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Subrata Roy

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Subrata Roy
File:Subrata Roy In Think With Me Submmit.jpg
Born (1948-06-10) 10 June 1948 (age 76)
Araria, Bihar, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesSaharasri
Occupation(s)Founder and Chairman of the Sahara India
Years active1978 – present
SpouseSwapna Roy
Children2
WebsiteOfficial webpage

Subrata Roy ( Hindi: सुब्रत रॉय) (born 10 June 1948) is an Indian businessman. He is the founder and chairman of the Sahara India, an Indian conglomerate with diversified businesses and ownership interests that include London's Grosvenor House, New York's Plaza Hotel, Aamby Valley City and Force India. Roy founded the company in 1978.

He was named among the 10 Most Powerful People of India in 2012 by India Today. In 2004, the group was termed by the Time magazine as ‘the second largest employer in India' after the Indian Railways. Roy has been in Tihar Jail since 2014.[1]

Early life

Subrata Roy was born in Araria in Bihar, India 1948[2] to Sudhir Chandra Roy and Srimati Chhabi Roy.[3][4] He studied at Holy Child School in Kolkata and later studied mechanical engineering from Government Technical Institute, Gorakhpur.[5] Roy started his first business in Gorakhpur.[6][7]

Business career

Main article: Sahara India Pariwar

Roy joined Sahara Finance, a struggling company, in 1978,[8][9] that ran a chit fund[10] and took it over. He changed its financial model. Sahara is said to have used the financial model of much older Peerless Group. They are termed residuary non-banking companies (RNBCs)[11] that accept deposits of very low amounts.

In the 1990s, Roy moved to Lucknow which became the base of his empire.[12] His Sahara City project covering 170 acres was launched in the 1990s.[13] From there, it went on to become the largest conglomerate of India with a diversified range of business interests. The company now has interests in real estate, media, entertainment, tourism, healthcare, and hospitality.

The Hindi newspaper Rashtriya Sahara was started in 1992. In the late 1990s, the ambitious Aamby Valley City project near Pune was initiated. In 2000, Sahara TV was launched which was later renamed Sahara One. In 2003, Sahara started three weeklies: Sahara Time (English), Sahara Samay (Hindi) and Sahara Aalmi (Urdu).[14]

In 2010, Sahara purchased the iconic Grosvenor House Hotel in London,[15] and 2012 the historic Plaza Hotel in New York City.[16]

Sahara claims to have a workforce of more than a million, including salaried employees and field workers.[17] In 2013, 121,653 of its employees gathered in Lucknow to sing India's national anthem, setting a world record[18]

Sahara is said to have 29.6 million investors, representing about 8.5% of all households in India.[19]

Humanitarian efforts

In 2013, Sahara contributed to the relief efforts in flood hit Uttarakhand region wherein one lakh bottles of drinking water, juice bottles and food packets along with candles and match boxes were said to be provided by them. There were 25 medical health unit vans equipped with doctors and free medicines made available and It was said by the group that, they will contribute to the rehabilitation programme by constructing 10,000 pre-fabricated houses.[20]

Post Kargil War, the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee quoted Sahara India led by him for providing financial support to the 127 families of martyrs.[21]

Awards and honors

Subrata Roy received an honorary doctorate in business leadership from the University of East London (2013).[22]

He also received the Business Icon of the Year award at the Powerbrands Hall of Fame Awards in London in 2011.[23] He has been the ITA – TV Icon of the Year 2007. He has received the Global Leadership Award in 2004. He received Businessmen of the Year Award in 2002, the Best Industrialist Award in 2002, Vishisht Rashtriya Udaan Samman (2010) by a daily from India’s top most publication house, Vocational Award for Excellence (2010) by Rotary International, Karmaveer Samman (1995), Udyam Shree (1994), Baba-E-Rozgar Award (1992) and the National Citizen Award in 2001. He was awarded a general jury award by the Indian Television Academy Awards.[24] He has been also awarded with honorary degree of D. Litt. by Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga.[25] Moreover, he has been featured regularly in the India Today list of 50 Most Powerful People of India, since 2003.

In 2012, Roy was named among the 10 most influential businessmen in India by the news magazine India Today.[26]

In 2004, Sahara India was termed by Time magazine as "the second largest employer in India" after Indian Railways.[27]

Work philosophy

Roy has propounded the corporate philosophy of ‘Collective Materialism’,[28] that advocates collective growth through collective sharing and caring.

He has written three books.

  • "Shanti, Sukh: Santushti" 1994, Essays on peace of mind and happy living.[29]
  • "Maan, Samman, Atmasamman"[30]
  • "Life Mantras" [31]

“Life Mantras” was released on 2 February 2016 at 5,120 public events across India. The book is the first of the trilogy ‘Thoughts from Tihar’ written by Roy during his period behind the bars. The forthcoming books are 'Think with Me - How to make our country ideal', and 'Reflections from Tihar - A book on Tihar Jail' which are to be released soon. About after a month of its launch on February 1, 2016, 'life Mantras' topped the non-fiction category of Nelsen BookScan, publishing into second spot Manorma Yearbook 2016 on March 6, 2016.[32]

"Think With Me", the second edition in the Trilogy was launched on the 18th day of December 2016,[34] at the national level extravagant event- 'Think With Summit-towards Greater India'. The event proved to be a melting pot of ideas from visionaries and thought leaders. This edition talks about the importance of leadership and aligned aligned efforts towards nation.

Since March 2014 he is under judicial custody with a bail amount of 100 Billion Indian Rupees, Sahara India Pariwar - Issuance of Optionally Fully-Fully-Convertible Debentures, by his two group companies, Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing & Investment Corporation Ltd. (SHICL)

On 26 February 2014, the Supreme Court of India ordered the arrest of Subrata Roy for failing to appear before it in connection with the Rs. 24,000 crore deposits his company has not refunded to investors. He was eventually arrested on 28 February 2014 by Uttar Pradesh police on Supreme Court's warrant, in a dispute with Market Regulator - SEBI.[35] In a statement after the arrest, his lawyer said Mr. Roy's 92-year-old mother was in poor health and needed "her eldest son" by her side, and hence he failed to appear at the court.[36] As he has failed to appear in the court during the ongoing legal battle, Mr. Roy has been in custody in the Tihar Jail, Delhi, since 4 March 2014 and his bail plea has been rejected by the Supreme Court of India. Sahara was allowed to sell a part of its assets in India to raise part of the money in question.[37] He was granted interim bail by Supreme Court of India for the same on 26 March 2014 on condition of depositing Rs 10,000 crore with the market regulator SEBI.[38] His deposit of 10,000 crore has not been made and Roy is still in jail.[39] As of August 2014, Roy was trying to sell some of his hotel properties to raise enough money.[40] Roy was granted his first bail for four weeks to perform the last rites for his passed mother[41] which was later extended to the 24th of October.[42]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "Sahara India Pariwar". Sahara.in. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ^ "India's Sahara Group". thedailystar.com. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ^ বাঙ্গালীর বিত্ত সাধনা সাহারার ইতিকথা, (Bangalir Vitta Sadhana: Saharar Itikatha), Mani Shankar Mukherjee, 2003
  5. ^ "Subroto Roy Biography". mapsofindia.com. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Subrata Roy". timesofindia.com. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2004.
  7. ^ "Sahara India". newagebd.com. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Owner of Pune Warriors runs Sahara India Pariwar as managing worker". THE AUSTRALIAN. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  9. ^ "Subrata Roy Sahara". businessweek.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  10. ^ Sahara chief, money all safe and well, Amrit Dhillon, 11 June 2005, South China Morning Post
  11. ^ RBI eases pressure on Sahara, Peerless, Sugata Ghosh, TNN 18 May 2005
  12. ^ Subrata Roy, Sahara chief, has friends across political, glamour spectrum, Manmohan Rai, ET Bureau, 1 March 2014
  13. ^ Subrata Roy's 'Sahara City' Stands on Scandalous Base, Shobhit Kalra, 7 Jul 2013
  14. ^ Sahara India launches 3 news weeklies PTI 11 May 2003
  15. ^ Sale of Plaza Hotel had to happen, Steve Cuozzo, 18 November 2013
  16. ^ Indian Conglomerate Buys New York’s Plaza Hotel, NEHA THIRANI, AUGUST 1, 2012
  17. ^ Sahara India under PF Department's scanner; company asked to submit all employee details, Vikas Dhoot, ET Bureau 12 Jan 2013
  18. ^ Over one lakh Sahara employees break world record for largest group to sing national anthem By MAIL TODAY REPORTER, 7 May 2013
  19. ^ Sahara’s phantom investors: Why Subrata Roy’s numbers don’t add up, R Jagannathan 1 March 2014
  20. ^ "Sahara joins Uttarakhand relief work - The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  21. ^ "Subrata Roy Sahara - ex PM Vajpayee thanks Sahara India Pariwar". YouTube.
  22. ^ "UK university confers honorary doctorate on Subrata Roy". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Grand launch of Powerbrand". indianfoline.com. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  24. ^ "The ITA Awards » The Indian Television Academy Awards". The Indian Television Academy. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  25. ^ "Mithila varsity confers D Litt on Subrata Roy - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  26. ^ "High and Mighty-2012". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  27. ^ Perry, Alex (6 December 2004). "A Tale of Two Indias". TIME. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  28. ^ "Wearing Nationalism On His Sleeve". Business Standard. 18 September 2002. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  29. ^ The quirks and eccentricities of 'Saharasri' Subrata Roy, Jency Jacob, 1 March 2014
  30. ^ Subrata Roy: Confident of swimming the troubled waters, AMRITA NAIR-GHASWALLA, 8 September 2012
  31. ^ Subrata Roy's 'Life Mantras' unveiled in over 5000 locations, 2 February 2016
  32. ^ Life Mantras by Subrata Roy tops in Nielsen BookScan March 6, 2016
  33. ^ Second book in the trilogy December 16, 2016
  34. ^ Second book in the trilogy December 16, 2016
  35. ^ "Subrata Roy Sahara surrenders before Police in Lucknow". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  36. ^ Roy, Subrata. "Profile of Subrata Roy". Profile. BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  37. ^ Supreme Court again rejects Sahara chief Roy's bail plea
  38. ^ "SC grants conditional bail to Sahara chief Subrata Roy". Times Of India. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  39. ^ "Supreme Court again rejects Sahara chief Roy's bail plea". Reuters. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  40. ^ "From Tihar jail, Sahara chief Subrata Roy tries to sell the New York Plaza". Times of India. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  41. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Subrata-Roy-gets-4-week-parole-for-mothers-death/articleshow/52159565.cms
  42. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-extends-Subrata-Roys-interim-bail-till-October-24/articleshow/54564465.cms
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