Jaiprakash Gaur (born 1930) is an Indian entrepreneur. He founded and, until his retirement in 2010, was the chairman of

Jaypee Group Jaiprakash Associates Limited, commonly known as Jaypee Group, is an Indian conglomerate company based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It has business interests in engineering, construction, power, cement, real estate, hospitality, IT, spor ...

, a conglomerate with a heavy emphasis on engineering and construction (particularly for infrastructure and power projects), cement, and hydropower production. In 2012 he was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 70th-richest person in India, with an estimated net worth of US$855 million. Gaur has been associated with the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

industry for more than five decades.

Early life

Gaur was born in the village Chitta near

Bulandshahr Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Government ...

in present

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. His father was an agricultural inspector in the British government and worked as a serviceman in Beej Godam, Pakki sarai at

Anupshahr Anupshahr is a city and a municipal board, nearby Bulandshahr city in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located on the bank of the holy river Ganga. It is on Bangar alluvial. Geography Anupshahr is located at . ...

. He completed his secondary education from LDAV Inter college

. After graduating as a civil engineer from the

University of Roorkee Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (abbreviated IIT Roorkee) is a technical university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. It is the oldest engineering institution in India, and was founded as the College of Civil Engineering in Brit ...

, he worked as junior engineer in the Uttar Pradesh state irrigation department, but was suspended from the department on charges of corruption.

Career

After graduation, Gaur joined the state government's irrigation department as a junior engineer. Subsequently he started his own venture as a civil contractor. Two decades later, he laid the foundation for the Jaypee Group by setting up Jaiprakash Associates, a civil engineering and construction company. To leave a secure government job and pursue contractorship in 1958, when it was considered to be most prestigious, required courage. In 1967, he led and transformed a motley group of persons into a company which took pride in its cable address "Iron Will" and went on to execute: *

Sardar Sarovar Dam The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada River in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat, India. The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian states ...

– India’s largest dam with 7.2 million cu.m. of chilled concrete; larger by 75% in terms of volume than

Bhakra Nangal Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerged ...

Tehri Dam With a height of 260.5 m (855 ft) Tehri Dam is the tallest dam in India and List of tallest dams, 12th tallest dam in the world. With a total planned installed capacity of 2400 MW, it's the biggest Hydroelectric power plant in India. It is a mult ...

- Asia's largest rockfill dam * Nathpa Jhakri (power house) - The largest underground power house in India In 2010 he was ranked by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

magazine as the 48th-richest person in India, with an estimated wealth of US$1.5 billion.

Awards and honours

* 2005 "Distinguished Alumni Award" by Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (erstwhile University of Roorkee), in recognition of his contribution in the field of corporate development/administration/entrepreneurship * 2005 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Builders' Association of India, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian construction industry * 2005 "Udyog Ratna" award by the Progress Harmony Development (PHD) Chamber of Commerce & Industry, in recognition of his contribution to the economic development of Madhya Pradesh * 2008 "Entrepreneur of Year Award", by Ernst & Young, for his exceptional contribution in the infrastructure and construction sector * 2010 "Lifetime Achievement Award" by Merchants' Chamber of Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur, for creating new milestones in infrastructure development and for his achievement in corporate social responsibility

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaur, Jaiprakash Date of birth unknown Businesspeople from Uttar Pradesh Indian billionaires Living people People from Bulandshahr district Jaypee Group Year of birth uncertain Year of birth missing (living people)