Bharat Entrepreneurs

A. Venkateswara Rao is the founder of Southern Travels Pvt. Ltd. This company has the unique distinction of delivering more than 34 years of service to the Tourism Sector in India. Mr. Venkateswara Rao hails from a middle-class family located at Prasangulapad near Ongole, Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh. In his school life he faced many problems because of the remoteness of his village. There were no proper traveling facilities to travel from his village to school. He used to walk 15Kms a day to complete his schooling. But these adverse circumstances did not disturb his determination and zeal to reach the goal in the least. It was his dream to become an I.A.S officer. For this he worked hard and achieved 1st Class in M.A. Economics. Later he went to Delhi and wrote the IAS examination.
He worked with National Council of Applied Economics Research, New Delhi ( NCAER) and the Union Ministry of Commerce, New Delhi. After taking VRS in 1971, he started Travel Services and procured train tickets and arranged Tourist buses for customers to travel to nearby places like Agra, Hardwar, etc. The services offered by his company were not expensive. The business environment was congenial to him as the major part of his customers were from middle-class employees. He understood the prominence and the potential of New Delhi by observing the thousands of tourists coming from Southern States to New Delh. He wanted to capitalize this opportunity. Moreover there was no proper guidance for the tourists coming from southern states. Then he came up with an idea of starting a Hotel. For that purpose, in 1978, he purchased a building with the thought of converting it into a Hotel along with purchasing 50 Buses and Cars.
Many Bankers came forward to invest money for contructing the rooms and to purchase cars. This resulted in a 90 Room Complex “Hotel Southern” at Karol Bagh, New Delhi. They kept in mind the best interests of the customers and worked hard to provide adequate facilities for them. Because of this, they attained an unbeatable lead in the tourism sector in the next three decades. The only thing on their agenda was the need to serve the customers in the most efficient and economical way. Southern Travels employed young boys from Southern States adept in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam at the respective travel counters to avoid communication gaps. This increased the customers as they felt good about the personal attention and the efficient service. They also started serving good South Indian food.These efforts culminated with a National Tourism Award from Ministry of Tourism, Government of India as the BEST DOMESTIC TOUR OPERATOR in the country.

A.V.Rao is still not satisfied. He is in the process of constructing a 3 Star Hotel before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and Nagpur. They are planning to start an Institute in the near future to train technical competent individuals for the hospitality industry. Apart from these they are also offering an honorarium to the merit students every year irrespective of caste / economic status in Delhi and in Andhra Pradesh.

It is quite inspiring to see a single person A. V.Rao holding some of the prestigious positions in the Tourism, Banking and Religious Trusts.

1. Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, A Govt. Undertaking,
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
2. Member, Tourism Promotion Council, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
3. Member of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
4. Director, Vysya Bank Limited, Bangalore.
5. Member of Central Board of Film Censors.
6. Chairman, Sri Venkateswara College, New Delhi

Popularity: 20%

Mukesh- who? Obviously Ambani; No? Then must be the versatile singer we had.

Anil-Oh! Come on, there can be only one who goes around by that name and turns heads-Anil Ambani

Rahul—hmmmm? Dravid? History? Gandhi!!!! Yea, you said it.

Sonia- of course, the inevitable Gandhi, you silly.

Yes all these names ring an obvious bell or remind of another name not too far behind. There are several others like this. Because, day in, day out, you see them on TV, or read in the Press.

But now try recalling the name Chandru- Aha! Caught you there. Oh yes, the recently appointed Chairman of SEBI? Oh, excuse me, the ex-chairman of selectors for BCCI, Chandu Borde. No way. I asked Chandru and not Chandu.Ok, keep guessing. But suppose I tell you Chandru Raheja? What??? Where does he fit in? Of Course Rahejas, we know. But Chandru???? No way. Show me one Picture of his. Mention one venture by him…….hmmmmmm…….. give me time.

Now switch to Shopper’s Stop., In Orbit Malls, Hyper City, Mind space. Yes, ring a bell?

I don’t blame you. This is a case where the creator is obscure but the products are better known. Welcome to the world of Chandru Raheja, the Chairman of K. Raheja Corp, promoters of Shoppers Stop, Hypercity, In Orbit Malls etc. This 60-something, reclusive gentleman ranks 368^th in the Forbes’s list of top 500 Billionaires. With an assessed wealth of $3 billion (Rs 12000 crores.)

Mr. Chandru Raheja is credited with the upswing of Shoppers Stop, the pioneer chain that set off the Retail Boom in this country, even before Kishore Biyani came up with the Big Bazaar blitzkrieg. Totally media-shy, Shri Raheja is reputed for his far-sighted visionary zeal and the absolute faith he has in his trusted lieutenants. He is seldom heard to have changed his generals. If Rahejas are a name in Retail and realty, Chandru Raheja is the brain behind the success.

In a world where even the teenage son of a business giant flaunts his pedigree in designer clothes and jelled-up hair style when his dad launches an Airline, or the wives of business magnates suddenly become established social workers and the third Page of any paper is viewed with disdain if the faces of a few of these spouses are not grinning away at you, Chandru Raheja breathes in a whiff of fresh air, unpolluted and fragrant. But with the media attention already zeroing in on him, thanks to the Forbes ranking, the day may not be far off when we have Chandru Raheja “walking the talk” or being in the “Cross fire” of some TV journo or the other.

But, anonymity or not, let’s not fail to give the due credit to this gentleman-business man who ushered in the era of Retail boom and Mall culture, even before they were introduced in our neighbourhood.

Popularity: 24%