Welcome to the Rajiv Gandhi International airport, beams the voice of the air hostess once the plane is about to touch down at the airport in Hyderabad. Yes, the Hyderabad airport, the second largest in the world has been constructed by the GMR Group headed by none other than Manavadu (our own) Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao. Thanks to him and Telugu Desam supremo N Chandrababu Naidu, today Hyderabad is on the international map and boasts of wide roads and great connectivity.  

Born on December 14, 1950, in Rajam, Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, the country’s leading infrastructure developer has been ranked the world’s 198th richest and 18th in the country by international magazine Forbes.  

Beginning his career in jute mills, the astute businessman soon set up his own group and diversified into energy and infrastructure sectors. Winning the Hyderabad airport project in May 2000, the GMR group completed it to make it operational by March 16, 2008. He also won the bid to restructure the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital in 2007 for attracting tourists for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Lady luck shined on him, when the GMR Infrastructure bagged the contract for an international airport - Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGA) in Istanbul on July 10, 2007, along with its Hyderabad airport partner, Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB), and Limak, a Turkey construction company. The Hyderabad airport handles around 12 million passengers and the busiest Delhi airport terminal 3 nearly 37 million passengers.

The turnaround for GMR came in 1985 when he was appointed a director in Vysya Bank. He has often said that he has picked up the lessons of financial discipline and structuring of projects from his experience in the banking sector. After taking over the reins of the bank in 1994, Rao invited ING to shoulder responsibilities with the bank and helped scale down the non-performing assets (NPAs) of 15.6 percent to a mere 4.5 percent. He was also instrumental in offloading 50 percent stake in the bank to the Hyderabad airport project. 

Many insiders say that TDP supremo tipped Rao not to venture into brewery business as prohibition was in the politician’s mind if voted to power. Thus his foray into infrastructure was accidental. Before diversifying into the airport sector, GMR group focused on power projects in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It has also its hands full on hydro projects in Uttarakhand, Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh.

After failing in Class X, his father discontinued his studies and asked him to work in his family business. Being an obedient son, he spent two years in his father’s gold business, but soon convinced his mother to send him to school. Back in school, he scored well and went on to do engineering from Waltair’s engineering college.

Just like any other businessman, he has keen interest in cricket and is the proud owner of Delhi Daredevils. In April 2009, there were rumours of takeover of English football club Liverpool F.C.

In 2007, his net worth was estimated to be $2.6 billion and the philanthropist in him recently pledged $340 million (Rs 1,540 crore), an equivalent to his stakes in the infrastructure conglomerate, for educating the underprivileged in the society. In a statement released to the media, the GMR chief said that he had pledged his funds to the group’s charitable wing GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, which works across the globe focusing on education and vocational training for the marginalized sections of the society. Rao said that he believed it was his responsibility to give back to the society in which one thrives.

In short, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao has taken a leaf from IT giant Azim Premji, who donated Rs 8,000 crore by transferring a small part of his stake in Wipro to his foundation for improving primary education in 2010. In 2009, Reliance Industries created a foundation and set aside Rs 500 crore for providing affordable healthcare and rural development. HCL founder Shiv Nadar too set aside Rs 580 crore to strengthen the country’s education framework.

For the smooth functioning of the company, GMR has set international standards for the family. A family constitution has been adopted in black and white giving details of Rao’s successor, qualifications of family members to enter the family business (they must be management graduates), their remuneration and perks among others. In an interview to a business daily, Rao said that they decided on applying rules to help the family to stay united and resolve all issues and differences within it.

It is believed that the writing of the family constitution took four years and has provisions for all eventualities. There is an option of family fund for those opting for other professions, a family board constituted of men to run the business and another for women to cater to their needs. Some benchmarks have also been set to monitor the performance of family members every six months. Rao believes in the policy of good family governance apart from good corporate governance.

One may wonder who are his heroes? He proclaimed in an interview that it was Dhirubhai Ambani and J R D Tata, Ambani for being daring and Tata for building institutions. According to GMR, one needs both qualities to succeed and leave a mark behind.