Kochouseph Chittilappilly
| Kochouseph Chittilappilly | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thrissur |
| Residence | Kochi, Kerala |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Business |
| Known for | Business,V Guard Industries |
| Home town | Thrissur |
| Religion | Christian Syrian Christian |
| Spouse | Sheila Chittilappilly |
| Children | Arun Chittilappilly and Mithun Chittilappilly. |
| Website | |
| www.kochousephchittilappilly.com | |
Kochouseph Chittilappilly is an Indian businessman best known as the Managing Director of V-Guard Industries Ltd[1][2] and a chain of amusement parks called Wonderla, previously known as Veegaland.
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[edit] Early life
He did his schooling at the parish school in Parappur, Thrissur and attended Christ College, Irinjalakuda. He was awarded a Masters degree in Physics from St. Thomas College, Thrissur[1] in 1970.
[edit] Career
Kochouseph Chittilappilly started his career as a Supervisor in an electronics company, Telics, a new medium-scale company in Thiruvananthapuram promoted by the state government to make electronic stabilizers,[3] where he served for three years.[1] He founded V Guard Industries Ltd in 1977 (then called Premier Electronics) with two employees for making stabilizers.[1][4] The company's initial production was 50 stabilizers per month manufactured by the trio. Chittilappilly used to ferry his products in Thiruvananthapuram on a Lambretta scooter, hardselling his wares.[3] He started another proprietorship concern by the name of M/s Prompt India for marketing of the products under the brand name of V-Guard in 1985. In 1992, the various independent units making the stabilizers were combined into one, and Kochouseph Chittilappilly continued the business as a proprietary concern.[5] On February 12, 1996, the company was incorporated under the name of V-Guard Industries Private Limited. The Company was converted into a public limited company in 2007, and went public through an IPO in March 2008 which was over-subscribed 4.6 X in a bearish market. He ventured into the large format amusement parks business in 2000 with the Rs 75-crore amusement park project Veegaland (Now renamed Wonderla) in Kochi and the Rs 105-crore project Wonderla, in Bangalore. Wonderla is one of the largest amusement parks in India. Veegaland was India's first amusement park to be awarded the ISO 14001-2004 for environmental friendliness and conservation of natural resources.[3] Chittilappilly is considered as one of the most successful businessmen in Kerala.[6] From his fast-moving V-Guard stabilizers to the dizzying rides at his amusement parks, Kochouseph Chittilappilly has always displayed business guts. His Rs 900 crore V-Guard group with its flagship product, stabilizers and a host of products such as water pumps, water heaters, solar water heaters, UPS, wiring cables and ceiling fans, is a household name in the state. The business group today includes Wonderla Holidays, the chain of amusement parks, and V-Star creations, an apparels manufacturing company.
[edit] Books
He authored his first book, Practical Wisdom . In real life & management, which is an account of practical management techniques from his personal experiences as an entrepreneur.[6] It was subsequently translated into Malayalam. A sequel to the first book, Practical Wisdom 2 contains an anecdotal enumeration of life’s many facets. His most recent book Ormakilivathil’ is in Malayalam and published by D. C. Books. the book provides a glance into his childhood, growing up in Parappur and his early life, peppered with anecdotes and stories from his younger days.
[edit] Awards
Chittilappilly won many prestigious awards and recognitions like the 'Rashtriya Samman' awarded by the Government of India for the highest tax-payer from Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Finance, "Tourism Man of the Year 2000" by Destination Kerala and "Millennium Businessman of Kerala" by Business Deepika.[1] ‘’Manager of the Year 2000’ award by the Travancore Management Association. ‘Tourism Man of the Year 2011’ was awarded to him by the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India (ATTOI). He is the Manorama Newsmaker 2011 awardee (http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=10780757&programId=1073753760&tabId=11&contentType=EDITORIAL&BV_ID=@@@)
[edit] Kidney donation
Chittilappilly donated his kidney in 2010. He supports the Kidney Federation of India, a unique kidney donation chain that ensures patients receive a timely organ donation.
[edit] Nokkukooli
Standing against unfair practices in loading and unloading in Kerala where licensed headload workers get paid wages to ‘look on’ while standby labour does the actual work, Chittilappilly unloaded cargo in his own company premises. With the media coverage he received, he was able to bring attention to prevalence of such practices.
[edit] Euthanasia
Chittilappilly has filed a suit in the High Court of Kerala seeking permission for Euthanasia.
[edit] Family
He is married to Sheila and has two sons Arun Chittilappilly and Mithun Chittilappilly. Sheila is the Managing Director of V-Star creations, a group company. Arun heads the amusement park business, Wonderla which is on an ambitious expansion plan and is also venturing into the hospitality business. Mithun focuses on V Guard and is an important catalyst for the fast expansion of VGuard to other indian states especially, in the north.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "EXECUTIVE PROFILE* Kochouseph Chittilappilly". Businessweek. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=33404075&ric=VGUA.BO. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ "Board of Directors > Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly". V-Guard. http://www.vguard.in/vintes.php. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
