among the most difficult times the global public transport market has ever seen. He recently raised more than $200 million in a round of funding led by SoftBank and Falcon Edge BECAUSE he is driving his company back from the near-95 per cent revenue loss it suffered during the lockdown, to its 2019 revenue figure, in excess of Rs 2,200 crore BECAUSE he has continued with acquisitions to build up OLA’s digital ecos0ystem. Recently, the company bought geo-analytics platform GeoSpoc to improve company cab navigation THE SEED An ill-fated taxi journey early in his business career led Agarwal to envisage the OLA cab model…

SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR, 65 Spiritual guru BECAUSE he used the internet to help millions improve their mental health and immunity through the pandemic. The Art of Living conducted 200+ live meditations with an average reach of 2 million. Over 1,000 suicide-related calls were also answered BECAUSE He is increasingly being recognised for his efforts to improve conflict resolution, both in India and abroad BECAUSE he used his platform to support public health efforts. Art of Living volunteers also distributed Rs 1.4 crore worth of relief supplies like oxygen machines and concentrators and set up Covid hospitals BECAUSE workshops were run for over 50,000 volunteers to provide training on handling depression IN HIS WORDS “Covid has demonstrated how interdependent we are… A small virus brought the whole world to a halt.…

AJIT MOHAN, 46 Vice-President & Managing Director, Facebook India BECAUSE he is arguably the czar of India’s social media space. Facebook, along with the two platforms it owns—WhatsApp and Instagram—has a collective user base of over 1 billion in India. This network makes the social media giant an unmatched tool to influence public opinion. From small businesses and government initiatives to corporate marketing and media amplification, Facebook’s network has become the preferred communication tool. Apart from spreading awareness on Covid, WhatsApp was used to facilitate vaccine appointments and certificate downloads BECAUSE under Mohan, the Facebook Group has touched $1.2 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) in revenue through its activities in India over the past year—a jump of 43 per cent. An increase in digital advertising, the pandemic-induced influx of social media…

JAY SHAH, 33 Secretary, BCCI and President, Asian Cricket Council BECAUSE he is ensuring that with the new BCCI (post the Committee of Administrators) reforms in cricketing governance happen smoothly and that cricket gets its respect back after years of controversies BECAUSE amid Covid concerns and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s health problems, Shah ensured the Indian Premier League goes on and shifted the venue of the T20 World Cup to Dubai so that the BCCI doesn’t take much of a hit BECAUSE he convinced Virat Kohli to step back from T20 leadership post the World Cup to develop a team of a new generation. Kohli will lead the Indian team in longer formats. Shah also roped in former skippers like M.S. Dhoni as mentors and Rahul Dravid as a coach…

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NARENDRA MODI, 71 PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA BECAUSE he continues to be the supreme commander of the government and the ruling BJP. Despite the many crises such as the pandemic, economic distress and farmers’ protests, he remains way ahead in the popularity stakes, as a range of opinion polls show BECAUSE his personal stamp is evident everywhere, be it the Union cabinet reshuffle or the change of chief ministers in BJP-ruled states. The nationwide celebration of his birthday and completion of 20 years in public office was almost an official acceptance of his cult status, an unprecedented phenomenon in the Sangh Parivar BECAUSE he rarely blinks under pressure, be it on the farm laws or a caste census. And despite some flip-flops, under him, India has anchored the world’s largest…

YOGI ADITYANATH, 49 Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh BECAUSE the BJP’s national electoral fortunes depend on its performance in Uttar Pradesh, and Yogi is their man there. By constantly raising issues such as ‘love jihad’ and ‘cow protection’, he has emerged as the ‘Hindutva face’ of the party. Many see him as the inheritor of the Modi-Shah legacy BECAUSE despite the Covid second wave horrors in UP, the Yogi government came to grips with the situation quickly and managed to curtail the virus. Despite the large population, UP now reports very few Covid patients BECAUSE Yogi has projected a new model of governance, blending big-ticket development works such as the 340-km-long Purvanchal Expressway with a drive against corruption and iron-fisted law and order management GREEN THUMB Yogi has set up a kitchen…

AJIT DOVAL, 76 National Security Advisor BECAUSE India’s longest-serving NSA has become the indispensable second engine of national security to diplomacy—from addressing tensions with China in Ladakh to ensuring a painless exit from Afghanistan to opening up a back channel with the Taliban and liaising with his counterparts around the world BECAUSE his office at New Delhi’s Sardar Patel Bhawan is where the who’s who of the intelligence and security world can be spotted—Richard Moore of MI6, William J. Burns of the CIA and Russian NSA Nikolay Patrushev, to name a few BECAUSE Doval is on a first-name basis with not just his global counterparts but his office staff as well. Cultivates an air of informality and approachability at work. Just about anyone can walk up to him with a…

GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT, 63 Chief of Defence Staff BECAUSE as Secretary Department of Military Affairs, Chairman Chiefs of Staffs Committee and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), he is India’s most powerful armed forces officer. Served as the bridge between the government and the three services during the Ladakh stand-off to ensure a united military front in response to Beijing’s belligerence BECAUSEE he has laid the groundwork for independent India’s biggest military reform—the creation of five integrated theatre commands, which will replace the present 17 single-service commands by 2023 BECAUSE the ‘Integrated Capability Development Plan’ he is working on to present next year will radically transform the way the three armed forces acquire their hardware STAR POWER Became India’s longest-serving four-star officer in December 2020, eclipsing General K.S. Thimayya’s record of…

T.V. SOMANATHAN, 56 Finance Secretary BECAUSE he played a key role in nearly all major schemes of the government to contain the pandemic’s fallout, from Aatmanirbhar Bharat to expenditure rationalisation across ministries. His imprint is visible on the Rs 1.5 lakh crore saved by the government in FY21 and the budgetary stimulus offered without populist announcements BECAUSE he gave the final push to the finance ministry’s recently-announced ‘bad bank’ meant to clean up the high NPAs clogging financial sector balance-sheets. He was instrumental in ending extra-budgetary borrowings to keep expenditure in check BECAUSE despite moving on from being joint secretary in the PMO, he remains one of PM Modi’s most trusted advisors ROLE MODEL S. Malathi, a 1977 Tamil Nadu cadre officer and former state chief secretary. Somanathan says he…

IT WAS A MATTER OF TIME before the highest political offices in the West came to be occupied by ‘Kamala’, ‘Rishi’ and ‘Priti’. There is something altogether thrilling about the familiarity with which these names roll off our tongues, and the affinity we feel is not wholly invented. We share with today’s US vice-president and Britain’s chancellor a cultural heritage that goes beyond the oftentimes limiting tropes of nationality and genealogy. When Priti Patel, UK’s home secretary, speaks to her Conservative Party colleagues about the value of seva (service) in Manchester, she is making Indianness a part of their discourse. In a year when discussions about race and identity seem to have radically altered, we see immigrants owning their narratives like never before. But while there is, on the one hand,…

SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, 62 Chief Scientist, WHO BECAUSE she has not flinched in the face of adversity. During the pandemic, she has tirelessly worked with the world’s scientists, helped advance clinical trials and developed benchmarks for vaccines BECAUSE she has always followed the science and resisted the temptation of unnecessary forecasting. “No one has a crystal ball and it’s impossible to predict a third wave,” she told an interviewer in August BECAUSE she doesn’t let jargon obfuscate the WHO’s or her own message. Whether it’s the subject of vaccine efficacy or Covid’s impact on children, she has kept things simple BOOKWORM She was once a voracious reader. Her love for animals made her a fan of Gerald Durrell’s work, but her book-shelves also had dog-eared copies of Jane Eyre and Sher-lock Holmes. A…

SATYA NADELLA, 54 Chairman & CEO, Microsoft BECAUSE by electing him chairman, Microsoft has given him a chance to have greater influence. After getting the board’s vote of confidence, Nadella is now helping the company strategise for the next decade, where there will be 50 billion connected devices. He believes that the next decade is all about distributed and ubiquitous tech focused on every industry BECAUSE under him, Microsoft continues to reach new heights. With a market capitalisation of about $2 trillion (Rs 150.6 lakh crore), it is the clear No. 2, well ahead of Amazon and just a bit behind Apple BECAUSE under him, Microsoft is all set to shift to a 100 per cent renewable energy model for all its data centres, buildings and campuses by 2025 GAME…

GITA GOPINATH, 49 Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund BECAUSE at a time when recession, jobs and inequality are the issues of the day, she has used her science background and mathematical rigour to make better sense of them for us all BECAUSE hers is a credible voice the world listens to, whether on the global economic outlook in pandemic times and monetary policy or exchange rates and trade BECAUSE when she returns to teach at Harvard in January, she would be leaving behind a legacy that’s hard to match. Her boss, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, said, “Gita’s contribution has been truly remarkable, her impact tremendous” STAR PUPIL That she studied at Princeton is known, but not many know how she got there. She was accepted by both Harvard and…

Talk of following in daddy’s footsteps. Former Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Agarwal began with the Congress, moved to SP, then BSP, floated his own party—the Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress—before joining the BJP in 2018. Now, son Nitin, an SP MLA, has become deputy speaker in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, defeating his own party’s candidate! Nitin won an assembly seat on a BSP ticket in 2008, vaulted into the SP for the 2012 and 2017 state polls. In 2018, he supported BJP in the Rajya Sabha poll. The party has now returned the favour, with an eye on the Baniya vote.…

On October 14, while on a tour of Goa, Union home minister Amit Shah got a glimpse of how factionalised the BJP’s state unit has become. At a meeting of the party’s core committee in Panaji, attended by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, two ministers—Mauvin Godinho and Vishwajeet Rane—openly complained to Shah about how Sawant ignores their advice on governance matters. The state unit is also divided on whether the BJP should go solo in the upcoming assembly election, scheduled for February 2022. Sources say the home minister’s advice on the day boiled down to one line—ensure, at all costs, that Goa’s opposition parties do not come together. In its bid to win a third term, the BJP’s Goa unit faces its biggest challenge in a decade, with the dissidence in…

4.5 lakh youths have got government jobs till date. Government appointment of 3.5 lakh youths on contract Loan of 2.1 lakh crore rupees disbursed among 82 lakh MSME units and around 2 crore people got employment. 20 lakh people got employment under one district one product scheme. The Yogi government helped 60 lakh people in establishing their own business. Jobs were given to more than 40 lakh workers who had returned from other states to their places. Selection of 18000 women mates of self help groups under MGNREGA scheme. Self help groups increase livelihood in rural areas. Record recruitment of 12,5987 teachers in the basic education department. Increase of 50 lakh students in primary schools. Appointment of 250 professors, assistant professors and associate professors in government engineering colleges. Recruitment process…

GAUTAM ADANI, 59 Chairman, Adani Group BECAUSE when most businesses are conserving cash and curtailing investment, this first-generation businessman is aggressively expanding the Adani empire in infrastructure sectors such as roads, power, airports and solar energy, creating over $100 billion (Rs 7.5 lakh crore) in shareholder value BECAUSE the group’s six listed firms in the areas of ports, roads, power, clean energy and mining generated an income of Rs 96,754 crore in FY21 and had a market capitalisation of $122 billion (over Rs 9 lakh crore) as on October 19 BECAUSE he has emerged as India’s biggest private airports operator in three years, with group subsidiary Adani Airports taking over operations of seven airports last year, including the country’s second busiest, Mumbai, and will also operate the under-construction Navi Mumbai…

UDAY KOTAK, 62 MD & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank BECAUSE he helped recover over 60 per cent of IL&FS’s outstanding debt of around Rs 94,000 crore by October this year after the Centre called upon him to revive the troubled non-banking financial firm as its chairman in 2018 BECAUSE Kotak Mahindra is India’s fourth-largest private bank with Rs 2.23 lakh crore in advances as on March 31, 2021; Rs 6,965 crore net profit, Rs 2.8 lakh crore deposits in the year and Rs 65,472 crore capital reserves BECAUSE he is building the group’s muscle through acquisitions such as taking over Volkswagen Finance’s vehicle financing portfolio in September, Kotak Mahindra Bank acquiring a 9.99 per cent stake in investor and issuer servicing platform KFin Technologies, and a similar stake in Tata…

AMITABH BACHCHAN, 79 Actor BECAUSE he gets busier as he gets older. Be it TV, where he hosts the popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati, or the big screen, where he will be seen alongside Ajay Devgn (Mayday), Ranbir Kapoor (Brahmastra), Prabhas (untitled project) and Deepika Padukone (remake of Hollywood film The Intern), Big B is a long way from hanging up his thespian gloves BECAUSE he aces even the good samaritan act. From arranging oxygen concentrators, ventilators and other medical equipment for hospitals to donating money to set up Covid facilities in Mumbai, the star has been in action throughout the pandemic BECAUSE if there’s a health issue to advocate for, he is the favoured candidate. Bachchan lent his voice to telephone messages for a government campaign promoting Covid-19…

AJAY PIRAMAL, 66 Chairman, Piramal Group BECAUSE he is aggressively expanding the diversified group’s financial portfolio, completing the acquisition and merger of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) in September 2021, marking the first successful resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in the financial services sector. The transaction, for which the Piramal Group paid Rs 34,250 crore, is amongst the largest resolutions till date BECAUSE he is demerging the group’s pharmaceutical and financial services arms into separate listed entities, getting back into the league of top Indian pharma companies a decade after selling off his drug-making business to Abbott Labs of the US. The move will help the entities become future-ready and pursue growth strategies with sharper focus BECAUSE the Piramal Foundation tied up with the NITI Aayog in…

AKSHAY KUMAR, 54 Actor-Producer BECAUSE he’s the most bankable actor of Hindi cinema. With the might of the three Khans waning, Kumar is in the driver’s seat. His films are seen as sure-shot money spinners at the box-office. That he works continuously and has a release almost every quarter makes him a favourite of both audiences and theatre-owners BECAUSE he was hero no. 1 during the pandemic. Whether it is teaming up with his wife, Twinkle, to donate oxygen concentrators during the second wave, donating to help daily wage workers in the entertainment industry or being the face of public service initiatives on responsible Covid-19 behaviour, Kumar has been active in raising awareness BECAUSE he’s the most wanted entertainer. His penchant for films with patriotic and social commentary makes him a…

R.C. BHARGAVA, 87 CHairman, Maruti Suzuki BECAUSE he’s a voice the government listens to, be it on manufacturing policy, road-map for the automotive sector or reforms that can have a far-reaching impact BECAUSE India’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki produced 1,457,861 vehicles in 2020-21 and earned a net profit of Rs 4,229.7 crore on revenues of Rs 66,562 crore BECAUSE Bhargava is giving thrust to greener vehicles. Maruti Suzuki’s CNG car sales jumped 48 per cent in 2020-21 even as overall sales contracted 8 per cent due to the pandemic BECAUSE Maruti Suzuki and its suppliers worked with start-up firm AgVa Healthcare to produce 10,000 ventilators by June 2020. It also manufactured PPE kits and face masks on a mass scale BECAUSE he stepped up the company’s efforts to tackle…

KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW, 68 Founder, executive chairperson of Biocon Ltd BECAUSE Biocon owned the Covid-19 crisis in finding solutions to combat the virus—from repurposing novel drugs to developing tech platforms for testing. Biocon’s novel drug Itolizumab was used to treat severe cases of Covid 19; the company also supplied CytoSorb 300, a unique device that reduces cytokine storm in critical patients BECAUSE Mazumdar Shaw is the first Indian woman to make it as a self-made billionaire. She has also continued to call out the government on issues of governance and transparency. She is on several public committees and is an important voice on policies related to health, ease of doing business, biotechnology, pharma industry, gender, the city of Bengaluru, among others BECAUSE Mazumdar-Shaw has used her influence and power to…

BABA RAMDEV, 56 Yoga guru ACHARYA BALKRISHNA, 49 Chairman & MD, Patanjali Ayurved BECAUSE from toothpaste to shampoo to desi ghee to detergent, Patanjali is now the biggest FMCG company of Indian origin. With an annual turnover of around Rs 30,000 crore in FY20, Ramdev says he will topple HUL from the top spot and make it do a “sheershasana” in five years BECAUSE Patanjali became a big player in the edible oil segment with the takeover of the bankrupt Ruchi Soya. The Rs 4,350 crore takeover of the maker of soya food brand Nutrela also handed Patanjali soya bean oil brands such as Ruchi Gold BECAUSE as a top spender on advertising, Patanjali and Baba Ramdev have major recall among the public. With 20 million social media followers and…

DEEPAK PAREKH, 76 Chairman, HDFC BECAUSE he is one of India’s most respected bankers and his counsel is sought by policymakers, the latest being the Maharashtra government to revive the state’s real estate sector during the pandemic. His recommendations, including reducing stamp duty on property registration from 5 per cent to 2 per cent till December 2020, gave a big boost to home sales in Mumbai, India’s largest real estate market BECAUSE HDFC, which has financed over 8.4 million housing units, is India’s third-largest company by market capitalisation, with a market capitalisation of over Rs 5 lakh crore as on October 14 BECAUSE Parekh has been busy stitching deals during the pandemic, with group firm HDFC Life acquiring Exide Life Insurance in September 2020 for Rs 6,687 crore in one…

RAHUL BHATIA, 61 Group MD, InterGlobe Enterprises BECAUSE in what was a gruelling year, IndiGo remained India’s most successful airline, according to the DGCA (though it also posted huge losses). IndiGo’s market share is around 58.6 per cent, up from 52 per cent in the same period last year BECAUSE Bhatia remains one of the few success stories in Indian aviation and plays an important role communicating the sector’s view to the government. With 275 aircraft flying to 93 destinations, he is a self-made billionaire BECAUSE in collaboration with French hospitality major Accor Group, he is expanding his footprint in hospitality. The mid-segment international hotel chain Ibis will be adding four more properties and investing Rs 500 crore by FY24 THOUGHTFUL ATTEMPT After his first venture failed, Bhatia contemplated quitting…

APARNA PUROHIT, 42 Head of India Originals, Amazon Prime Video BECAUSE Prime Video has had a stellar run in 2020-21. In the absence of tent-pole cinema competition, Amazon shows like Paatal Lok, Mirzapur 2 and The Family Man 2 kept audiences entertained. The platform’s over-all viewing numbers have grown threefold in the past two years, with Mirzapur and The Family Man two of the most-watched shows in India as per Ormax’s weekly tracker of OTT audiences BECAUSE Amazon India has the second largest production slate after the US market. With over 70 projects in development, 2022 will see the platform foray into original films, as well as shows in more languages and non-fiction fare. Seventy per cent of its original shows return for a new season. The 2022 slate reflects…

SALMAN KHAN, 55 Actor BECAUSE even though his last film Radhe was a flop, Salman has upwards of Rs 750 crore riding on him through his upcoming films. This includes the 2022 release Tiger 3, said to be the biggest Bollywood movie ever made with a budget of around Rs 300 crore. The coming year will also see him in Antim: The Final Truth, Kick 2 and Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali BECAUSE he is Mr Dependable, not only in terms of box office collections but also for anyone in need of help. The list of resurrected careers to his credit is phenomenal BECAUSE his hosting Bigg Boss since 2010 has had a role in reinventing television programming. In a first, Season 15 of the show, which kicked off on October…

VASUDEV, SADHGURU JAGGI 64 Spiritual leader, activist and founder, Isha Foundation BECAUSE his ecological initiative ‘Cauvery Calling’, launched in 2019, to restore the severely depleted southern Indian river to its former levels, has helped farmers plant 57 million saplings so far, with 11 million planted in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic BECAUSE his Isha Foundation has been carrying out Covid relief work in 43 villages in 17 panchayats of Thondamuthur block in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district. Apart from extensive awareness initiatives, the volunteers have served over 550,000 meals daily and over 32 million servings of the immunity-enhancing herbal drink Nilavembu Kashayam to the people BECAUSE he designed customised yogic practices, freely accessible online, to enhance the body’s immunity and oxygen levels and strengthen the respiratory system ART FOR…

BIMAL PATEL, 60 Managing Director, HCP Design, Planning & Management Pvt. Ltd. BECAUSE he has been Narendra Modi’s preferred architect since 2011—whether it is for Swarnim Sankul, a complex of government offices flanking the legislative assembly building in Gandhinagar, or the Rs 20,000 crore Central Vista project BECAUSE the Central Vista project, he says, will subvert the iconography of power. Making the case that the present Parliament building was imagined as a Council House by the British, Patel has argued that it’s only now that India is getting its first “real” Parliament BECAUSE his work on the Kashi Vishwanath Dham project shows he does not believe in patchwork solutions to solve large-scale urban problems like overcrowding. Undeterred by laments about heritage and the environment, Patel will go big when he…

RATAN TATA Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons The oldest person on the list, at 83 10 THE NUMBER OF NEW ENTRANTS TO THE LIST IN 2021 CARRYMINATI YouTuber The youngest person on the list, at 22 CYRUS/ADAR POONAWALLA Cyrus Poonawalla Group; Serum Institute 18 STEPS UP: THE GREATEST GAINERS WERE CYRUS AND ADAR POONAWALLA, WHO ROSE TO #10 19 STEPS DOWN: THE GREATEST FALL WAS SALMAN KHAN, WHO ENDED AT #40 SALMAN KHAN Actor MUKESH AMBANI Chairman, Reliance Industries 6 PEOPLE RETAINED THEIR RANKS FROM LAST YEAR: MUKESH AMBANI (#1), SAJJAN JINDAL (#6), AZIM PREMJI (#8), DILIP SHANGHVI (#29), MAHENDRA MOHAN/SANJAY GUPTA (#41) AND SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV (#43) SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV Spiritual leader, activist…

AMIT SHAH, 56 Union Minister for Home Affairs BECAUSE he is PM Modi’s right-hand man and handles all critical assignments, including being interlocutor with warring RSS affiliates over the government’s policies BECAUSE even though he is no longer party president, he is still the chief architect of the BJP’s poll campaigns, and his opinion counts in everything, be it organisational work or policy decisions BECAUSE as home minister, he is responsible for India’s internal security and the challenges the country faces on many fronts—cross-border terrorism, homegrown insurgents, drug smuggling etc. He also monitors peace talks with several insurgent groups in the North-east and is de facto J&K administrator HOMEBOUND The Union home minister loves homemade gajar ka parantha for breakfast. No matter where he is, he always checks in with…

BUREAUCRATS ARE INDISPENSABLE to the Narendra Modi government. This truism held good in the first term of the government. Midway through its second term, the government has increased its reliance on a set of key bureaucrats in a way few other administrations have. Officials not only draw up important policy decisions—from divestment to the restructuring of the defence ministry—but also implement them. They are thus seen as critical to the government’s performance. Efficiency and achievement are rewarded through extensions and key bureaucrats are retained in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as advisors after retirement. The Modi government’s PMO is arguably the most powerful since Indira Gandhi’s in the early 1970s and later in the early 1980s. It straddles every aspect of governance, from national security to the economy and Covid-19 management,…

RAJIV GAUBA, 62 Cabinet Secretary BECAUSE he is leading India’s bureaucracy at a time of enhanced social sector spending and delivering governance to the end of the queue. The government has to battle the pandemic and also carry out the world’s largest vaccination drive BECAUSE Gauba is a close confidant of PM Modi. His one-year extension in the country’s most influential bureaucratic post this August testifies his importance BECAUSE he is candid enough to accept why ‘Make in India’ didn’t succeed and is applying the lessons learned to its rebooted avatar, ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, with better policy and implementation DIFFERENT STROKES Graduated from Patna University in 1980 with BJP president J.P. Nadda. Gauba was the low-profile studious BSc Physics gold medallist, Nadda the voluble JP movement student activist with a BA…

SUNDAR PICHAI, 49 CEO, Alphabet, Google BECAUSE not only has Google doubled its workforce since he became CEO in 2015, Alphabet has tripled in value, too BECAUSE he remains desi at heart. Not only does he quote M.S. Dhoni in his tweets, he also said to the BBC in July, “I’m an American citizen but India is deeply within me” BECAUSE when promising that Google will invest a billion dollars in Africa, he said, “Every new technology—from the rotary phone to the television—changed my family’s life for the better. That’s why I’m a technology optimist” HEAD COACH With 140,000 employees to manage, Pichai’s job is not easy. And Covid only made it harder. A firm believer in the idea of equal participation, Pichai developed a trick. “I’ll go around the…

GOPICHAND P. HINDUJA, 81 Co-Chairman, Hinduja Group, and Chairman, Hinduja Automotive Ltd, UK BECAUSE to him and his family, values matter more than profits. For instance, when the Hindujas saw their hospital in Mumbai’s Khar area was making a profit, they merged it with their hospital in Mahim to make it a non-profit. “The first right of a human being is health and education,” he says BECAUSE he wants to “make India the cyber security headquarter of the world” and “upgrade the old economy with new technology” BECAUSE even though he and his brother, Srichand Hinduja, may have slipped to No. 3 on The Sunday Times annual rich list, their collective net worth is still a whopping £17 billion (around Rs 1.8 lakh crore) MIND OVER MATERIAL Hinduja uses his…

LAKSHMI N. MITTAL, 71 Executive Chairman, ArcelorMittal BECAUSE he has added £7.899 billion (Rs 81,700 crore) to his wealth last year and, as a result, jumped from No. 19 on the The Sunday Times annual rich list to No. 5 BECAUSE he is spending nearly £290 million (Rs 3,000 crore) on a pilot project to slash the carbon footprint of his ArcelorMittal Group BECAUSE by naming his son Aditya the CEO of ArcelorMittal, Mittal has shown he knows when it is time to pass the baton on CLOSE SHAVE Once while taking a helicopter ride to Paris, Mittal was chased by a French helicopter. Seeing their guns, Mittal imagined the worst. But after inspecting his passport, they said: “We know who you are, you can go.” Mittal said with a…

PRITI PATEL, 49 UK Home Secretary BECAUSE she can weather any storm—everything from cabinet reshuffles to the harshest criticism BECAUSE she wants to make Britain safer for women. Even while PM Boris Johnson has been dragging his feet, Patel has campaigned hard for new legislation that criminalises public sexual harassment BECAUSE she never shies away from showing her Indian roots. Earlier this month, she told her Conservative Party colleagues, “Our values embody service before self and this can be neatly defined by the Hindu word ‘seva’, which can mean service, commitment and dedication to others” IRON LADIES One can only imagine Patel’s joy when she saw that a newspaper columnist had compared her to Margaret Thatcher, saying they were made of the same stuff. Thatcher is Patel’s hero and the…

CALL IT THE POWER OF RESILIENCE, but many of the 50 stalwarts featured in these pages have been around for several editions of our High and Mighty annual. No doubt it’s good to be insulated with a carapace of power, wealth and fame during a global health crisis and the attendant economic meltdown—and this is already our second ‘Power People’ list since the pandemic began. Still, holding on to the reins of success in a year when so many have been laid low is not a feat of privilege alone. In these precarious times, the most prominent figures of Indian business, culture and entertainment—call them the civilian elite—can only remain at the pinnacle by staying relevant. Veterans of industry kept the wheels of manufacturing turning while responding to the crisis…

KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA, 54 Chairman, Aditya Birla Group BECAUSE his timely intervention through a letter to the Centre on the health of the telecom sector and his meetings with officials and policymakers highlighting Vodafone-Idea’s woes paved the way for a range of relief measures to Indian telcos BECAUSE he has invested ahead of the cycle in India’s growth story despite the pandemic, with the over $45 billion (Rs 3.37 lakh crore) Aditya Birla Group committing to invest $5 billion (Rs 37,500 crore) in fresh capex in just the past 12 months BECAUSE his companies have consistently created value for shareholders, with the group clocking the second-fastest growth in market capitalisation this year at $73.5 billion (around Rs 5.5 lakh crore) as in mid-October BECAUSE the group’s flagship company Grasim, born…

N. CHANDRASEKARAN, 58 Chairman, Tata Sons BECAUSE under his watch, group companies have turned around, with 29 publicly-listed Tata firms touching a combined market capitalisation of $242 billion (around Rs 18 lakh crore) as on March 31. At Rs 13.54 lakh crore (as on October 19), TCS had the second highest m-cap among listed companies BECAUSE Tata Motors registered 69 per cent year on year growth in FY21 despite zero sales in lockdown-hit April 2020, and posted revenues of Rs 47,031 crore, up 7 per cent over the year before. It is planning a portfolio of 10 electric vehicles in five years BECAUSE as part of his ‘One Tata’ strategy to simplify, synergise and scale up Tata businesses, the group is working towards massive debt reduction, digitisation and acquisitions. In…

SANJIV PURI, 59 Chairman & MD, ITC Limited BECAUSE he has been endeavouring to turn ITC into a water and carbon-positive company. This includes drastically reducing energy needs at their premier hotels, creating green buildings, making the paper board business environment friendlier and raising thousands of acres of renewable forests BECAUSE he leads India’s largest FMCG conglomerate and is taking on MNCs Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Pepsico head on. The group posted a net profit of Rs 13,032 crore in 2020-21 BECAUSE he is reducing the group’s dependence on tobacco business, which accounts for 46 per cent of its total revenue, to focus on the agriculture and foods segments BECAUSE ITC has set a shining example of farmer-corporate cooperation. The company says its e-Choupal agri procurement platform helped farmers raise…

ANAND MAHINDRA, 66 Chairman, Mahindra Group BECAUSE he is transitioning into the role of non-executive chairman of the Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) board in November to serve as a mentor to the company management. The Mahindra Group is one of the world’s first companies to announce that it will measure its social impact in financial terms as part of ESG (environmental, social and governance) commitments BECAUSE Group flagship firm M&M posted revenues of Rs 44,574 crore and profits of Rs 4,097 crore, and declared its highest-ever dividend of Rs 8.75 per share in FY21 BECAUSE the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world by volume produced the highest-ever number of units (354,498) in 2020-21, a 17.4 per cent y-on-y increase BECAUSE he has a keen eye for talent and has been…

KALANITHI MARAN, 57 Chairman, Sun Group BECAUSE the publicly-traded 29-year-old Sun TV Network, the flagship of Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group, launched a new channel—Sun Marathi—on October 17, the second outside its home market after Sun Bangla, launched in February 2019. It now operates 33 channels across six languages. This, while facing Covid-related headwinds—Sun TV’s profit (post tax) grew from Rs 1,387 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,525 crore in FY21 BECAUSE Sun Bangla, launched three years ago, now commands over 10 per cent of the Bengali TV market BECAUSE Sun Direct, a traditionally south India-dominant DTH operator, with market gains in West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra, grew its subscriber count 74 per cent between March 2018 and March 2021, according to TRAI data. The overall DTH industry grew 4 per…

MAHENDRA MOHAN GUPTA, 80 Chairman & MD, Jagran Prakashan Ltd SANJAY GUPTA, 58 Whole Time Director and Editor-in-Chief, Jagran Prakashan Ltd BECAUSE as the owners of the largest-selling daily in India, Dainik Jagran, with a readership of 68.7 million, they can reach Indians across the country. Readership of the group’s 10 print titles is 84.1 million-plus (IRS 2019 Q4). With its 15 digital portals in 10 languages, it has a presence all over the world BECAUSE the group publishes nine newspapers and a magazine from over 37 printing facilities. It has 300-plus editions across 13 states and Union territories BECAUSE their music broadcast arm, under the Radio City brand, has expanded its presence and operations to 39 cities and is present in 12 out of the top 15 cities in…

NEERAJ CHOPRA, 23 Track and field athlete in javelin throw and Olympic Gold Medalist BECAUSE his Olympic gold medal, India’s first in athletics and only its second individual gold, led to a surge in non-cricket sports with an estimated 120 million Indians tuning in to catch athletics at the Tokyo Olympics BECAUSE he captivates minds on social media. With his follower base growing from 130,000 before the Olympics to over five million now, Chopra’s social media value spiked to Rs 428 crore, as per a recent report by the consultancy firm YouGov Sport BECAUSE brands cannot get enough of him. Two months since his win, Chopra is everywhere—on TV and mobile screens and hoardings. He currently endorses 10 brands, with more queuing up to sign him SNEAKER HEAD A self-confessed shopaholic,…

NIKHIL KAMATH, 38 Founder and CEO, Zerodha NIKHIL KAMATH, 34 Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer, Zerodha BECAUSE with a wealth of Rs 24,000 crore, they are the richest self-made entrepreneurs in India under 40. Zerodha, an online stock broking platform, grew 100 per cent month on month during the lockdown and accounts for about 10-15 per cent of the daily equity volume of India BECAUSE Zerodha pioneered discount broking in India a decade ago and is now the largest player with over 6 million customers. As per news reports, it more than doubled its net income and revenue to reach Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore, respectively, in FY21 BECAUSE In an era of aggressive fund-raising and advertising, Zerodha has stuck to the basics of traditional businesses by focusing…

THE GLOBAL COVID PANDEMIC, which hit the world last year, not only took away the lives of millions and devastated economies, it also reorganised the political order in many regions. India was among the countries hit the hardest by the ravaging virus, yet, the political impact of Covid is still not evident. Six states went to polls since the pandemic broke out in India in March 2020—all before the second wave of Covid hit the country in early April 2021—but it was not an electoral issue during the campaigns. The political power order of the country has remained largely unchanged with the RSS-BJP ecosystem firmly entrenched at the top. While de facto Congress chief Rahul Gandhi remains the sole national voice against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government, recent political…

MOHAN BHAGWAT, 71 RSS Sarsanghchalak DATTATREYA HOSABALE, 66 GEneral Secretary, RSS BECAUSE the opinion and vision of the top two heads of the RSS matter in the policy directives of the BJP-ruled Union government and the 18 states the party rules (12 alone and six with allies). The RSS’s influence is evident in some of the key developments of the past few years—construction of the Ram Mandir, abrogation of Article 370, criminalisation of religious conversion for marriage. The Centre is also taking forward the RSS’s economic agenda of swadeshi or self-reliance BECAUSE the RSS is now no longer just the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, it is also helping the government ensure the implementation of certain schemes and projects as well, such as ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and ‘Sewa hi Sangathan’…

AJAY KUMAR BHALLA, 60 Home Secretary BECAUSE he oversaw the successful passage of some of the Modi government’s most controversial legislations—the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the withdrawal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir BECAUSE he was given a rare one-year extension as home secretary, which will see him in office until August 2022 BECAUSE as the chairman of the empowered group for pandemic response and coordination, he has been the government’s point person to respond to Covid-19 NO MHA-BHARAT Resolved Centre-state standoffs in Delhi by steering the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act in March 2021, which officially gives primacy to the Lt Governor over the elected government in Delhi…

AMIT KHARE, 60 Advisor to Prime Minister of India BECAUSE he is one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most trusted bureaucrats. Knows the PM’s mind and delivers results to his satisfaction. Was appointed to the post less than a fortnight after his retirement in September 2021 BECAUSE he designed and implemented two of the government’s most high-profile policies in recent times—the New Education Policy, 2020, and the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The reticent bureaucrat, who served as secretary in the education and information and broadcasting (I&B) ministries, also handled the communication and public awareness campaigns around the two initiatives BECAUSE as I&B secretary, he was tasked with the government’s communication strategy for the Covid pandemic TASTE OF INDIA Khare loves travelling by train and early this year undertook a 24-hour…

AMITABH KANT, 65 CEO, NITI Aayog BECAUSE he helms the government’s ambitious programme of raising Rs 6 lakh crore by 2025 through asset monetisation. Kant works with ministries to identify assets, work through the process and monitor progress BECAUSE his views on critical subjects, such as entrepreneurship, electric vehicles, disinvestment and sustainability, drive decision-making. The influential policymaker got a fourth tenure extension as NITI Aayog CEO in June 2021 BECAUSE he can market reforms and get things done—from Incredible India to Make in India, Startup India, ease of doing business and now asset monetisation VOLT POPULI Drives an electric cycle and electric car. Has ensurede all senior officers at NITI Aayog use EVs…

RISHI SUNAK, 41 UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer BECAUSE he has helped Britain’s economy survive the pandemic. More pragmatist than ideologue, he found a way of managing the UK’s colossal spending and borrowing BECAUSE he is loved by even those he taxes. Even though Sunak’s tax rates were the highest in 50-odd years, polls showed he is admired by the British people at large BECAUSE he acknowledges the role that race plays in one’s personal and public life. In his first speech to Parliament, he joked about how his Yorkshire constituents often teased him about his “tan” HEADSTART Sunak studied at prestigious institutions like Winchester College, Oxford and Stanford University. He even co-founded a large investment firm and worked with companies in Silicon Valley and Bengaluru. For these opportunities, he…