On November 14, Managing Worker and Chairman of Sahara Group (Sahara India Pariwar), Subrata Roy passed away due to cardiorespiratory arrest, caused due to hypertension and diabetes. At around 10:30 pm, he took his last breath. He was under treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH), Mumbai from November 12.
Subrata Roy was a well known business tycoon of India who started his own business decades ago on his own and built Sahara Group, which is a prominent company in varied sectors — including real estate, tourism, and hotel.
So how Subrata Roy managed to develop such a huge company on his own, let us try to figure this out by knowing his journey from the very beginning.
Early life
Subrata Roy was born on June 10, 1948 in Araria district of Bihar. He was born in a simple family. In the year 1978, when he was only 30 years old, he started his small business in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, with just Rs 2000 in hands. With 2 chairs and one bicycle, he started a small business.
He used to ride on a Lambretta scooter in that time. People close to him then say that he used to carry packets of soap and mixtures (namkeen) on his scooter to sell on streets and local shops.
Slowly, he understood the power of money and started taking investment from low-earning individuals. He took money from individuals and later returned them a healthy amount by making good profit from their money in his business. This way, Roy managed to connect more and more people to his business idea.
Political connections
Even after having good leadership qualities in business sector, Subrata Roy never entered to politics or had any political affiliations. He himself denied that allegations of taking any direct favour from any politician or party in getting quotas or tenders. However, Roy had great political connections, as he understood that having healthy political relations is a key to develop business.
Roy had good relations with then chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh — Veer Bahdur Singh (Indian National Congress) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party). Subrata Roy even had strong relations with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh.
In 2003, when Samajwadi leader Amar Singh made head of State Development Council, Uttar Pradesh, he included Subrata Roy and his closed ones in the council, during the CMship of Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Glamour and celeb connections
Starting from a small business in Gorakhpur, Subrata Roy established his company at PAN India level. He smartly used the Bollywood celebrities, cricket stars and the world of glamour for advertisement and public relations. Roy even had good terms with veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan and business tycoon Anil Ambani.
Roy even featured many retired judiciary and bureaucrats faces for advertising his company’s products and services. This is how Roy expanded his business to foreign — from London, New York to Bangladesh.
Awards & Achievements
A great business leader, master of strategy and a trained manager, Subrata Roy won several prestigious awards during his life span. Some of them are —
1986- Noble Citizen Award
1994 – Udyam Shree Award
2001 – National Citizen Awards
2002 – Businessman of the Year
2004- Global Leadership Award
2007 – TV Icon of the Year
Controversies
Subrata Roy’s life was full of controversies. He was highly loved by his supporters, while heavily criticised at the same time. He was accused even accused of using black money to build his business, which he always denied. Roy always claimed that he build his business with honesty and never used even a single penny by any malpractice.
Subrata Roy was also trolled for his title ‘Saharsri’.
In the year 2009, Roy made the headlines when non-bailable warrant was issued on him over his alleged controversy with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) worth Rs 24,000 crore. SEBI had alleged that Roy took money from investors in his two companies, namely Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, which was illegal.
Even after all these controversies, Subrata Roy managed to grab his glamorous personalty, that made him a super human. He is an inspiration to millions who look after him in the business field. After Roy’s death, prominent people from each and every sector expressed their sad feelings.
Subrata Roy, you will always be remembered! RIP!
