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Indian billionaires: Biggest losers & gainers

February 24, 2009

The other big surprise was Saurabh Tayal, chairman of KSL and Industries, who gained Rs 5,442 crore (Rs 54.42 billion), or 96 per cent in wealth. A third-generation scion of an old textile family, Tayal has transformed the 50-year-old textile business and forayed into real estate — the group is developing properties in several locations.

While many textile exporters are grappling with the US scrapping of the textile quota regime, KSL's revenue and net profits have grown 36 per cent and 116 per cent respectively year-on-year over three years till March 2007, helping it emerge among the top five companies in the mid-cap space (Rs 100-500 crore or Rs 1-5 billion) in a study last year. Tayal's growth was fuelled by acquisitions as KSL bought ailing textile rivals, including Surat Co-operative Mills, Kamleshwar Textile Mills, Empress Textile Mills and Deccan Co-operative Mills. These gave KSL the opportunity to develop land banks, and the group is developing 15 realty projects: townships, hotels, commercial complexes, malls, multiplexes, and warehouses across Maharashtra, Punjab, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Image: Saurabh Tayal, chairman, KSL (Inset). A textile worker dries a sari. | Photograph: Reuters and Rediff Archives