Subhash Chandra, the Chairman of the Essel Group, is among the leading lights of the Indian industry. A self-made man, Chandra has consistently demonstrated his ability to identify new businesses and lead them on the path to success.

Credited with tremendous business astuteness, Chandra has chartered a course of growth and success, unparalleled in business history. The untrodden path has always excited him.
Born in Hissar, a small town in north India, Chandra entered his family business of exporting rice, at the age of 19. His global outlook soon led him into more lucrative markets. He started a vegetable oil unit which within a few years achieved a turnover of US $ 2.5 million.

In 1981, he forayed into the packaging business, another first. Today, Essel Propack is the largest specialty packaging company in the world.
At a time when the country was starved of wholesome entertainment, Chandra developed Asia’s largest amusement and theme parks — Essel World and Water Kingdom. Spread on 64-acres of land in Mumbai, Essel World is Asia’s first eco-friendly amusement park, meeting international standards.

Chandra was also the first to realise the huge business potential of satellite television channels. In 1991, when viewers had a restricted menu from the State-controlled terrestrial network, Doordarshan, he launched the first Hindi satellite channel — Zee Television. In less than seven years, Chandra nurtured Zee into India’s most popular television network and positioned it as a global brand with more than 350 million viewers in 120 countries.
Chandra etched his name in Indian history once again by bringing home the concept of online lottery, which contributed millions towards social causes.

He was also the first to herald the convergence era in India by making inroads in the field of telecommunications based on satellite and digital wireless communication. The list of what he has achieved in the last two decades seems endless.

Chandra has made his mark as an influential philanthropist in India. He set up TALEEM (Transnational Alternate Learning for Emancipation and Empowerment through Multimedia) to provide access to quality education through distance and open learning. He is also the Chairman of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of India – a movement to eradicate illiteracy from rural and tribal India. He is the Trustee of Global Vipassana Foundation - a trust set up to help people raise their spiritual quotient. He has also created the Brain Trust of India to identify and nurture the gifted children of the country.

Chandra finds himself in the Forbes list of India’s Richest, at the 29th position, with a net worth of $900 million. He was honoured by Ernst & Young with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award (1999). He was chosen as Business Standard’s Businessman of the Year in 1999. He was the Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for two successive years. He was also nominated for the Enterprising CEO of the year by International Brand Summit in 1999.
Chandra continues to lead by example.