Subrata Roy

Subrata Roy Sahara is an Indian businessman who was born on 10 June 1948 at Araria. As a child he was always a bright student and went on to hold a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Government Technical Institute, Gorakhpur.

As the Managing Worker & Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, Shri Subrata Roy Sahara started his stupendous journey with a vision backed by the belief that “emotion is the key to success”.

In the year 1978, he opened a small office in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh). He started with savings of Rs. 2000 and a Lambretta scooter. His office consisted of a table and two chairs and a staff of one clerk and a runner boy. Initially he single handedly took up the business of Deposits and Para - banking.

In a span of just 29 years, the Sahara India Pariwar has grown from just 42 depositors in all and a single establishment in the beginning to over 6.1 crore depositors through 1707 establishments, across the nation. He has created an empire of over Rs.50,000 crore which is now recognized as one of the fastest growing business groups in the country.

Throughout Subrata Roy's life, his aim was to create a family and not just a company. The fact that he always considered his position as that of "The Chief Guardian" of the ‘World's Largest Family’ - Sahara India Pariwar is the biggest achievement of his life.

Subrata Roy Sahara is an Indian businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Sahara India Pariwar. He also owns Pune Warriors India, Grosvenor House, Aamby Valley City and has 42.5% stake in Force India.

He is named among the 10 Most Powerful People of India by India Today. He founded Sahara India Pariwar in 1978. In 2004, the group was termed by the Time magazine as ‘the second largest employer in India after the Indian Railways’.

His journey with the Sahara Group began in 1978 with an initial asset base of just USD 43. From there, it went on to become the largest conglomerate of India with a diversified range of business interests. Before Subrata Roy founded the Sahara Group, he had already gathered 32 years of precious experience in business development along with 18 years of experience in real estate business.

The flagship real estate project Sahara City Homes is a chain of townships. It is proposed to be across 217 cities in India. Recently it has launched Sahara Grace brand Phase II is an outcome of the success achieved by Phase I of its residential complex at Kochi. Sahara is has constructed an eco-friendly self-contained residential city called Amby Valley in Maharashtra near Mumbai Pune expressway. The city is spread over 10000 acres of land.

Subrata Roy Sahara owns the national Hindi News Channel Samay, consisting of 36 cities specific regional news channels Sahara Samay, Sahara One, general entertainment channel and a Hindi movie channel Filmy. Sahara Samay received the "Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award" in 2008 for its network newsroom technology.

Subrata Roy Sahara is engaged in business of producing, marketing and distribution of motion pictures in Hindi and other regional Indian languages. Its successes include Bewafaa, Page 3, Sarkar, No Entry, and Wanted. Subrata Roy Sahara is creating a Film City to provide filmmakers with everything they need to make films, television software and commercials. The existing infrastructure of the Film City will be renovated and equipped with the most modern and latest technology.

AWARDS

He has been conferred the ITA – TV Icon of the Year (2007)

He has received the Global Leadership Award (2004)

He was also awarded the Businessman of the Year Award (2002), the Best Industrialist Award (2002) and the National Citizen Award (2001) for his entrepreneurship skills.

He was also the proud recipient of Karmaveer Samman (1995), Udyamshree (1994), Baba-ERozgar (1992) and Noble Citizen Award (1986).