King Of Cawnpore

The 64-year-old chairman and managing director of JK Cement is a self-effacing mix of legacy and modernity who remains rooted to Kanpur.

- Sumant Banerji

As a member of one of India’s oldest and most prosperous business families — the JK Group, 64-year-old Yadupati Singhania is averse to any ostentatious show of wealth. Still operating out of the 90-year-old Kamla Towers in Kanpur's busy Jareeb Chowki area, Singhania disregards the luxury of a big German sedan and opts for a modest Maruti Ciaz for the half-hour drive to office from his ancestral home, Ganga Kutir. Even the smaller and less stately Mercedes B Class that was bought for him a couple of years ago has been discarded. “Look at the congestion and narrow roads here. A Maruti is best for Kanpur,” he says.

Dressed casually in a woollen pullover, seated atop an antique 80-year-old family chair, Singhania looks frail for his age the day we meet him on a particularly foggy December morning. It is a picture of a contented man who has seen much in life. Singhania feigns a mock surprise when told he has been adjudicated as the best CEO for the cement industry and is at a loss to explain what makes him special.

“The vision is to grow just like any other company aspires to. I don’t think we have done anything different. We are doing what we have been doing all the time. It just happens that we are performing better,” he says. “Compared to others, you would have a better idea as an observer (outsider) to gauge what we are doing differently. Because internally, I do not see anything different.”

Cement is a rather peculiar industry in India. For all its importance in nation building — construction of houses, bridges, roads and ports, it is taxed heavily. There is also a perception that the industry is opaque; charges of cartelisation often surface, and it is continually under the radar of the Competition Commission of India.