Kushal Pal Singh

Kushal Pal Singh Teotia or K.P. Singh (Hindi: कुशल पाल सिंह; born 15 November 1931) is an Indian real estate mogul and the chairman and CEO of DLF Limited, founded by his father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh.^[2] DLF limited is India's largest real estate developer.^[3] It has an estimated land bank of 10,255 acres (42 km²), with about 3,000 acres (12 km²) being in Gurgaon called DLF City. He stands at 130th position in the Forbes's list of world's richest people, released in 2011, and has a personal wealth of $7.3 billion.^[1] His autobiography, named 'Whatever the Odds: The Incredible Story Behind DLF', was launched by Jack Welch in 2011.^[4]

Early Life and career

K.P. Singh was born on 15 November 1931 in Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh in a Jat family.^[5] His father Ch. Mukhtar Singh was a reputed lawyer in Bulandshahr .After graduating in science from Meerut College, Uttar Pradesh, he pursued Aeronautical Engineering in UK and was subsequently selected to the Indian Army by British Officers Services Selection Board, UK. He was commissioned into the renowned cavalry regiment of 'The Deccan Horse' of the Indian Army. ^[6] In 1960, he joined American Universal Electric Company and soon after its merger with DLF Universal Limited in 1979, he took over as the Managing Director of this new company.^[7][8]

Positions

• Chairman of the Board, DLF Limited.
• Chairman and Director of 31 different private companies engaged in various sectors of the economy.
• Member Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
• Member of Delhi Vision Group to overview the Master Plan of Delhi 2021.
• Honorary Consul General, Principality of Monaco.

Positions held:
• President of the apex industry chamber of the country, Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
• President of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• Director of Central Board, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Activities

Kushal Pal Singh made Gurgaon a world-famous outsourcing destination, within a time period of 10 years, because of his world-class earthquake-proof office buildings, apartments, shopping malls and leisure facilities (including the DLF GaMY Player designed Golf Course). Under his tenure, as the Chairman of DLF, the company went for an initial public offering in 2007 and made about $2.24 billion. It is one of the largest IPOs in India and was soon followed by an upsurge in the market capitalization of the company to a level of $24.5 billion, making Singh and his family one of the richest clans in the world.^[9] Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, told in one of his interview that Singh was one of the initiators for GE's entry into India.^[10]

Awards and Recognitions

He has received many awards for his contribution towards the society.^[11]

• Decoration of Officer of the Order of St. Charles, on 4 October 2010, conferred by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco for his valuable contributions as Honorary Consul General of Monaco in Delhi for past two decades.
• Padma Bhusan Award, on 26 January 2010, conferred by Government of India.
• Recognition by Forbes magazine as the richest real estate baron and eighth richest person in the world, on 24 March 2008.
• The Samman Patra Award, in 2000, conferred by Government of India for being one of the top tax payers of Delhi region.
• Delhi Ratna Award, conferred by Government of Delhi for his valuable contribution towards the development of Delhi.
• A Special Award conferred by NDTV, at the Indian of the Year Award Function held on 17 January 2008, for his contribution towards growth of Indian economy.
• In 2011 he received the Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards^[12]

Personal life

K.P. Singh is married to Indira Singh, the daughter of Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh,^[2] the founder of DLF Limited. K. P. Singh has one son, Rajiv Singh, and two daughters, Renuka Talwar and Pia Singh.^[13] All of K.P. Singh's family members, including grand-children, are now involved with running the family business.

K.P. Singh's son, Rajiv Singh, is Vice Chairman of the DLF group. Rajiv's wife Kavita has been an 'advisor' to DLF Commercial Developers Ltd since November 2002. She was also appointed 'Advisor' to DLF Universal Ltd. with effect from 1 June 2011 with a retainership fee of Rs 250,000 per month, besides other benefits. Rajiv and Kavita have two daughters, Savitri and Anushka. The AGM of 28 September 2010 approved the appointment of Savitri as 'Business Head (Retail Business), DLF Commercial Developers Ltd' and of Anushka as 'GM-Development, DLF Home Developers Ltd.'^[14] K.P. Singh's elder daughter Renuka is married to G.S. Talwar, a non-executive director at DLF Ltd. Their son, Rahul, has joined DLF India Ltd as a "senior management trainee." K.P. Singh's younger daughter Pia Singh is herself a whole-time director with DLF. ^[15]

References