GVK is a diversified business house. With a predominant focus on infrastructure - power, roads and urban infrastructure. The Company also have a significant position in services and manufacturing. The force behind this emerging giant is GV Krishna Reddy.
GVK was fortunate that he was one of the contractors for construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects.
After completing his education he joined his family's construction business, involved in construction of dam, canals, etc. He was fortunate that he was one of the contractors for construction of the Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects. These projects were very complex in nature involving constructions of canals, under-tunnels, etc..The initial exposure to the complexities of the infrastructure projects has made him very passionate about them.
He ventured into manufacturing by setting up a pre-laminated particle board unit - Novopan Industries. Later with the regulations changing in India He got into the hospitality business and set up Hyderabad's first luxury five star deluxe hotel after which he went on to add another five star hotel to his portfolio.
Being young and restless he was frustrated by the prevailing business environment in India especially the "license raj". With my contacts that he had developed while he was setting up Novopan, he moved his base to the US and was there for more than a decade. He set up GVK America INC in the US based on reverse flow of technology from India to the US.
In 1991 when India started opening up and the government was inviting non resident Indians to return to India to set up business here. The then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh persuaded GVK to return and set up business in the state. He was successful in getting a gas based power project in the competitive bidding process, which later became one of the eight fast track projects which were being set up. The fast track project at Jegurupadu (in the state of Andhra Pradesh) was a 235MW gas based combined cycle project which was commissioned in 1996. The plant has since been operating at availability factors of above 90%. Subsequently it was expanded by increasing its capacity by another 228 MW. GVK is now setting up other thermal and hydel power projects in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Uttaranchal.
When other infrastructure sectors like roads opened up for private participation, He was an early mover there as well. He constructed the 93 Km Jaipur Kishangarh Highway which was inaugurated two years ago. This was India's first six lane BOT (build-operate-transfer) highway. Without losing focus on infrastructure projects he improved his hospitality business by setting up five star hotels in Chandigarh and Chennai. The hospitality business will also be extended to Bangalore. On the anvil is one more hotel in Hyderabad. He is also setting up a world class mall called GVK One in Hyderabad, as part of our foray into urban infrastructure.
GVK was awarded the operations management and development of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. GVK group intends to create a world class facility. They have created a new identity for the airport taking the exquisite beauty of the peacock feather. The new logo the peacock feather symbolizes beauty and knowledge and vibrant tapestry of India's rich heritage.
GVK is passionate about tennis - He plays tennis daily between 6 AM & 8 AM. He has sponsored Sania Mirza right from the beginning of her career and am also sponsoring a few other budding tennis players. He would like to continue playing tennis as long as he can and similarly plan to continue to develop infrastructure projects as long as he can.
Source: Asianinvestor Interview
