Anil Rai Gupta, Chairman and Managing director of Havells India. Image: Madhu Kapparath
A small-town youngster from Punjab’s Gobindgarh decided to change his debt-ridden family’s fortune and moved to the capital city of India to set up a business. In 1958, first-generation entrepreneur Qimat Rai Gupta commenced his journey with savings of ₹10,000 from what is today well-known as Asia’s biggest wholesale market for electrical products—Bhagirath Palace. After working as a trader over the years, in 1971, he got an opportunity to become the owner of a supplier company that was on the brink of bankruptcy. Life was about to change for the unconventional founder, who acquired the blacklisted company Havells from Haveli Ram Gandhi.