Kishore Biyani

Born on August 9, 1961 into a small trading family, Biyani started his first business enterprise selling stonewash fabric to small shops in Mumbai. Famous for his unconventional style of running the business he was initially written off by the media. He is a commerce graduate with a post-graduate diploma in marketing management. He has over 25 years of experience in the field of manufacturing and retailing of ready-made garments.He is the Managing Director of PRIL. Over the years, he has led the emergence of Pantaloons Retail as the leading retailer in the country.

Led by its flagship enterprise Pantaloon Retail, today operates around 16 million square feet of retail space in over 85 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across India. Headquartered in Mumbai it employs around 35,000 people and is listed on the Indian stock exchanges. Presently, the company’s existing food retail chains comprise the no-frills, small format KB’s fair price stores, Food Bazaar and Food Rite. Foodhall will be the fourth organized food retailing chain in the group’s portfolio. Targeting affluent consumers its aim is to tap the urban Indian consumer who wants to experiment with both imported food items like wines and chocolates and grocery regulars like exotic spices and organic lentils.

He recently authored the book, ‘It Happened In India.’ which traces his struggle, failures, restlessness, and sheer grit. The book has sold some 100,000 copies, more than any other business book published in India so far. Often been called ‘the Sam Walton of India,’ Biyani’s success is a classic example of how deep insights can create an impregnable differentiator among your competition which are purely led by observations and theoretical market research reports.

AWARDS

• The 'CEO of the Year - 2001',

• The most Admired Retailer of the Year 2004',

• The 'Retail Face of the Year - Images Retail Awards 2005'

• The 'E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Services 2006'.