As the head o the Hinduja family, Srichand has contributed a lot to develop the inherited business by establishing its offices and industries in various parts of the world, and simultaneously depleting a major portion of their earned wealth for philanthropic cause in India and abroad. Globally famous with the name of Hinduja brothers the brothers include Srichand-70, Gopichand-47, Prakash-42 and Ashok-38. Gopichand runs the Gotco, having the main Tehran contacts, and travels there frequently. Prakash lives in Geneva

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In this process, the Hindujas made their major business advances in 1960s and 1970s when Raza Pahalvi, the Shah (king) of Iran decided to restore the glory of the old Persian Empire. He thus, wanted to build a world class infrastructure in his country. Since Iran was in need of the top quality goods and services, it was Hindujas who provided them adequately. When Mr. Parmanand expired in 1971, the business baton was taken over by his son, Srichand, who along with his younger brothers took the business to the new heights. After the 1979 revolution in Iran, he moved to London, thereby making enterprising avenues to the European markets, and also taking over companies in India and other parts of the world. An aura of financial strength has undoubtedly followed the Hindujas from Bombay to Tehran and then to London, and now they have made their financial base in New York. 

All these happened in such a way that being the eldest among the brothers, Srichand initially looked after the family business and then he assigned his brothers with the work of running the various ventures in different parts of the world. Despite being one of the world's richest Indians, Srichand never allowed any snobbery to overwhelm his soft and suave nature. With his rich inheritance from his father, great commercial acumen, and unshaken sangfroid he proved himself not only as a responsible head of the family but also a successful entrepreneur the world knows and can learn from him. Now he spends much of his time in Manhattan's Trump Tower, where he owns a £6 million penthouse.

Today, the Hinduja Group has become one of the largest transnational business conglomerates in the world with its diversified operations, spanning through all the continents. The Group has over 25,000 employees and many offices around the globe including all the big cities in India. Being the eldest member of his family, Srichand played the role of a father in loving and guiding his younger brothers in all walks of life. He is one of the richest Indians in the world whose business over four continents and ranges from international trading to finance, asset management, manufacturing, energy and oil. Besides, Srichand is also the Chairman of the IndusInd International Federation, which is headquartered at Port Louis, Mauritius. He has set up this foundation to channel investments from the Sindhis residing overseas. When the Group took over the Ashok Leyland (a truck manufacturing company) in 1987, they grew their concentration in India. Besides, the Group also has interest in Lufthansa Cargo and Gulf Oil. Their other businesses range from film, finance, telecommunications and oil. One thing always remains unflinching in the Hindujas' source of finance that they continue to be the traders at heart. Though they own the power stations, bus and truck plants and cable television, trading has always remained to be their chief preoccupation and source of income.

When the propelling business of the Hinduja Group speaks about Srichand's wisdom and commercial acumen, the virtues he inherited from his father suffice to prove his instinct that makes him gluing to his father's way of life and thoughts. "My dharma is to work so that I can give" was my father's philosophy, proudly exclaims Srichand. Thus, he follows the footsteps of his father in his dealings and philanthropic preoccupation. As the believers and followers of the Gita, the Hindujas give charity in abundance. Srichand is

deeply concerned about serving the humanity in distress as his deep feelings are seen being crystallised into the establishment of the Hinduja Foundationthe family's philanthropic institution, which is actively engaged in helping the needy people suffering from poverty and other predicaments. The Foundation parcels out millions of dollars into hospitals, orphanages, schools, cultural projects, environmental programmes, AIDS awareness & benefits, sports support, science and dharma research. The Foundation also works closely with the Bharat Vidya Bhavan Cultural Society. 

Under the matured guidance and expert management of Srichand, the Hindujas have done a good deal of humanitarian services. Since 1984, they have been associated with the Cambridge University in England to discharge human obligations. In 1992, they established the Hinduja Cambridge Trust with US$3.5 million for giving scholarships to the Indian students and also to Hinduja Cambridge Scholars at the Centre of the South Asian Studies. Due to Srichand's deep interest in the Vedic teachings, he worked devoutly for the dissemination of Vedas in India and abroad by establishing the institutions in various countries. Thus, the biggest and most bolstering project, which the Hindujas have implemented so far, is the Vedic research centres having been established in India, Europe and the USA. As per a report, US$200 million goes into the endowment for these institutions. A workshop on the European Centre for Vedic Research was held in May 1993, which was attended by the academicians from twelve European universities. Besides, in collaboration with the ISKCON, the Foundation is funding the construction of the ISKCON Hinduja Glory of India, the Vedic Cultural Centre on three acres of land outside New Delhi.

The factor behind the development of Srichand's penchant for the Vedas is believed to be the tragic passing away of his son; his son when alive, used to persuade him towards teaching. He unravels with heavy heart: "I am not educated in the scriptures. I do not even know Sanskrit. It was my son, Dharam who led me into the Vedas. He was steeped in the scriptures, and when he passed away in such tragic circumstances, I stepped aside from the family business and started taking more interests in these subjects. My three brothers look after the business and I am always available to them. But now my interests are in those areas that Dharam was so keen on".

As a man of fair and unbiased nature, Srichand's studies of Vedas speak unique concepts and ideologies, which are hardly revealed by the religious scholars and saints in these days. He remarks, "There are many popular misconceptions about Hinduism. The obvious one is the fact that we tend to see it as a religion or a faith. Nowhere in the scriptures there is any reference to Hinduism or for that matter, to Hindutva as it is now described". He also describes, "Dharma is not a religion. It is the law that governs all actions. For centuries the world has been misinterpreting it, and most of the misconceptions about Hinduism have come out of this very misinterpretation. Words such as Hindu or Hinduism are anachronisms. They did not exist in our cultural lexicon. We coined them to suit our needs in different points of history. They ought to be re-examined, re-assessed and re-valued".

When Srichand does the business dealings, he is found to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs the world has ever created since the blood running in his veins is from a business family. At such occasions, he turns a pucca businessman, adopting all practicalities required in this sphere. However, the other side of his personality is quite different as he is found to be devoted to human services with a deep love for his motherland, traditional values and culture. The more interesting fact is that every member of his Group is encouraged to practise the Vedic principles of work since the teaching goes thus, "Service with devotion and willingness to see fulfilment of one's self-interest in

the active promotion of the interest of the collective". Besides, a great emphasis is laid on mutual trust, respect, cohesion and co-operation, which are considered as the key organisational guidelines. Nevertheless, the sound modern management practices are also given primacy within the individual companies of the Group as well as at the corporate level. 

In their companies, the professionals are assigned with the independent charge of their diversified activities. There is a high premium on healthy internal competition, incentives to the executives and the employees for competing over one another and appreciating good performances. Under the guidance of Srichand, the Group throughout its life history, has shown a strong commitment to creation of better understanding among the people and the governments of different countries of the world. Creating harmonious atmosphere and extending co-operation among their hostlands, consisting of Iran and U.K., and their motherland, India has been an article of faith for Srichand who has been a well-wisher of the people of these countries. 

On the other hand, when he speaks on religions, their practicalities in human life, he appears to be a great scholar and philosopher as his words are full of logic and virtual wisdom. He enunciates, "Jesus was not a Christian. Buddha was not a Buddhist. Mahavir was not a Jain. Moses was not a Jew. Nanak was not a Sikh. They were all great teachers who arrived at critical moments of history and imparted simple solutions based on love, faith and harmony. It was their followers who created religions and sects, which led to distinction among men, often leading to conflicts instead of love and peace they spoke of".

Srichand though a holder of the British Passport, is found to be virtually a world citizen. Wherever he moves, he cordially mingles with the people and thinks about the crucial issues, especially related to the upliftment of the poor and needy sections of humanity. He organises grand parties in London but the menu is always vegetarian, as all of four brothers are strict teetotaller, non-smoker and vegetarian. When the Hindujas celebrated Diwali festival in 1999 at the Alexandra Palace in London, the invitees included many internationally renowned celebrities and dignitaries. There was Prime Minister Tony Blair with a resplendently dressed Cherie. She had been clad with an orange-and-white embroidered shalwar-kameez costing £1,000. The costume was designed by the Britain's prominent designer, Nita Lulla, and it was hand-picked by none but Srichand's daughter. Among the other guests were Margaret Thatcher, John Major, the Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Charles Kennedy, Peter Mandelson, and Jeffrey Archerthe aspirant of London's first elected Mayor, Keith Vaz and the Britain's highest-ranking Asian diplomats. Thus, the Diwali festival of lights turns a legendary event whenever it is celebrated by the Hindujas in London.

On the eve of Diwali's gala night, Srichand came out of his catharsis and spoke before the people: "I want to contribute to the Dome because I don't agree when we talk about Hindus or Christians, because we are all human beings. It's only which faith people follow that has created differences between us". And thus, one more instance of Srichand's magnanimity came to the limelight when he donated £1million to the Dome project. This goes to prove not only the generous attribute of his personality but also his cosmopolitan nature. 

His rapport and friendship with the people of the world's highest strata also vindicate the high standing of Srichand. The former Prime Minister of the U.K., Edward Heath has been associated with the Hindujas' charitable foundation. William P Clark, a close friend of President Reagan and the former head of the National Security Council, admits that he

was compensated by the Hindujas in performing the unspecified services. Besides, Hugh Carless the former British Ambassador to Venezuela works for the Hinduja brothers in London. A.P.Venkateswaran, a former Indian Foreign Secretary, is the President of the Hindujas' foundation in India. A former Governor of the Central Bank of Iran is their Chief Financial Advisor in London. All these speak of Srichand's high-profile connection and credibility in the world.As far as the healthcare services are concerned, Srichand is always found to be ahead working for the suffering humanity. The P.D.Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre in Mumbai, ASCI-Hinduja Institute of Healthcare Management (HIHM), P.D.Hinduja Sindhi Charitable Hospital and International Commission on Health Research for Development are the medical centres, which are facilitated with all the modern amenities and the equipments needed to treat the patients suffering from various diseases. 

The P.D.Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Centre was established in Central Mumbai by the Hinduja Foundation in collaboration with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston. It was the fulfilment of the Founder, Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja's dream and which became possible only with the personal intervention of Srichand Hinduja. The 351-bed hospital offers comprehensive services, covering the entire gamut from diagnosis and investigation to therapy, surgery and post-operative care. The HIHM is a specialised healthcare management where highly trained professionals are the backbone of health services. The Hinduja Foundation and the renowned Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) have come together repairing the lacunae in this field. Resultantly, ASCI-HIHM now offers a post graduate programme in healthcare education. Designed to international standard, the course was developed in association with the renowned John Hopkins University (JHU), Baltimore, USA. The visiting JHU Faculty and the ASCI-HIHM faculty take the assigned course modules for each batch. The P.D.Hinduja Sindhi Charitable Hospital, which was established by the Hinduja Foundation, works in close association with the Sindhi Youth Association to ensure the excellent medical services to the people of Bangalore. Similarly, the International Commission on Health Research for Development is also active in providing its respective medical services. 

Though Srichand has a good number of business establishments and industries as well as offices in India, he remains worried about India's progress and future. He ponders over the investments to be attracted from the overseas Indians for the infrastructural development in this country. He says, "India is quite capable of attracting an FDI of US$100 billion from the developed nations for infrastructure growth if only clear and simple procedural norms could be introduced by the government to make it easier to bring in money. The budget must be investor-friendly and attract funds for infrastructure growth". He further suggests that donations to the political parties should be regulated as per open and transparent norms and accepted as approved expenditure for tax purposes, as this is the only way to fight corruption and crimes. 

Thus, the deep concern that Srichand Hinduja nourishes for India and the Indians makes him a true patriotic. Being an Indian at heart and carrying the burning flame of India's cultural heritage does not however, diminish his human sympathies for the mankind. The domain of his philanthropic deeds transcends all the geographical boundaries as well as ideological regimentations. That is what makes him an epic character and an icon among the biz-titans, whom India can rightly boast of.

Hinduja Group

The Hinduja Group is owned by Srichand Hinduja and his brother Gopichand Hinduja, more simply known as the Hinduja brothers for short. It was founded in 1914 by Parmamnand Deepchand Hinduja, initially operating in Mumbai, and setting up its first international operation in Iran in 1919.

The headquarters of the Group moved to Iran where it remained until 1979, when theislamic revolution forced it to move to Europe. Srichand Hinduja and his brother Gopichand moved to London in 1979 to develop their father's export business.

Subsidiaries

The Hinduja Group incorporates:

Ashok Leyland

Gulf Oil

Hinduja Bank Switzerland

Indus Ind

Hinduja Global Solutions (formerly named HTMT Global Solutions)

Hinduja TMT

Hinduja Ventures

IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd.

Hinduja Foundries

P D Hinhuja Hospital

Defiance Technologies Limited

Ashok Leyland Ltd

The Hinduja Group bought into Ashok Leyland, India’s second largest HCV manufacturer,[1] in 1987. It was the Group’s first foray into India.

The company has a large export market, including a 65% plus market share in Sri Lanka (in

the 16 ton plus category) and also enjoys a similar market share in the bus segment

in Dubai. During 2003-2005, the company executed an order of 3322 trucks for Iran under

the UN’s oil and food programme, the largest ever in the Indian commercial vehicle

industry.

The company is also a pioneer in CNG) buses and special vehicles for the armed forces,

both of which have opened up additional export opportunities for the company.

The company currently produces 84,000 vehicles per annum, with a target of 100,000

vehicles for the year. A new vehicle assembly plant - a joint venture with Ras Al Khaimah

Investment Authority (RAKIA) is being prepared in the UAE, which was projected to be on

stream by March 2008....

The company is in the process of taking over the Detroit based "Defiance Testing &

Engineering Services" (DTE), which supplies major American car manufacturers.

Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd

The chemical hub of the Hinduja Group was strengthened by the merger of Gulf Oil and

IDL Industries Ltd , which became effective from 1 January 2002. The merger enabled the

Hinduja Group to consolidate its position in the Indian chemical segment.

The Company currently has four major operating Divisions:

Commercial Explosives - handling explosives, detonators, explosive bonded metal

clads and special devices for defense and space applications. Has eight plants in India,

its Hyderabad plant being the largest detonator manufacturing facility in the world (192

million per annum). It is the largest exporter of explosives and detonators to 21

countries, including the Phillipines and countries in South East Asia, North Africa, the

Persian Gulf, the Middle East, and Southern Europe.

Lubricants - lubricants, greases, and car accessories. Set up in 1993, and now the

second largest private sector lubricant oil manufacturer in India.

Mining and Infrastructure - undertakes large scale mining services in coal and iron

ore, plus services to the infrastructure sector such as underground metro railways and

national highways. Currently it is executing two large projects for Coal India Ltd. The

Division has a major presence in the iron ore mining sector where it is working in very

large mines rich in iron ore.

Speciality Chemicals - manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients,

intermediates, and finished forms such as tablets, capsules, injectables and liquids.

Also undertakes contract research and development services. Manufacturing based in

Hyderabad.

Gulf Oil International

Gulf Oil International, which operates from London offices, is one of the largest petroleum

companies and petroleum product traders in the world, operating in more than 83 countries

through a network of own companies, joint ventures, licensees, and distributors. It employs

more than 3000 people directly worldwide, with indirect employment touching more than

30,000.

It has filling stations in most countries in Europe, parts of South America, and Indonesia. It

also markets car batteries, car care products, vehicle air filters, lubrication machinery, and

specialty chemicals in many countries. The company operates its exclusive Gulf Express

chain of car service centres in Saudi Arabia and is planning to expand into Bahrain and

other countries in the Middle East. It is also reported to be considering setting up a base oil

refinery in India and a chain of service stations.

Gulf Oil International is also one of the biggest petroleum product traders in the world, with

a large plant in China and expanding into the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific

Region, with entries announced into Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and China, and massive

expansion projects in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and India.

IndusInd Bank Ltd

IndusInd Bank is a leading private sector bank, and is the only Indian bank to have been

founded by NRIs), and the only commercial bank in India to receive ISO 9001:2000

certification for its branch network. It began its operation in 1994 with

a capital of Rs 1 billion and with a focus on corporate and SME lending, and following its

merger with Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd (ALFL) in 2004, has had an increasing emphasis

on retail banking, and has grown into a bank with capital of Rs 10 billion and assets of

around Rs 200 billion. It has a customer base in excess of 1.5 million and a network of 170

branches.

The Bank has representative overseas offices in Dubai and London, and correspondent

banking relationships with 335 banks worldwide. In the recent past, the Bank has also

entered into strategic alliances with Union National Bank in the United Arab Emirates

and Doha bank in Qatar to enhance its NRI business. The Bank’s national reach is

extended further through its marketing arrangements for loan products through an

associate firm, IndusInd Marketing and Financial Services, which has more than 745

marketing outlets across the country. The Bank has secured high domestic investment-

grade ratings for its financial instruments.

Hinduja Foundries Ltd

Hinduja foundries is a five decades old, professionally managed company catering to the

casting needs of the developing automobile OEMs in India. It has three manufacturing

plants in operation in Southern India. Around 30 % of the vehicles rolled out in India

(cars, commercial vehicles and tractors) have major castings supplied by the company. A

modern new green field foundry was setup in Sriperumbudur near Chennai with a state-of-

the-art R&D centre and starts its production in 2007.

Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd.

Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd. (formerly HTMT Global Solutions) commenced its IT

operations in 1993. It provides outsourcing solutions including back office processing,

contact center, and Customized IT services to a global clientele comprising several Fortune

500 companies. Hinduja Global Solutions began as an IT consulting firm specializing in

providing solutions centered on a mainframe platform, in partnership with IBM. In 1995, the

company entered corporate training in mainframes.

The company has over 9500 employees with offices in North America and London

InCablenet is one of the companies which come under the umbrella of Hinduja TMT or

HTMT. It is part of its foray into Media and Communications.

P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre

The is a modern multi-speciality hospital with a medical research center set up in

collaboration with  (MGH), Boston. The hospital has an capacity of over 350 beds including

of 53 critical care beds in different specialties. As a tertiary care hospital, it offers services

covering investigations & diagnosis to therapy, surgery, and post-operative care. (2006).

Defiance Technologies Limited

Defiance Technologies, a Hinduja Group Company, is a leading provider of Engineering,

ERP and IT services to global customers leveraging the Global Delivery Model. Founded in

1976 in USA, Defiance was later acquired by the Hinduja Group and has a long history of

serving top global companies with over 120 global clients including 30 of the Fortune 500

companies. Headquartered at Chennai, India, Defiance has world class development

centers at Chennai and Bangalore in India, and state-of-the-art testing facilities at Troy and

Westland, Michigan. Defiance has business offices in USA, Europe, Middle East, South

Africa and India.

Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) Ltd

Hinduja Bank has its headquarters in Geneva and has a developed network in Switzerland

including offices in Lucerne, Zurich, St Margrethen and Basle. Additionally it has a global

presence in London, Dubai, Paris, New York, Mauritius and Chennai. Over the years, its

businesses have expanded to include Wealth Management, Trade Finance Services,

Global Investment Solutions and Corporate Finance Services. More details are available

here

The Hinduja Group, an elite business group headed by Indian brothers favorites to buy the major stake in Optare. Presently, the Hinduja’s own a stake of 26 percent in the company through Asok Leyland, an HCV manufacturer.

The biggest challenge to Hinduja Group is Alexander Dennis, a UK based bus and coach manufacturers group backed by Sir. Brian Souter as they are also trying to get hold of a chief share in Optare.

An amount of 12 million pounds, as a loan deal has been offered by Hinduja Group to Optare and they have asked for a share placing of 4 million in return which will increase their shares to 75.1 percent, thrice the current share. The final decision will be made in a general meeting of Optare where shareholders will be voting    to decide which company should own the major shares.

Hinduja Group is a multi-national company founded in the year 1914 which has its headquarters in London. The group is owned by Srichand Hinduja and Gopichand Hinduja, who are generally known as the Hinduja brothers.  Hinduja Group achieved the Life achievement award instituted by the Asian Business awards in the year 2010

Hinduja Group, controlled by billionaire brothers Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, has acquired Belgian banking & insurance group KBC NV’s private bank for $1.69 billion to expand its wealth-management business in Europe and Asia.

Hinduja Group, based in Mumbai, plans to complete the purchase of Luxembourg-based KBL European Pvt Bankers SA, which has 47.4 billion euros of assets under management, in the third quarter. Brussels-based KBC said it will take a charge of about 300 million euros in the current quarter.

KBL employs 466 private bankers in 10 European countries, adding to Hinduja’s wealth-management business in Switzerland.

“We like KBL because its European subsidiaries are not branches, but banks with separate regulatory bodies and a local culture,” chairman Srichand Hinduja said in a telephone interview from London. “It is a good opportunity to provide access to India, the West Asia and Asia,” he said, adding that KBL’s clients won’t be affected by the change of control.

The Hinduja family, whose other assets include controlling stakes in Ashok Leyland Ltd, India’s second-biggest truckmaker, and chemicals maker Gulf Oil Ltd, is paying 2.85% of assets under management for KBL, less than the 3.42% Julius Baer Group Ltd agreed to pay for ING Groep NV’s Swiss private bank in October.

The divestment is the largest to date by KBC in a restructuring plan required by the European Commission in return for 7 billion euros of state aid. Hinduja will push further into Europe, adding to its private bank in Switzerland.

The KBL brand will be retained and the operation will continue to be headquartered in Luxembourg, KBC said.

“The sale price is below our expectations,” Albert Ploegh, an analyst at ING Wholesale Banking in Amsterdam who has a “hold” recommendation on KBC shares, wrote in a note to clients. “In our view, the recent sovereign debt worries impacting stock markets across the globe did help in the negotiations.”

Belgium’s biggest bank and insurer by market value agreed to sell the private bank to cut weighted risks and accumulate surplus capital. KBC needs to reimburse 7 billion euros of government funds it received in the past two years to help cushion against declines in the value of collateralised debt obligations.

KBC will suffer a 300 million-euro loss on the transaction because the takeover price falls short of the sum of KBL’s book value and outstanding goodwill in KBC’s accounts.

KBC was advised by JPMorgan Chase & Co, while Deutsche Bank AG and Spencer House Partners LLP worked with Hinduja Group on the transaction.

The number of people in the Asia-Pacific region with more than $1 million to invest will increase 38% to 3.6 million by late 2011, surpassing a projected 3.3 million in the US and 2.9 million in Europe, according to a report by consultants Booz & Co that was published last month.

Karen Robinson Published: 9 October 2011Ashok and GP HindujaThe name Hinduja means big money in any language. In the Sunday Times Rich List, GP and SP Hinduja, the two London-based brothers of the four who between them command their global business empire from India, Switzerland and the UK, are ranked number 9. The pair’s joint wealth is “cautiously” valued at £6 billion.

Building on the work of their father, the brothers have built the Hinduja group into a colossal concern, and it would be a lot quicker to list the areas of commerce they are not involved in than to enumerate all their interests, which, broadly, involve industry, new technology, services and finance. They employ more than 40,000 people.

When we met two of the brothers, Ashok, 60, and GP, 71, in their offices in Mumbai, the conversation took some illuminating directions.

Influence A letter from GP to prime minister Manmohan Singh had come to light in the Indian press, in which he complains of setbacks in the development of a power station. “Our interest of developing a total of 10,000 megawatt power projects over the next 10 years has been somewhat dampened by various obstacles ...” he writes. Among the problems listed were the shortfall in committed coal supplies to power projects at competitive prices, delays in approvals from various ministries, and the lack of co-ordination between central and state governments on developing infrastructure. This state of affairs, GP warns, “will send a wrong signal to investors”.So did the letter make a difference? How much influence do the Hindujas have over the government? Ashok takes the long way round the question. “We have been sending these letters to successive prime ministers, informing them of what the results would be from reform. We had to fight with the ‘Bombay club’, our own brother industrialists here, who were worried that if reforms come in, how will they be able to compete? If there is more transparency, if the international world comes in, how will they be able to match their qualities?

“And we always used to tell them that the sooner there is transparency in reforms, everything will keep on upgrading. Today, you can compare India with the international world. If you came here in 1985, what would you find on the street? Hindustans [modelled on the Morris Oxford] had about 80% of the market. Now look at the Ferraris, the Mercedes-Benzes.

“So,” he smiles. “Now you get the influence, whether we have it or we don’t.”

Corruption“I think what is happening [the corruption scandals] is a blessing in disguise — automatically it is taking us towards the best practices,” says Ashok. “I have a very good friend, he told me whenever he used to go to the court to get anything registered or to file an application, the junior officers used to get a ‘fee’, baksheesh. But now they are not accepted.”“Well,” counters GP, “in one night they will not go. But the percentage is reducing.”

Entrepreneurship“The DNA of an Indian is basically inbuilt entrepreneurship. So many are uneducated, or just to school level, but if he goes on to a job, or engineering training, he becomes one of the experts,” says GP.EducationAshok says: “All the entrepreneurs who have gone and got educated abroad are aided professionally. Acceptability in the western world comes with qualifications. They come back home, they get better salaries.“You will soon find the best universities in the world here in India, joining hands with the local universities. In the last two years, practically all the heads of the best western universities have visited. Why? Because they see development opportunities.

“And then there will be no need for our Indian children to go abroad.”

Growth areasWhere do they think today’s young entrepreneurs should be looking for opportunities?For Ashok, “the best sectors today in the country are health, education, infrastructure, retail, consumer items and food. And I’ll tell you, Britain has technology. This can play a

very important role in the growth of these sectors. They will find difficulty in entering, but look at Unilever’s success, isn’t it a good story? [Hindustan Unilever Ltd, owned by European company Unilever, is one of India’s largest consumer goods companies. Its personal care, food and household products are available in nearly 80% of the country’s retail outlets.]

“There are many [international] companies based here, and I think that not only has their market share in the world improved because of their success in India, but they have taken a lot of knowledge from here.”

Defence “The other big market is defence,” adds GP. “India is now spending a huge amount — part of the economic growth is there. The world is looking towards India to see how India should now grow. So defence is the sector, and internal security systems — this will have a great market.“And the government has modified its policy on public-private partnership to allow more in those sectors.”

The Hindujas themselves are in discussions with UK-based Chemring Group to set up a defence joint venture in India, which will manufacture products for military and internal security. Under the current regulations, foreign companies are allowed to invest up to 26% in such projects.

LoadsamoneyIndia is awash with tax-free cash, says Ashok — and not just in the cities. Small farmers selling land for development are also getting rich.“I was in Hyderabad in a Toyota showroom, and a farmer in a dhoti came in asking the prices,” recounts Ashok. The salesman was a bit snooty, but the farmer persisted, and having announced that he would take one of each of the five models, had the “gunny bag brought in from the back seat of his truck. They counted the cash out: the equivalent of £110,000. We have a parallel economy, and because money is available we must provide for the demand. If products are not available, the prices will go up.”

One unanswered question: what was one of the world’s richest men doing hanging around a provincial Toyota dealership?

BACKGROUND

There are four Hinduja brothers: Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok, the youngest, who stays in Bombay. Srichand is head of the Hinduja Group. Like a traditional Indian family, when in London the generations all live together in a suite of flats in Carlton House Terrace, off The Mall. There are also homes in New York's Trump Tower, in Washington and Geneva.

Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja control a multi-billion pound international business empire based in London. They own companies registered in the Bahamas, Panama, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Luxembourg. Both Srichand and Gopichand live in London, Prakash in Switzerland. They are Britain's richest Asians worth an estimated £1.3 billion. Their business empire was built up by their father, Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja, who died in 1971, and they are aided in the businesses by their own sons, Sanjay, Ajay, Ramkrishan and Dheeraj.

Their business empire includes Gulf Oil International, cable networks, chemicals and pharmaceuticals interests. Gulf Oil Trading Company (or Gotco) is run largely by Gopichand from London and used to have links with the former Saudi oil minister, Sheikh Yamani. Some of their business operations are shrouded in secrecy, particularly the links with Iran. Srichand handled the family's trading business in Tehran, where the group really built the foundations of its empire. The brothers did a flourishing trade in textiles, sugar and tea reportedly making its millions selling potatoes and onions to the Shah of Iran among other things - rumours persist that large chunks of their fortune came from gunrunning. Since then they have switched to metals, machinery and fertilisers, although there is bewilderment that they managed to build up such vast riches on such run-of-the-mill businesses. The group took over Ashok Leyland (ALL) in 1987 as their flagship business, however it has recently hit got into trouble and has announced that it is to cut 1,000 - 1,500 jobs over the next two years from its current workforce of 13,600.

They recently attempted to buy Express newspapers for £100m, but were pipped to the post by Richard Desmond. The Hindujas were part of a consortium budding to take control of Air India when it was privatised. A decision is due in July on whether the two remaining bidders (the Hinduja consortium and Singapore Airlines/Tata Group) meet their minimum requirements. The Hinduja bid was put forward jointly by their Madras-based bus-maker Ashok Leyland and a subsidiary of Germany's Lufthansa. Analysts expect the bid by Singapore Airlines/Tata Group to win.

Readers of these pages will know them because they donated £1 million to the Dome's Faith Zone. The money came via the Hinduja Foundation, which funds health and cultural projects throughout the world. Before the Dome, their most famous cause in Britain was the Hindu temple at Neasden, North London, to which they contributed £250,000. Srichand's "passion" for bringing together the religions of the world springs from a family tragedy - his son Dharam, heir to the family empire, defied their wishes by marrying a girl outside his faith. The lovers eloped to Mauritius and Dharam later died after apparently setting himself on fire.

THAT FAMOUS BOFORS ARMS SCANDAL

At one time, a newspaper or magazine which published words Bofors and Hinduja in the same sentance risked ending up in court. On the 8th November, 2000, the Hindjas served the London-based Asian Age with a writ accusing the newspaper of publishing defamatory statements and seeking an apology. The Hindujas had already obtained apologies from various British newspapers with regard to reports on the Bofors case in which they are accused. The Hinduja's solicitors, Schilling and Lom and Partners, said in a press statement that the Asian Age had published numerous "false and defamatory statements" about the Hinduja brothers over a protracted period of time. Still, that type of thing doesn't scare us here at Not The Millennium Dome, so here goes .....

It all began on 14th March, 1986 when Former Indian PM Rajiv Ghandi's government signed a contract with a Swedish defence manufacturer called A B Bofors. The deal was to purchase 400 188mm Howitzer guns for the Indian Army and was worth around £950 million ($1.4 billion). About a year later, allegations broke on Swedish radio that massive bribes were paid by Bofors to Indian politicians and beaurocrats prior to the award of the contract. Rajiv Gandhi denied any involvement in the bribes, however the allegations against the Indian government continued with the resignations of two of the Rajiv's aides, Finance Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Defence Minster Arun Singh. A joint parliamentary report submitted a year later, and another report the year after that, by the Comptroller Accounts General (CAG) was described as a whitewash of Ghandi's role in the

scandal. The Indian Opposition resigned enmasse from the Lok Sabha on 26th July, 1989 in protest and this set in motion the campaign which resulted in the defeat of the Rajiv Gandhi's government in national elections at the end of the year. The Janata-Dal party won and barred Bofors from entering into any contract with India. It also began to investigate the case, however this was overtaken by political events of one sort or another and the case was buried until the end of 1991 when a Swedish journalist published a sensational report giving fresh details about the arms deal. The scandal continued to dog successive Indian governments particularly after the Swiss courts, in 1993, ordered the release of the details of secret Swiss bank accounts in which the Bofors bribes were alleged to have paid. Finally, in January, 1997, the first lot of secret Swiss bank documents were handed over to India. Almost immediately afterwards, the CBI constituted a Special Investigative Team to investigate and proceeded to question key army generals in charge when the deal was signed. In February, 1997, the CBI named Italian businessman and close friend of the Gandhi family, Ottavio Quattrochi, his wife Maria, international arms dealer Win Chaddha, his wife Kanta and son Harsh as recipients of Bofors bribes in the Swiss bank accounts. Two days later, the Indian government issued extradition requests to Malaysia and UAE for Quattrochi and Chaddha, who were based in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai. In 2000 the CBI completed the chargesheet and placed it before the Indian Court and on 9th October, charged-sheeted Martin Ardbo, the former Bofors managing director; Win Chadha, its former agent in India; Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi; and SK Bhatnagar, a former Indian civil servant in the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand Hinduja are alledged to have received bribes, totalling 81 million Swedish Kroners (£8 million at currnt worth) to "facilitate" the deal, again into their Swiss bank accounts. However the Hindajus claim that the payments from Bofors were unrelated to the arms deal. The CBI alleges that the Hinduja brothers are believed to be behind secret coded Swiss accounts in the name of Pitco/ Moreso/Moineao and AE Services of the UK. The accounts, codenamed Tulip, Lotus and Mont Blanc by the CBI, belong to McIntyre Corp, based in Panama. The Swiss courts received a report from the international accountants Atag Ernst & Young describing the flow of money. The auditors' report shows that the corporation was controlled by Prakash "P.P." Hinduja, the third eldest of the brothers, who is based in Geneva and is the family's financial expert. The Hindujas have their own Swiss bank, Amas. The auditors concluded on August 30: "According to the documentation received, the ultimate beneficial owner of McIntyre Corp and of all the funds received on the accounts of McIntyre Corp is P.P. Hinduja. The funds were invested by the Hinduja Group for its group companies or transferred to other accounts of the Hinduja Group." The Hindujas have accepted that the money came from Axonobel Group, part of Bofors, but say the family had been involved with them for many years in the supply of chemicals. The Hindujas argue that the cash was part of normal international business dealings known as "global counter trading" and had nothing to do with the Howitzer deal.

On the 1st February, 2001, all three Hinduja brothers were refused permission to leave India whilst the investigation continues. They were said to be disappointed at the decision. After the hearing the Hindujas issued a statement which said: "This is a bad precedent. We are to appeal in the High Court and hope that the Indian judicial system will pass the appropriate orders allowing us to travel." The Indian media said the judge was concerned that the Hindujas might not return once allowed to leave. It was only after receiving a promise that they would not be arrested upon arrival, that the three brothers went to India in January to be questioned by the CBI. Should they be tried and convicted, they face up to seven years in prison.

On 27th April, an appeal court in Delhi rejected their appeal. The judge turned down the request on the grounds that there was sufficient reason to believe the brothers may not

return when the hearings began. However, he did made one concession. He asked the special court to hold a separate trial for them since no one knows when the other two individuals accused, the Swedish head of Bofors and an Italian businessmen, were going to be extradited to stand trial. On 2nd May, they took their appeal to the Supreme Court in India. By 12th May, the Supreme Court allowed Srichand and Gopichand to return to the UK provided that they provide bank guarantees of 150 million rupees ($3.2 million) bail each. However, they must return by 20th August to face trial and the third brother, Prakash (a Swiss national), was ordered to remain in India to ensure that his two brothers did not renege on the agreement. The court warned that ``if there is any violation of conditions imposed today, it will be open to the Special Judge to pass appropriate orders to cancel the bail of Prakashchand Hinduja''. Thus, Prakashchand Hinduja runs the risk of being jailed if his two brothers do not return or fail to comply with the court order.On 26th May, the court in Delhi paved the way for starting the Bofors trial. A sessions judge (R L Chugh) has separated the trial of the accused present in India, including the Hindujas, from that of Ottavio Quattrocchi and Martin Ardbo, who are still to be extradited to India. Besides the three Hindujas, the other accused who will face the trial include former Indian defence secretary S K Bhatnagar (who is suffering from cancer), Bofors company agent Win Chadha and A B Bofors company (the company's name has since been changed). Those who are yet to be extradited to India are Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and former Bofors chief Martin Ardbo. Quattrocchi is fighting against the extradition proceedings in the Malaysian high court and the Indian CBI has issued an alert notice against Ardbo. The date of the next hearing has been fixed as July 9, when the scrutiny of documents will take place, and if possible the trial will also start. Judge Chugh said about Quattrocchi and Ardbo, ``There is no prospect in the near future that Quattrocchi's attendance will be obtained as he is resisting his extradition. Ardbo is a Swedish national, who cannot be extradited unless he leaves the Swedish soil and is apprehended by the Interpol.'' With this, Chugh extended the warrants against Quattrocchi and asked the CBI to pursue with the alert notice against Ardbo. Chugh also allowed Prakesh Hinduja's exemption from personal appearance on the next date of hearing. The trial is set to continue for years - all in all, the CBI has 95 witnesses to examine, with about 40 being foreign-based.

THOSE MEETINGS WITH TONY BLAIR

On 6th May, 2001 it was revealed that the Hindujas visited Downing Street three years ago in 1998. A leaked letter suggested Gopichand and Srichand Hinduja met Tony Blair in June 1998 around the time one of the brothers was seeking a UK passport. Downing Street said the brothers were part of a delegation sent by the Indian government to discuss bilateral relations and the meeting had nothing to do with passport applications. The letter, addressed to the prime minister's chief of staff Jonathan Powell on 4th June, says the Hinduja brothers would meet Mr Blair later that day with an Indian government official who was carrying a letter from the Indian prime minister.Publicity regarding the Hindujas' meeting with Tony Blair caused questions to be asked in the Indian parliament. The Congress party protested against the manner in which the government had used the Hinduja brothers to facilitate a meeting with Tony Blair. Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy described it as 'shocking' that the Indian government had placed more trust in the owners of a private industrial house than in its own envoys, who were neither informed about the meeting, nor briefed about it later. Reddy said the meeting was not an ordinary commercial transaction but, coming soon after the Indian nuclear blasts, involved a highly sensitive and delicate issue. He said while the external affairs ministry had confirmed that the Hinduja brothers facilitated the meeting with Tony Blair, there were further media reports that the two Hindujas also arranged a meeting between Brajesh Mishra and French president Jacques Chirac. The Congress spokesperson said

what was disturbing was that the Hinduja brothers were present during these meetings. In fact, an Iranian national who works with the Hindujas was also present during the meeting with the French president, Reddy claimed. He said the envoys in London and Paris were not present during these discussions and they were not even briefed about the meetings later. 'In the diplomatic history of India, this is unprecedented,' Reddy said, adding that nobody knew as to how much India stood to gain from these `clandestine diplomatic encounters'.So soon after the Indian nuclear tests, and at a time when the Indian government was isolated, the Hindujas had arranged for Mr Mishra, as Mr Vajpayee's envoy, to be given an audience with Tony Blair, and they themselves were present at that meeting. Although no mention was made of this initiative by the Hindujas at the time, it was claimed in the Indian press that Mr Mishra's travels abroad had succeeded in persuading Tony Blair to prevail upon the G-8 leaders not to impose sanctions on India. Now when the facts are known about who arranged the meeting and how, the Hindujas' role should rightly be questioned.By 9th May, Conservative MP for Chichester Andrew Tyrie had published five letters from Tony Blair to the Hindujas, some of which were signed 'Yours ever, Tony'. The Conservatives claimed that this showed that the links between the Government and the Hindujas went "far deeper than we were led to believe". Three of the letters published are signed by Tony Blair and the other two by his chief of staff, Jonathan Powell. They are mainly confined to international relations but in one, addressed to Gopichand Hinduja, Mr Blair says of Keith Vaz: 'It is always a pleasure to appoint people of talent and ability to the government and I have every confidence that Keith will do an excellent job in his very important post at the Lord Chancellor's Department." It was dated 15 June 1999 - a month after Mr Vaz was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Lord Chancellor, before his promotion to the Foreign Office. Mr Tyrie claimed the letters were not released to Sir Anthony Hammond QC, who conducted the passport inquiry that later cleared ministers of any wrongdoing.

THOSE PASSPORTS

GOPICHAND HINDUJA'S PASSPORT Timothy Kirkhope was the Conservative immigration minister who handled the Gopichand Hinduja's passport application and, after losing his seat at the General Election, went on to work for the family as an advisor. Gopichand Hinduja applied for his passport on March 5th, 1997 and received it on November 4th, 1997, after Labour won the election. Timothy Kirkhope started to work as a four-day-a-month consultant to the Hindujas' Sangam business in July 1998, and left their employment in June 1999, when he won a European Parliament seat. He is now Tory chief whip in the European Parliament. A spokesman for the Hindujas insisted he advised them only about water and power projects in India. Mr Kirkhope said: "The work I did for them was essentially and purely linked up to infrastructure issues. I had nothing to do with any of their other interests, such as the Dome."

SRICHAND HINDUJA'S PASSPORT In June 1998, six days after donating £1 million to the Millennium Dome, Srichand Hinduja resubmitted his application for a British passport. Earlier Peter Mandelson, then Minister Without Portfolio and "Dome Minister", had telephoned the Immigration Minister, Mike O'Brian, to ask him whether the passport application could be reconsidered following a change in immigration policy. Initially, Downing Street denied that the, by now, Northern Ireland Secretary had raised the matter with Mike O'Brien, but a spokesman for Tony Blair (aka Alistair Campbell) later admitted that Mandelson did make the call on behalf of Srichand Hinduja. There was fresh confusion when Mandelson contradicted Downing Street suggestions he had forgotten the call, saying he simply had not been asked.

On 24th January 2001, Peter Mandelson resigned from his post as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Ironically he has resigned for something which happened prior to his last resignation.

THAT DOME DONATION

Srichand said "I asked: can we do something in the Dome? ... Mandelson started coming to our functions and receptions. He is sharp, decisive and has a good grasp of the issues. Every businessman likes politicians like that".

The Times newspaper reported that the Hindujas paid no value added tax on the £1 million they provided to sponsor the Faith Zone. This saved them £175,000 in tax. The brothers argued strongly that, as a religious donation, it should be tax exempt. This could only be done if they received no benefits from the sponsorship. The New Millennium Experience Company wrote to the Hindujas saying that they would be getting 1,000 free tickets to the Dome, as a gift. The tickets were worth £20,000. The sponsorship was arranged after the Hindujas were invited to the House of Lords by Lord Levy, Tony Blair's tennis partner and personal envoy to the Middle East. The brothers were prepared to offer £3 million but were asked for only £1 million. At the end of the meeting, Lord Levy hugged Srichand Hinduja.

THAT FAMOUS DIWALI PARTY

Enjoying the trappings of their success is a favourite pastime for the Hinduja's and when they hired Alexandra Palace for their lavish party for 3,000 guests to celebrate the Indian festival of Diwali in November 1999, Tony Blair was guest of honour. Cherie dressed up for the occasion with a jewel in her forehead and wearing a gift from Srichand Hinduja, an Indian churidar kameez made of silk and organza, chosen by Srichand's daughter from the collection of Nita Lulla, one of the best Indian designers in Britain.

Peter Mandelson, who had been Minister for the Millennium Dome at the time that the Hindujas offered £3 million to save the Faith Zone, grinned broadly as he joined in the festivities. Keith Vaz, former Minister for Europe and a long-standing associate of the Hinduja brothers, gave a laudatory speech. Other guests included Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, then a London mayoral candidate. The Hindujas were in their element. The audience sparkled with their fellow billionaires. The powerful and famous were paid homage on a night hosted by the brothers from Bombay. At that famous Diwali party, the Hindujas were surrounded by their network of influential friends, but there was one notable absentee: the Indian High Commission did not attend. The snub was seen in Delhi, and in London, as a signal that the indian government was distancing itself from the Hindujas. The Bofors charges followed shortly afterwards.

KEITH VAZ

The Times newspaper claimed to have seen a copy of a letter from Keith Vaz, a Foreign Office Minister, written when the MP was a backbencher, sent to the Hinduja Foundation, in which Mr Vaz apparently asks the Hindujas to draft a letter which he would then send to Tony Blair. "We agreed that you would prepare a draft letter which I would send both to the Prime Minister and to Peter Mandelson", Mr Vaz wrote on October 30, 1997. "I have no problem with asking these points, but as I made clear to you, you will need to do the preparatory work. I will then top and tail the letters and send them out."

It has been suggested that the Hinduja's letter to Tony Blair decrying the fact that there were no Asian ministers in the early days of the Government help secure Keith Vaz's promotion, but we are sure this cannot be the case. Keith Vaz so obviously got where he was on his own merit.

The world is their bazaar

Published by Forbes on 1987-12-28 

IN THE SEEDY BAZAARS OF TEHRAN, there is an old Persian saying that translates something like this: "Create an aura of mystery around you, and you will forever enjoy power and prosperity."

Leaning forward in his chair over a vegetarian lunch at his Trump Tower apartment, a sound-deadening 53 stories above the noisy Manhattan streets, Srichand Hinduja is practicing what the adage preaches. He is lecturing a reporter about his and his family's high ethical standards while carefully avoiding specific answers to specific questions. Behind him, through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Fifth Avenue is visible. The apartment which cost $ 3.3 million when the Hinduja brothers bought it four years ago, is furnished garishly and expensively. On a living room shelf sits an elaborately framed photo of the late shah of Iran. Others photos surround it -- George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Edward Heath, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Mother Teresa. Hindujas are in each picture. Everything is calculated to impress, to overwhelm. What a great man this must be. What wealth and power he must possess. Srichand Hinduja, 52, is one of four brothers, the others being Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok. While nobody knows much about all their businesses, an aura of mystery, power and money has followed them from Bombay to Tehran to London to Geneva and now to New York and Washington. 

The brothers emerge from a dim background. They made a fortune in Iran under the shah, and although devout Hindus -- and thus "infidels" -- they are still doing business in Iran with the ayatollah's thugs. The family supposedly sells Iran harmless commodities such as fertilizers and edible oils. But court records in New York reveal that the Hindujas have acted as middlemen for supplying U.S. spare parts for the ayatollah's languishing air force from U.S.-based suppliers, in apparent defiance of an American embargo.

The fact is that much of the Hinduja empire is invisible. A company that they own in partnership with Arab money, Gulf Oil Trading Co. (Gotco), deals in crude oil and refined petroleum products, lubricants and chemicals (it also owns the rights to use the Gulf Oil logo outside the U.S. and U.K.) -- but this is one of the few familiar names in their portfolio. One thing seems clear about the Hindujas: Their known and admitted businesses could hardly support such a style of living and scale of influence-buying. Only the tip of the iceberg is visible; the Hindujas show only what they want to show. They do not admit to things like Iranian arms deals.

Like the Rothschilds of old, the Hindujas have sent different brothers to different financial centers, where each works and entertains in breathtaking luxury. Unlike the Rothschilds, however, the Hindujas shroud their center of operations in extreme secrecy. They have numerous residences, and have registered their companies in many countries, including such tax havens as the Bahamas, Panama, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Singapore and Luxembourg.

Srichand Hinduja is the power of the family. Gopichand Hinduja, 47, runs Gotco, has the main Tehran contacts and still travels there frequently. Prakash, 42, lives in Geneva and looks after the Hindujas' investment firm, Amas, S.A. Ashok, 38, lives in Juhu Beach, Bombay, and deals with the film world there from his palatial estate.

Now the Trump Tower is filled with high-living foreigners, and international dealmakers are no longer a novelty. But the Hindujas are notable on two scores: the scale of their spending and the miasma surrounding how they make their money.

If the family is today well connected, the brothers were scarcely born well connected: Srichand's birthplace was the dusty town of Shikarpur, in what is today Pakistan's Sind province; Gopichand was born in Calcutta; and Prakash and Ashok in Bombay. None of them reportedly made it past high school. They speak English poorly and read it painfully. Fifteen years ago they were modestly wealthy but almost unknown even in their native India. Today all four move about in chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce sedans and fly in private jets. Hinduja wives and daughters, dripping diamonds, move about in smart society and ski in Switzerland's more expensive resorts. When in public view, they make a show of spending money as if it meant nothing to them. This month, thousands of people were invited for the wedding of Srichand's daughter, Shanu, in Bombay; hundreds were brought in at the Hindujas' cost from many corners of India and the world for the weeklong celebrations.

But this is not Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and the Hindujas are not all play. Far from it. They are all business. Their lavishness has a purpose -- to create and nurture a mystique, to expand their contacts, prestige and influence.

Their choice of business associates is similarly motivated. Their attorney and a principal adviser on the U.S. is Theodore Sorensen. This old-time Kennedy liberal makes no secret of his expectations of high office in any future Democratic administration. Among other things, he eases the way into liberal and Democratic circles for the Hindujas. Sorensen has confided to at least one acquaintance that he is a bit uncomfortable representing the brothers. He has also said that he would like to know more about them. But money is money. Sorensen is a partner in the New York law firm Paul Weiss Rifkin Wharton & Garrison, which reportedly earned $ 700,000 in fees last year from the Hindujas. He declined to talk about his fees and services.

John Lawrence is one of the highest priests of the Boston Brahmin establishment. He has become deeply involved with the Hindujas. Self-assured, silver-haired, the 78-year-old Lawrence was a leading Boston businessman, whose family put Massachusetts on the world textile map. He has been president of the Hinduja Foundation U.S.A. since early 1985 and, until this past May, was also president of the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. As head of the Hinduja Foundation, which shares a plush suite of Manhattan offices with two Hinduja companies, Amas Securities and Hinduja Brothers Inc., Lawrence handled the brothers' donation of a $ 2 million endowment (domiciled in Switzerland and managed out of London) to encourage medical and public-health research at Harvard and Massachusetts General, with the intent of developing public-health programs in India. Lawrence introduced the Hindujas to Harvard President Derek Bok. Lawrence insists he does not get involved in the Hindujas' business dealings or in making connections for them: "I've stayed out of that," he says. "Ted Sorensen does that kind of thing for them."

The family likes to mix with prominent personalities: Edward Heath, member of the British parliament and ex-prime minister, is involved in helping the family set up a charitable

foundation; Richard Helms, former director of the CIA, and reportedly a consultant to the Hinduja family, will not say how he helped them, William P. Clark, a close friend of President Reagan's and former head of the National Security Council, acknowledges that he was compensated by the Hindujas for performing unspecified services; Charles A. Percy, ex-senator from Illinois and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, visited the brothers in India; Hugh Carless, a former British ambassador to Venezuela, with reported close links to U.K. intelligence officials, does work for the brothers in London; A. P. Venkateswaran, a former Indian foreign secretary, is president of the Hindujas' foundation in India; Air Marshal O. P. Mehra, former chief of staff of the Indian Air Force, heads the brothers' Sportsmen's Welfare Fund in India; Khodadad Farmanfarmian, former governor of the Central Bank of Iran, now serves as the Hindujas' chief financial adviser in London.

Associate with the powerful and people will think you are powerful. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain was a prominent guest last year at the Hindujas' annual bash in London. Reputedly, the brothers gave #25,000 to the Tories. In Washington Representative Jim Wright (D-Tex.), the ambitious Speaker of the House, was a guest at a Hinduja party.

The Hindujas' philanthropic interests are, to say the least, catholic. In addition to the Harvard medical foundation, the family has given money to the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, the ubiquitous Hare Krishna people. A nice balance, that.

Who pays for the parties, the socializing, the lavish living? Beyond the sanctimony, the brothers are stubbornly reticent when it comes to talking about their business interests. In Sweden and India, however, where the brothers are better known than in the U.S., newspaper and magazine articles have speculated that the Hindujas deal in arms as shadowy middlemen -- something that the Hindujas have vehemently denied. Indian journals have suggested that the $ 400 million deal in which India bought submarines from West Germany. And in April Sweden's largest-circulation newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, reported that the Hindujas were paid commissions by Nobel Industries. Executives of a Nobel subsidiary, A. B. Bofors, have been indicted in Sweden on charges of making illegal weapons sales to the Middle East (FORBES, Oct. 19). The Hindujas apparently represented Bofors and Nobel in Iran during the 1970s, when the shah embarked on his great development and arms acquisition program. Lately Bofors has admitted that it paid $ 45 million to three companies in connection with India's recent $ 1.3 billion order for 155mm howitzers. It hasn't named the Hindujas or anyone else publicly. In India, as well as in the Middle East, commissions are often another name for baksheesh -- bribes.

Martin Ardbo, a former managing director of Bofors, confirmed to FORBES that he has dealings with the Hindujas in Iran during the shah's time. Other businessmen spoke to FORBES about the Hindujas' interest in weapons transactions in Nigeria and elsewhere. With so much smoke, can there not be fire?

The Hindujas deny the commission charges and have threatened to sue Dagens Nyheter. But the joint authors of the article, Bo G. Andersson and Bjarne Stenquist, told FORBES that they stood by their story and that there would be no retraction. Despite the Hindujas' threat, there has been no lawsuit so far. It is possible, of course, that the Hindujas may have nothing to sue about.

FORBES has learned that a Hinduja associate approached at least one private individual in the U.S. for high-level introductions in a turbulent Asian country, where an unnamed client wanted to peddle arms.

Their approach to deal making is not always indirect. The Hindujas continue to operate openly in Iran: Alcari, S.A., Panama-registered Metalco and Ashok Trading, situated in Tehran, are among the companies the brothers use to sell fertilizers, lead, zinc, sugar and other commodities to the ayatollah. While tens of thousands of the shah's supporters have been murdered by Khomeini's people, and many times that number have fled, the Hindujas apparently were not punished for dealing with the shah.

Despite occasional media criticism of them abroad, little bad publicity has so far followed the Hindujas to the U.S. Brother Gopichand granted an interview granted an interview to the New York Times in October 1986. He must have found the resulting article most pleasing. It ignored the whiff of scandal that has followed the Hindujas from India and thence to Europe. The article stated that the Hindujas had given away $ 100 million to charities. Where did the money come from for this largesse? A Hindujas family representative was cited by the Times as claiming that companies owned by the brothers had annual revenues of $ 11 billion.

What are the facts? A few things are know about the family. Their father, Parmanand Hinduja, now deceased, left his native Sind in what is now Pakistan (see box, p. 92) in 1915 to become a moneylender in Bombay and subsequently an importer of dried fruits from Iran and an exporter of jute, textiles, sugar and tea to Iran. Thus began the family's Iranian connection, which flourished first under the shah and now flourishes under the fundamentalist dictatorship there.

The brothers have told friends that when their father died, in 1971, he left his four sons a total of $ 1 million plus land in Ahwaz, Iran, valued subsequently at $ 3 million. That doesn't add up to big money by international standards. Yet FORBES' research suggests that the family is worth perhaps a half-billion dollars and possibly more. That's pretty good appreciation on a base of $ 4 million just 15 years ago.

Following up on father Parmanand's dealings in Iran, the brothers dubbed Hindi movies into Persian and exported them to Iran. Indian movies are big in the Middle East (see box, p. 90), and a single hit, Sangam, ran in 100 theaters in 27 Iranian cities. The Hindujas subsequently named their most visible company after that movie. The brothers reportedly paid the equivalent of $ 6,000 for the Iranian rights and netted perhaps millions from them.

Owning overseas rights of movies and videos, of course, is a well-known way of getting around exchange controls. What are the foreign rights to a given film worth? Not necessarily what they bring in at the box office, but any amount the seller sells the rights for. For example, if a film is produced in Italy, the box office proceeds from, say, Japan need not end up in Italy. If an Indian film grosses well in Egypt, all the Indian government need know is how much the producer says he got for the Egyptian showings or rights. A good part of the money could, in fact, end up in Switzerland or New York.

How did the Hinduja family get involved with movies? As moneylenders. The going rate for lending money to Indian moviemakers is close to 50% a year -- 4% a month. Sometimes foreign and subsidiary rights are thrown in as a sweetener. At any rate, the Hindujas exported lots of Indian films to Iran and the Middle East. They continue prominently as moneylenders to Bombay moviemakers.

Beyond movies and small-scale trading, Parmanand Hinduja's four sons broke into the international big time about 15 years ago. The late Indira Gandhi, then India's prime minister, complained to the shah of Iran that India couldn't afford to pay for Iranian oil after the steep price rises following the Yom Kippur War of 1973. "Madam then sell us more of

India's goods and services," the shah told her at a private meeting, according to a participant. According to Iranian and Indian sources, India's annual exports to Iran rose from roughly $ 50 million in 1974 to several times more by 1978. The Hindujas, as Indian nationals with extensive contacts in Iran, were in the middle of it all.

Doing what? In the biggest single deal, they pushed through a $ 630 million iron-ore project, called Kudremukh, receiving perhaps as much as $ 10.5 million in "commissions." Although the brothers have denied getting anything out of this deal, there is evidence that the Indian government paid the money into a Swiss bank account for commissions. While no evidence has surfaced linking the Hindujas to payments, speculation persists.

The brothers, operating under the shingles of two main companies -- Sangam and Ashok Trading -- also represented a variety of Western and other firms eager to cash in on the shah's development boom. Among the Hindujas' clients were said to be Daimler-Benz and Magierus of West Germany, Nitro-Nobel of Sweden (now of Norway), Lockheed Corp., Tat Computers of India, Mitsui, Japan Air Lines and Pan American Airways.

After the shah fell and after his moderate successors lost office, Khomeini's ayatollahs were only too glad to use a wide-ranging network like that of the Hindujas. The ayatollahs, as much as Pahlevi royal relatives, were greedy for greenbacks. And Iran, whose name stinks of blood, lawlessness and fanaticism in the international community, needed arms.

That the Hinduja influence had not faded with the shah's overthrow was clear in 1980-81, when Pan Am had problems repatriating its Iranian funds. The airline's executives contacted the Hindujas. An approach was reportedly made to Hojatollislam Rafsanjani, the powerful speaker of the Majlis, the Iranian parliament -- the same Rafsanjani who was later to play a key role in sabotaging, as well as possibly in setting up, the Reagan Administration's Iran-arms-for-contra-money deal. Pan Am got its funds, and the Hindujas can have free seats in first class.

Thus, step by step, the family fortune grew as the brothers deftly crossed and recrossed the fine line that divide business and politics. In a world where national boundaries are increasingly porous and where money is no longer something physical but mere blips on a computer screen, where a can or cassette of movie film may be more valuable than a tanker of oil, in such a world people like the Hindujas know how to operate. They deal, not only in metals or money, not only in commodities or credit, but also in influence and in the ability to shelter money from national taxations.

As a result of its investigations in the U.S., Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, India and France, FORBES was able to identify 24 companies owned by or associated with the Hindujas. But the real number may be as high as 100 -- mostly companies registered in such tax havens as Panama, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands Antilles, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Singapore. Perhaps the only man besides the brothers who knows just how many companies the Hindujas own is a Zurich lawyer named Reiner Rippmann. He has been a member of the boards of a couple of their companies (Amas, S.A., for example), and reputedly buys dummy firms at their behest. Rippmann did not return calls from FORBES.

Arms, ayatollahs, a shadowy global network of companies. Suspicions of arms dealing. Foreign movie rights. Buying and entertaining their way into influential circles. The Hindujas flaunt their wealth but conceal its flow. FORBES found that the brothers' flagship company, Sangam Ltd., reported to the U.K. Registrar of Companies in its last available report -- dated 1983 -- that annual sales for that years were #304,589 and that the company's net

assets were barely #57,200. Does one hire Ted Sorensen with that kind of money? Or buy multimillion-dollar apartments in Manhattan and London, seaside villas in Cannes and Bombay?

In the sketchy way they are willing to discuss their businesses publicly, the Hindujas say they make money selling metals and fertilizers to the ayatollah's regime through their Geneva-based company Alcari, S.A. and through their Panama-registered outfit Metalco. But a knowledgeable metals dealer told FORBES that, even taking into account the fact that Iran is forced to pay up to 15% premiums on its purchases, the Hindujas' metals sales could hardly exceed $ 2 million annually. Fertilizers? A high official of Nobel Chemicals Ltd. in London (associated with Sweden's Nobel Industries), who once dealt with the Hindujas in Iran, says that any claim by the brothers to be big selling fertilizers would be "ridiculous." Much of the global fertilizer market is dominated by five or six major Western manufacturers (such as West Germany's BASF), he pointed out.

By all accounts Indira Gandhi, a cultivated but calculating woman, disliked the brothers for their style and was suspicious of their motives but nevertheless found them useful in dealing with Iran. She used them to help keep Islamic Iran neutral in 1971 when India went to war with Islamic Pakistan. Rajiv Gandhi, her successor, shared his mother's reservations about the Hindujas. Now he reportedly finds them equally useful and somewhat more acceptable. Perhaps emboldened by such political blessings, the Hindujas have made a sharp departure from their traditional trading and finance activities into manufacturing. In late October, in partnership with a Fiat subsidiary, Iveco, they bought into the highly prized Indian truck manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland. The Hindujas acquired 39.9% of Ashok Leyland, which gives them control of the company.

This is age-old bazaar economics adapted to the jet-and-computer age.

Trying to trace their deals is frustrating and usually in vain. The deals are designed to be untraceable. The Hindujas also have their way of soliciting silence: Virtually everyone associated with them seems to be inexplicably dumbstruck. For example, FORBES contacted a Plainview, N.Y. businessman named Parviz Lavi, who is being sued by Alcari, S.A. in U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, N.Y. The suit alleges that Lavi was to have supplied 20,000 fuses -- worth $ 11.2 million -- for jets to the ayatollah's air force in 1981 but did not deliver as agreed on the deal, causing the Iranian air force to confiscate a Hinduja deposit. Lavi is countersuing the Hindujas.

On first contact, Lavi spoke excitedly of having got hold of documents linking the Hindujas to arms deals in Iran. "I have enough evidence to blow them away," said Lavi, an Iranian emigre, adding that he wanted to consult with associates before showing the "evidence" to FORBES. But he never got back to us and hasn't returned repeated calls. Court documents associate the Hindujas with General Hassan Toufanian, the shah's top weapons buyer. Say this for the Hindujas: They are relentlessly apolitical.

Various reports have linked the family with Princess Ashraf, the shah's notorious twin sister. It has been widely reported that she and the Hindujas were partners in many deals, including arms buying. Ashraf, whose commercial adventures were well known in the shah's time, has complained privately that the Hindujas owe her money -- possibly as much as $ 5 million. Princess Ashraf agreed to meet with FORBES to talk about her dealings with the Hindujas. The meeting was to have taken place at one of the Pahlevi family's homes, at 32 rue Paul Valery in Paris. However, it was her daughter, Princess Azadeh Chefik, who turned up for the meeting. She denied that he mother ever had anything to do with the Hindujas. She further denied that Princess Ashraf had gone to India with the brothers in

1977-78 (although that visit received considerable media attention).

Later an associate of Ashraf told FORBES that the 69-year-old princess felt the Hindujas were not "beyond blackmail." At any rate, the princess had somehow changed her mind about talking with this magazine and denied through her daughter that she knew the family.

Thus, behind the glitter and the hobnobbing with famous people lies a tale of sharp dealing. Here's one example: India's prestigious Tata Group invited Hinduja investment in its London, New York and Washington hotels. The Hindujas came in with $ 17.5 million. Then they demanded a seat not only on the board of the Tata subsidiary that ran the hotels but also on the board of the parent company in India. The Hindujas also began accusing Tata executives of incompetence. Participants at board meetings say that Srichand Hinduja frequently spiced his accusations with four-letter words. Finally, the Tatas had had enough. They bought out the Hindujas for a reported $ 25 million. From the Hindujas' point of view, the termination arrangement was just great: They made perhaps $ 7.5 million in less than two years, plus such goodies as free rooms in Tata hotels.

There is also a tale of meanness -- the bazaar mentality breaking through the jet-set aura. A couple of years ago the Hindujas threw a large dinner party at their Trump Tower apartment catered by the Raga Restaurant, owned by India's Tata Group. The bill came to $ 4,782, but the Hindujas refused to pay it. Why? Well, they said, the Raga serving staff damaged an expensive dinner table in the apartment. The management immediately paid $ 1,200 to the Hindujas to cover the cost of repairs. To this day the final settlement of the Raga bill is pending. Another example: A London tailor has complained that Srichand Hinduja ordered suits with only the jackets to be made in London. No pants? Srichand Hinduja wanted the material and pattern for the trousers sent to Bombay, where they could be stitched at less expensive Indian labor rates.

People like the Hindujas go on the assumption that everyone is for sale. But they are learning that there are limits. Says one former Hinduja executive: "Everyone comes to a certain point when you ask questions for which there are no answers. I left the Hindujas because the cover-ups were obvious." Another executive left the Hindujas after learning that they were being investigated by French, Swedish and West German intelligence agencies.

Some U.S. banks have evidently caught a whiff. Bank of America in 1984 asked the Hindujas to withdraw a $ 40 million deposit. Citibank, to this day, holds them at arm's length. Small wonder, then, that the Hindujas bank with minor institutions, like the Luxembourg-based Bank of Credit & Commerce International. The shadowy outfit formed with Middle East money was used by Alcari in connection with the Iran military spare parts deal.

Yes, the family did talk briefly with FORBES. But requests for a follow-up interview met obstacles. Pressed for information, Srichand Hinduja said he objected to the kinds of queries FORBES had been making and brought up the question of legal action if we pursued the story. Why should such a self-styled ethical people object if a reporter asks tough questions?

Shortly after Hinduja spoke with FORBES, the family's spokesman, Ted Sorensen, telephoned and said that his client was "highly agitated." He then offered his assistance in clearing up "any misunderstanding." But no interview ensued. Clearly, the brothers did not want anyone writing about anything but their philanthropy and high moral standards.

The fact is that the brothers have made smoke-screening into a science -- even while mixing ostentatiously in social and political circles. They belong to the traditionally secretive Sindhi community, where the byword is: Trust only fellow Sindhis, and then sparingly. The brothers communicate with one another in coded telexes, or they discuss their business during walks in London parks. In his letters to associates or friends, Srichand Hinduja's stationery for a long time wouldn't even bear a permanent address: He'd simply write, "Camp London." That's very Hinduja: No place is home, every place is a stop en route to somewhere else.

With the media, their first step is to co-opt the threat. Vir Sanghvi is editor of the prestigious Calcutta-based weekly Sunday. Earlier this year, when Gopichand Hinduja suspected that an article Sanghvi was writing would be critical, Hinduja said: "Our families have known each other for so many years. Why spoil this relationship with one article?" Sanghvi published his article anyway last May, and since then the Hinduja brothers have badmouthed him. Not so long ago another journalist came to an interview and was reportedly handed an envelope full of British currency. He refused the money and stalked out.

What are the brothers up to in the U.S.? Why are they spending so heavily to get Ted Sorensen, lavishing gifts on Harvard, spreading largesse among Washington influentials? They would, of course, like Americans to think they are about to make major investments here. But the open American business scene, with its prying journalists and easy access to information, would probably not be congenial to them. A more logical explanation is that they want to build prestige here and in the U.K. in order to enhance their ability to move money in Asia.

At any rate, those who sup with the Hindujas -- whether in New York, London, Geneva, Paris or Bombay -- might well be advised to use a long spoon.

Whatever happened to the Hindujas?

ELLIOT WILSON05 MAY 2008

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Elliot Wilson visits the inner sanctum of the secretive Indian billionaires whose global interests range from building trucks to owning banks and trading commodities

Even their mostly English support staff and spin-doctors are surprised at how quickly this interview is authorised. India’s billionaire Hinduja family rarely opens up to the press. The last time they gave an interview was way back when the dotcom boom was still raging. Yet here they are, India’s most famously secretive family, granting Spectator Business access to their inner sanctum.

It’s lucky, perhaps, that I’m not a photographer from Hello! magazine. New Zealand House at the bottom of London’s Haymarket is a gloomy place on a dank March day. Even the penthouse, from which the Hinduja clan direct their global operations, seems a trifle dowdy, the corridors flecked with fading cream paint and whiffing of staleness. The corner room, set out for the interview, is dominated by low-slung sofas and chairs around a giant, thick-

glass coffee table. Behind the heavy blinds and the tinted windows, a distant Trafalgar Square dominates the view. Everything reeks of a studiedly recreated gentility, as if an interior architect had been asked to come up with ‘something from 1976’.

Then a Hinduja bustles into the room and everything lightens. Gopichand ‘GP’ Hinduja is a 68-year-old pocket-sized bundle of energy, as endearingly old-world as his immediate surroundings, down to his natty suit and Eric Morecambe-style spectacles, an affectation shared by his elder brother, SP (Srichand). For the second son of a supposedly secretive family, he talks a lot: about their extensive businesses in India and across the world; their almost Victorian obsession with hard work; their unusually communitarian decision-making process.

The Hindujas are the most nomadic of Asia’s great trading families: so where does he feel most at home? In London, the adopted city that he shares with SP? In Iran, where he was born and raised, right up to the upheaval of the Iranian Revolution? Or in India, his family’s native land, which it abandoned in 1919 for Iran, only returning in 1987, and which has now become the group’s commercial core? ‘I was born and grew up in Iran – I spent the best years of my life there,’ he says, slightly wistfully. ‘The last time I was there was 1979, but I’m sure I’d find hospitality there again. But I’m really a citizen of the world. Wherever I am I think of as being my motherland. I never have a problem in any country that I’m in.’

That’s not entirely true. In fact, the Hindujas have rarely not had problems in the countries in which they live. In India, they spent years embroiled in a scandal involving the £1 billion sale of 400 Howitzers to the Indian government by a Swedish company, Bofors. The High Court in Delhi finally threw out the case in 2005, after nearly two decades of prevarication, citing lack of evidence. Scandal reared its head again in London when the brothers made a £1 million donation to the Millennium Dome project at around the same time as SP applied for, and was granted, a British passport – that one led to the (second) resignation of Peter Mandelson. And their critics have sometimes wondered aloud how the family made their first fortune in Iran, the official answer being that it came from transporting iron ore and potatoes overland between Iran and India. The family fled Tehran shortly before the fall of the Shah in 1979, but returned in the 1980s to make a second fortune under the watch of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

GP is uncomfortable addressing these questions, as are his handlers, who include the group’s recently-appointed chief of staff, Stefan Kosciuszko, an amiable Jerry Springer lookalike and former Hong Kong-based director of Schroders. Besides, business is clearly the motivating force driving the family, from GP and SP to the Geneva-based PP (Prakash) and Mumbai-based AP (Ashok). A vast assortment of third-generation Hinduja sons and daughters, led by GP’s eldest son Dheeraj – who breaks with tradition by using his full name – are being groomed to take over the group when its second-generation leaders enter dotage.

This doesn’t appear likely to happen just yet. Asked what he does to unwind, GP appears momentarily bemused. Does he do anything for fun? ‘We work a lot,’ he says, repeating himself, ‘A lot.’ Does he ever take a holiday? ‘The people that don’t work hard all the time get sidelined,’ GP says with a frown. Is that a veiled threat to would-be slackers? ‘No, no, I don’t mean it in a nasty way. But if we have something we like doing, we do it. If you make me work for money 24 hours a day, I’ll do it, so long as it’s not boring. It has to be creative.’ Kosciuszko adds: ‘It’s the corporate culture; work, seven days a week.’

It seems petty to suggest that the family might want to go out and get a life. Besides, so many of the super-rich – particularly traders like the Hindujas who live and die by their

reputations and spend years cultivating relationships with the high-and-mighty wherever they go – are workaholics. Other Indian business titans such as Ratan Tata, who is so busy stockpiling British brands from Tetley to Jaguar, also tend to work from dawn to dusk, doing much of the hard corporate slog themselves.

And if the Hindujas rarely pause for breath, it’s because there is so much business to do, particularly in India’s booming economy. The family’s fortune, estimated in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008 at £6.2 billion (up from £3.6 billion in 2006), is built largely on industrial and financial-services foundations. The cash cow is the Mumbai-listed Ashok Leyland, a maker of light trucks and coaches, which generated £1.1 billion in revenues in 2007. Originally founded in 1948 as an assembly line for Austin cars, Ashok now produces giant orange buses which barrel and honk their way around India’s and the Middle East’s makeshift roads, scattering everything in their paths. The company recently tied up a £250 million joint venture with Nissan of Japan to make light trucks.

And like any self-respecting Asian conglomerate, the Hinduja Group does business anywhere and everywhere. Mumbai-listed Hinduja Foundries makes car parts and axles for Honda and Caterpillar. Another Indian-listed firm, Gulf Oil, owns 2,750 petrol stations in 52 countries. The family owns huge land banks in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. GP notes that while his ‘favourite’(for which read most profitable) division is undoubtedly Ashok Leyland, India’s glaring need for high-quality property may mean that real estate ‘could end up driving the group’.

The company operates across ten business sectors, employing 35,000 staff, and GP says it plans to be a key player in each of its core markets. That also includes power generation – another key industry in which India is woefully underserved. The family is planning to pump £1 billion into the power sector over the next half-decade, generating 10,000 megawatts of power – enough to serve three million homes. A further £750 million will go to further the company’s automobile ambitions.

Outside the industrial realm, the family has been busy too. Banking is a key focus. The wholly-owned Indian lender IndusInd Bank lends to individuals and small businesses across the subcontinent. Geneva-based Amas Bank provides private banking, investment banking and asset management services to global clients. HBI, headquartered in New York, leverages the Hinduja’s Indian contacts to provide global wealth management services.

There are a few gaps in the family’s commercial repertoire. Unlike their wealthiest Indian peers, the Hindujas have failed to build a major telecommunications platform, and have floundered in information technology – an industry in which India excels. Its IT division, HTMT, has a market cap of just £125 million, compared to £11 billion for India’s largest technology firm, TCS.

Yet for all that has been bestowed on the family by their Indian heritage, they seem oddly loath to credit Delhi and Mumbai for their mounting wealth. Indeed, the mountain of paperwork faced by even the country’s most powerful and well-connected seems to frustrate GP. ‘There’s just too much bureaucracy,’ he laments. ‘Abroad, if you make a plan and follow the rules, things work – there are rules and regulations there, and things work according to the law. In India, we’re very much at the mercy of the government departments.’

He says India’s bureaucracy could be sorted out in five to seven years – though we who live there and deal daily with its benighted civil service know that five to seven decades is

closer to the mark. For foreign firms seeking their fortune in the subcontinent, like many before them right back to the East India Company, GP is even more downbeat. ‘It’s hard if you’re from abroad and you don’t have the network. It becomes troublesome. You can see why so few foreign firms are successful [in India] and why so many of them get frustrated and go home.’ That’s right on the mark, though it’s equally true that having fewer high-grade foreign corporates in India would also prove beneficial to India’s plethora of scattered conglomerates – firms like, say, the Hinduja Group.

And yet for all this, the family seems more than willing to accept a healthy share of the credit for India’s ongoing market reforms, a process that began in 1991 in the wake of the first Gulf War. Thanks to high oil prices and India’s overdependence on Iraqi oil, that conflict left the nation as good as bankrupt. ‘We were the first to push India to reform back in 1987, and since then we have done quite a lot for the country,’ insists GP. ‘In 1990 we had big plans to invest in India, and were pushing hard to impose market reforms. Yet government clearances were so hard to get back then.’

One hugely respected member of India’s business community harrumphs at this notion. ‘Led the push – what nonsense,’ he says. ‘They were behind the rest of us waiting for the door to open. We were the ones trying to jemmy it open in the first place.’

GP’s frustration rises further when talking about India’s sclerotic business approval system. Yet for any Indian, or any foreign corporate that spends time and money there, red tape is par for the course. It’s almost as if GP is talking about another country that is utterly alien to him, rather than the place where, in the Indus Valley (now a part of Pakistan), his father, Parmanand Deepchand, was born in 1915. Perhaps that’s the point – that this peripatetic money-maker, whose company also builds roads, owns iron ore and silica mines, and trades zinc, fertiliser and precious metals around the world, is out of place wherever he is, for all his protestations of perennially feeling at home. That would explain his and his brothers’ need to cast their commercial nets so far and wide and to socialise so vigorously with political leaders and minor royals. Indeed, for all of his commendable openness and hospitality, there’s an air of absence about this very upstanding billionaire, a feeling that he’s only half there. Perhaps he’s simply trying to make a good impression, or perhaps his mind is already focused on ten decisions he needs to make that day.

Then again, maybe he’s aware of the weight of controversy that sits on the shoulders of a family that gives tens of millions of pounds to charitable causes each year and yet is perpetually followed by innuendo about its business and private affairs – including the tragic double suicide in Mauritius of SP’s only son, Dharam, and his Catholic Anglo-Indian bride in 1992.

Or perhaps the Hindujas really are invisible. For all of the secrecy that surrounds them, whether due to their somewhat shrouded past or their nomadic corporate existence, they are a surprisingly unknown quantity in either London or Mumbai. ‘We don’t deal much with them; I don’t think anyone does,’ says one senior Mumbai-based banker.

That shroud could be lifted forever if the group makes good on its recent promise to lavish a whopping £25 billion on mergers and acquisitions over the next few years – more cash that was splashed on all outward-bound Indian M&A deals in 2005 and 2006 combined. Europe’s third-largest maker of car parts, Valeo of France, was recently linked with the sale of a 51 per cent stake to the Hindujas for £750 million; other deals are bound to follow.

At this point the door opens and a new-generation Hinduja walks in: GP’s 36-year-old son Dheeraj, co-chairman of Hinduja Automotive, a recently-minted holding company that

oversees Ashok Leyland and the forging divisions. Sleek and fit, Dheeraj smiles much but says little until his father leaves. Even then, he replies to questions with care and brevity, as though blessed with an inner PR spokesperson. Dheeraj is the man tipped to assume chairmanship of the group when GP and SP retire.

No, Dheeraj demurs politely, he’s not the ‘rising star’ of the company. ‘We all work in our specific sectors, and when needed we work together to get things done.’ No, he adds, also politely, we don’t get forced to take responsibility of a specific industry – ‘change and position are assumed naturally – we are all left to our own devices’. Does he, unlike other members of the family, have a way of letting off steam, particularly in his bustling hometown of Mumbai, a chaotic city full of a billion dalliances and intrigues? ‘To be honest, the working week is so long that at the end of it, you just want to see the family,’ he insists. ‘Six days a week is very common. Sunday is the one rest day but even then, with the Indian economy growing as it is, work is still part of the system.’ It’s not exactly a Keith Moon lifestyle, though maybe that’s for the best.

And that’s probably why the structure works so well. The Hindujas’ story is one of determination and stamina – of making business decisions that work in the long-term, and of massaging the egos of powerful people who can benefit the clan. Few other operations would have survived being transplanted first from the Indus Valley to Iran, thence to London in 1979, and finally to be spread thickly around the world, with business operations from Buenos Aires to Beijing, Moscow to Mauritius, Switzerland to Saudi Arabia.

That strength of purpose – and the determination and patience to learn the complex commercial and regulatory codes of a new market – can only come from a solid core such as the one provided by the Hindujas’ family ethic. All their operations seem to bleed into everything else, with day-to-day decisions made both by an industry executive (usually a non-Hinduja such as Dr V. Sumantran, a former General Motors executive who heads the newly-formed Hinduja Automotive UK) and by one of the family’s nine key members who make up a loosely-formed board of directors. Any trace of ego is left at the door by ensuring that none of the family members controls the holding company. Neither GP or Dheeraj will divulge the shareholding structure, but GP insists that ‘none of the family members has a personal shareholding’.

‘We all work for a common cause,’ GP adds. ‘It’s a unique system. We’re not materialistic although we like economic growth. But we do want to work properly, and benefit society. So the holding company is owned by all of us. We’re into the third generation, and the fourth generation is moving up now.’ That consistency and solidity is clearly coveted by the Hindujas’ global business partners – the likes of Nissan, which knows that a deal with the family means striking a long-term commitment with a group of people working collectively to turn a tidy profit. As chief of staff Kosciuszko points out: ‘That was an important consideration for me. This family will stick together through thick and thin, and that’s important for our partners. I just got off the phone with one of our European partners, and we talked about the culture of both firms, how we’ve managed to make those two strong cultures work together.

GP’s comment about benefiting society also helps explain what makes the Hindujas tick. Their patriarch, Parmanand, who died in 1971, left a set of guiding principles to every descendant: notably that his duty, or dharma, is ‘to work, so that he can give’. Other Hinduja mottos include, apparently, ‘one’s word is one’s bond’ and the rather Clausewitzian ‘advance fearlessly’. The family gives extensively to charities though they won’t say exactly how much. Beneficiaries in the UK include the education-based Hinduja Cambridge Trust, the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

The family also promotes public health, education, social welfare, sports and cultural causes in India, Europe, the US and Britain.

But at the root of all of that the Hindujas do is commerce and, ultimately, ensuring that this strongest of family bonds and names does not wither. Charity is honourable, and it assuages any guilt generated by having accumulated a vast fortune, but it’s the love of doing business that keeps the family going. That’s why they work so hard, and how they keep themselves as a single unit, for all the past scandals and family misfortunes.

That’s why they don’t mind working in a faded office in one of central London’s grottier modern buildings. And that’s why their partners, from London to Johannesburg, continue to work with them: because they never shirk. As GP puts it: ‘I like developing new businesses. Why? It’s in myself. I grew up trading, and in trading you don’t need money. You need only ideas, and the ability to know how to put things together. You need to buy and sell, and you need to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’ 

Elliot Wilson is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai, where he also writes for the New York Times and Euromoney

ONGC feels Iran offered the stake to India because of its expertise and hence it deserves three-fourths of the share. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Hinduja Group are at loggerheads over a stake in an Iranian gas field, with the London-based group seeking half of the 40 per cent interest assigned to India but the state-owned company willing to concede only one-fourth.

 

Hindujas want the stake in Phase-12 (SP-12) of the giant South Pars gas field to be split equally between its subsidiary Ashok Leyland Projects Services (ALPS) and ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of ONGC, sources in know said.

The state-owned firm, however, feels Iran offered the stake to India because of its expertise in the business and so it deserved three-fourths of the stake on offer. ALPS has no experience in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) and so should be confined to a smaller role, ONGC feels.

After years of tough negotiations, Iran last month signed agreements to give the ONGC-Hinduja combine a 40 per cent stake in SP-12. ONGC and ALPS, along with Petronet LNG, also signed a pact to buy 20 per cent stake in Iran LNG, that is building a $4.32-billion plant on the southern coast to convert gas from SP-12 into liquefied natural gas (LNG) for exports.

The division of the stake within the Indian group was to be decided internally, the source said. Hinduja also wants 10 per cent stake in the LNG plant and the balance to be split equally between ONGC and Petronet.

ONGC, on the other hand, is seeking a greater role even in LNG project.

Sources say ONGC feels Iran offered SP-12 to the Indian venture because of its success in discovering gas in the Farsi offshore block located in the eastern part of the Persian Gulf off the Iran coast near the Saudi border. OVL, along with Indian Oil and Oil India, will invest $5.5 billion in developing the Farzad-B gas field in the block.

Phase 12 is the largest of the 28 phases in which the South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf has been divided and will cost $7.5 billion.

Petropars, a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Co, would hold 40 per cent in SP-12 while the remaining 20 per cent would be with Sonangol of Angola.

Iran will also sell 6 million tonnes a year of LNG to India to meet its growing energy needs.

Sources say Iran does not give foreign firms ownership of oil and gas and instead pays a fixed fee on the investment made. Indians would, however, get LNG in return.

SP-12 is to produce 3 billion cubic feet per day of gas, two-thirds of which is to be converted into LNG for exports.

Gas from SP-12 would go to Iran LNG, which is building a $4.35 billion plant at Tombak Port by 2011, to turn it into liquid state so that it can be shipped in cryogenic vessels.

Phase 12 field is the south eastern block of the South Pars gas field and is on the border with Qatar and extends over 150 sq km. At 35 tcf, it contains almost 7 per cent of reserves in the South Pars gas field.

Hinduja”s proposed power plant in Andhra Pradesh has run into considerable opposition of activists.