Washington, DC – Starting from humble beginnings, Havells is a true rags to riches story that unfolded over the years in the largest democracy of the world. Forbes has come out with its 2018 list of the world’s richest billionaires, and Havells, represented by the mother and son duo Vinod and Anil Rai Gupta, feature prominently in the list. This year’s list includes 121 billionaires from India.
Drawing on their stakes of a 43% holding in Havells India, the duo not only feature in the 2018 list of Forbes’ India’s 100 richest people, they are also amongst India’s top 50 richest people. Run by young Anil, the flagship Havells makes everything from electrical and lighting fixtures to fans, refrigerators and washing machines.
Havells is the dream child of Vinod’s late husband Qimat Rai Gupta who started it in 1958 as a small electrical trading business in Old Delhi’s electrical market. Anil Rai Gupta in the book “Havells: The Untold Story of Qimat Rai Gupta, wrote: “QRG would tolerate no compromises. The products we made had to be the best.”
Today, Anil is the proverbial chip off the old block, continuing the legacy of delivering quality products. Havells boasts of 12 factories with an expansive presence in 40 countries.
Abid Hasan, a journalist with BW Businessworld aptly put it in an article last year: “As Anil Rai Gupta writes in the book, “QRG was a dreamer and a doer”. And the success of Havells India reflects in the legacy of a trader who started off by running Guptajee & Co., shop number 1831, Bhagirath Palace in Old Delhi.”
Tejinder Singh, Editor, India America Today & White House Correspondent