THE POET ENTREPRENEUR
Dreamer and do-er are conventionally considered polar opposites. Where one imagines, the other executes; where one uses the strengths of the mind, the other rolls up his sleeves and gets on with it.
Look at the trajectory of true achievers, though, and you find a consistent ability to fuse these seemingly conflicting traits.
Kanwar Deep Singh is one of those. In 1981, instead of following his brother into the army at age 19, he borrowed Rs 20,000 and set off for Mumbai to make his mark in the trading business. He did return home to Punjab 7 years later but not, as so many such stories go, to concede defeat: instead, to set up his first factory in Chandigarh producing steel mesh and link fencing and thus laying the foundation of the Rs 10,000 crore Alchemist Group with 11 companies and 9700 employees across India. As Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Alchemist Limited, Dr. Singh managed to achieve outstanding business success whilst forging a reputation for integrity and the promotion of fair business practices across Food processing, Hospitals, Pharmaceuticals, Tea Estates, Aviation, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Hospitality and Education.
In his political avatar, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2010. Politics for him is a passion and not a profession. A committed reformist, he has served as Chairman of the Central Advisory Board on Minimum Wages and is currently Chairman of the National Meat and Poultry Processing Board, aiming to revolutionise the food processing industry. He has received multiple awards such as the Rashtryia Ratan Award from the Integration and Economic Council of India and the Udyog Ratan Award from the Institute of Economic Study, among others. He’s widely considered an inspirational business-leader and dedicated social worker, committed to driving social, industrial and economic reforms.
