Success comes easy when you put in that extra effort and go that additional mile. Certainly, there is no potential substitute to the enormous toil and determination it entails. When Sanjay Dalmia, one of India’s leading industrialists embarked on his journey, he was well aware about the amount of hard work required. But it was his zeal to excel, which established him as one of the most powerful tycoons and a major global player.
Born in Lahore (now Pakistan) in 1944, Sanjay Dalmiadid his schooling from Modern School in Delhi. Later, he graduated with Economics (Hons) from the prestigious St Stephen’s College, Delhi University. It was in the early 1970s that he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey as an industrialist. Following the footsteps of his father, he took charge of Dalmia Brothers Pvt Ltd.
In his entrepreneurial journey spanning over four decades, Sanjay Dalmia assumed diversified roles in various organizations. He was the Non-Executive Chairman of GHCL Limited (Former Name, Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited), its subsidiary — Colwell and Salmon Communications (India) Ltd, and Golden Tobacco Ltd chairman till the year 2014. He also serves as the Director of Bharat Explosives Ltd. Under his aegis, these companies have attained commendable success.
As a part of its expansion plan, GHCL has acquired two large companies – a soda ash unit in Europe, and a home textiles company in the US. "Earlier, only overseas companies could come here, now it's a two-way traffic. We too can acquire companies abroad and that's the route to growth that we've decided on," he said.
Dalmia has also been associated with a number of trade organizations, such as the PHD Chamber of Commerce and FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India.
Dalmia was also among the board of directors of Union Bank of India, and a member of the Northern Committee of IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India). Apart from this, Sanjay Dalmia is also a Founder Director of the Europe-India Chamber of Commerce (EICC), which was established to promote trade, commerce and investments between India and Europe.
At 78, Sanjay Dalmia is the chairman of the Dalmia Group of Companies, one of the leading global business conglomerates, and continues to head its charitable trust. With a knack to spot opportunities in different sectors and capitalize upon them, Dalmia’s ventures include textiles, industrial chemicals, industrial explosives, and healthcare.
As a Member of the Rajya Sabha, Sanjay Dalmia has been actively involved in debates and discussions around national issues related to finance, economy and the industries of our country. An avid nationalist, he moved a private members bill in the Rajya Sabha for renaming the Andaman Nicobar Islands as ‘Saheed’ and ‘Swaraj’ Islands as a tribute to Subhash Chandra Bose and the freedom fighters.
Popular for his works in philanthropy, Dalmia started Masoom in 2001, a special school for training the mentally-challenged children from the underprivileged section of the society., Since then, he has spent all his birthdays and celebrated various festivals with these kids.
As a patron of the Dalmia Sewa Trust, he has promoted the construction of lavatories in about 100 houses, along with building houses for a number of homeless families in Chirawa, Rajasthan.
Certainly, the life and success story of Sanjay Dalmia charts a career graph, which affirms that it is only hard work that counts, and comes into play for making it to the top. It will continue to inspire the budding entrepreneurs.