The Empress of Steel

Deepika Jindal, Creative Head and Managing Director, Jindal Lifestyle Limited (JLL), has happily carved a niche for herself in the interior décor landscape. She shares her journey as a businesswoman and her love for steel and spirituality

- Rachna Virdi

With the world turning away from plastic, stainless steel offers a great alternative—in the kitchen and in the living room as a décor item. Twenty years back, what started as a personal project for Deepika Jindal, Creative Head and Managing Director, Jindal Lifestyle Limited (JLL), an initiative of Jindal Stainless Ltd., developed into a niche lifestyle décor brand Arttd’inox that has altered the interior décor landscape in India.

Being the helm of the creative process at JLL, Jindal started her journey with Arttd’inox, one of the first ‘Make in India’ brands, with fairly little knowledge about business, but her passion helped her turn around the brand into a décor culture.

A ₹450-plus crore unit today, Arttd’inox has received a number of awards—EDIDA, Red Dot honorary award— for its achievements.

Notwithstanding a position that many women can only dream of, Jindal seems composed. “I have never looked at numbers and figures as my benchmark. In every business, you have a moral responsibility for the people who work for you and you want them to grow. I understand profits, but personally, the validation comes when people buy and appreciate what I make and do, and that gives me the pleasure!” shares Jindal, who lives in the sprawling Jindal House located in New Delhi, with her husband Ratan Jindal, the stainless steel magnate who heads Jindal Stainless, India’s largest stainless steel manufacturing group, and their family.

The early years of life