Baba Kalyani

This article is about the businessman. For the 2006 film, see Baba Kalyani (film).

Baba Kalyani
Kalyani at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2009.
Born	(1949-01-07) 7 January 1949 (age 75) [1] Pune, Bombay State, Dominion of India (present day Maharashtra, India)
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Rashtriya Military School, Belgaum Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation	Businessman
Title	Founder and Chairman of Kalyani Group
Children	Amit Kalyani [2]
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2008) Order of the Polar Star [3] Bundesverdienstkreuz (2012) [4]

Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani is an Indian billionaire businessman ^[5] who served as the chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, the Flagship company of the Kalyani Group and the world's second-largest forgings manufacturer after ThyssenKrupp of Germany. ^{[6] [7]}

Early life and education

Babasaheb Kalyani was born in a Veerashaiva Jangama family on 7 January 1949 to Sulochana and Neelakanth Rao Kalyani, a Pune-based technocrat and maker of automotive components. He completed his high school from Rashtriya Military School, Belgaum; and also attended Dr. (Mrs.) Erin N. Nagarvala School (formerly National Model School), Pune. He attended BITS Pilani, from where he earned a BE (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering in 1970, ^[8] and later Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned an MS degree.

Career

Baba Kalyani joined Bharat Forge, a global manufacturing company, in 1972. ^[9]

To contribute to a clean and emission-free environment, Kalyani set up Kenersys Limited to manufacture various energy-efficient wind turbines for domestic and international markets. The company also has its own wind turbines in Maharashtra which generate "green energy" for the group's manufacturing operations. He is also engaged in developing solar energy equipment for the non-conventional energy sector. In a joint venture with KPIT Cummins, Bharat Forge is developing a hybrid solution that would contribute in the country being able to meet its vehicular emission targets.

In SKF board of directors member since 2011.

Kalyani received the Indian government's Padma Bhushan award for contributions to Trade and Industry, ^[10] and was made Commander First Class of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by the Swedish government in recognition of his contribution in furthering trade and business cooperation between Sweden and India. Other awards include Global Economy Prize, 2009 for Business by Kiel Institute, German Businessman of the Year, 2006 by Business India Magazine, Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 for Manufacturing by Ernst & Young, and CEO of the Year 2004 by the Business Standard group.

Government of India constituted a task force under the chairmanship of Baba Kalyani to study policies related to special economic zone (SEZ) on 6 June 2018. ^[11]

On 19 February 2015, the Kalyani Group announced a joint venture with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. This joint venture company will be based in India. ^[12]

In April 2021, Forbes estimated his net worth to be around US$2.3 billion. ^[13]

Philanthropy

He is the founder-chairman of Pratham Pune Education Foundation, an NGO that is engaged in providing primary education to children belonging to under-privileged sections of the local community, which was established in 2000. ^[14]

Lawsuit

Kalyani faced a legal dispute with his sister Sugandha and her husband Jaidev Hiremath over control of the chemical firm Hikal. ^{[15] [16]} Sugandha and Jaidev filed a case in the Bombay High Court, accusing Kalyani of attempting to gain full control of Hikal by increasing his group's stake in the company by 5%. ^{[17] [18]} The Hiremaths currently hold approximately 35% of Hikal, valued at Rs 3,578 crore, while Kalyani holds 34%. ^[18] Hiremath claimed that Kalyani selectively ignored a crucial note from 1994, which stated that Hikal shares should be transferred to Sugandha's family. ^[19]

However, Kalyani dismissed the transfer clause in the 1994 family arrangement as a false claim made by Sugandha. He acknowledged that the October 1993 deal mentioned the transfer of Hikal to the Hiremaths but argued that it was superseded by the 1994 arrangement. Kalyani stated that the Taj meeting was focused on resolving ownership issues at Bharat Forge and Kalyani Forge and refused to acknowledge any Hikal agreement in 1994. ^{[18] [20]}

References

1. "Profile at Bharat Forge". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
2. "Mr. Amit B. Kalyani". Bharat Forge Ltd.
3. "Profile at Kalyanigroup Website". Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
4. "Germany confers Cross of Order of Merit to Babasaheb Kalyani, Kiran". www.sify.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
5. Srikar Muthyala (29 September 2015). "The List of Great Entrepreneurs of India in 2015". MyBTechLife. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016.
6. Sonavane, Ravindra (20 May 2015). "Bharat Forge net profit up 70% to Rs 203 crore". livemint.com/. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
7. Raje, Aparna Piramal (24 August 2014). "Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani: The modern-day alchemist". livemint.com/. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
8. "BITS Pilani — Prominent Alumni".
9. Priyanka Sangani (18 May 2012). "Bharat Forge 3.0: Return of Baba Kalyani who changed the face of Indian engineering globally". The Economic Times.
10. "Sunita Williams, Baichung Bhutia among Padma awardees". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 26 January 2008. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
11. "Baba Kalyani Report on SEZs". epces.in. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
12. "Kalyani Group announces joint venture with Rafael Defence System - the Hindu". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
13. "Baba Kalyani". Forbes.
14. "ACE Entrepreneur – Baba Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd". The Machinist.
15. "Hikal Limited: Caught in the Crossfire of a Family Feud". web.archive.org. Bru Times. 30 March 2024.
16. Skaria, George. "Not just brother vs brother. Bharat Forge to Hinduja, women are fighting for family business". ThePrint.
17. "Interview | 'I simply want what my parents left for our family,' says Sugandha Hiremath, non-executive director, Hikal". Financialexpress. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
18. "Kalyani trying to oust me from Hikal: Sister". The Times of India. 20 April 2023. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 7 July 2023.
19. "Hikal ownership dispute: Kalyani family spar over 1993 agreement". Business Standard.
20. "Inside the ₹1,300 cr spat between billionaire Baba Kalyani and his sister". mint. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.

External links

• Kalyani Group web site Archived 24 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• Forbes list