Vijay Sankeshwar is an Indian businessman from

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He along with Anand Sankeshwar (managing director) is the chairman of India's largest logistics firm

VRL Group VRL Logistics Limited (formerly ''Vijayanand Roadlines Ltd.''), commonly known as the VRL Group, is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Hubballi, Karnataka, India with operations in around 23 states and 4 union territories in the countr ...

. He is also known for being the owner of the largest fleet of commercial vehicles in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He left BJP and founded the Kannada Nadu Party. Later he joined the

Karnataka Janata Paksha Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) was an Indian political party based in Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the Sta ...

of BJP outcast Yeddyurappa; the party eventually merged back with BJP. Sankeshwar was also a former Member of Parliament from North Dharwad constituency as a BJP member. Sankeshwar previously owned Karnataka's largest circulating newspaper, ''

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It wa ...

'', until it was sold to Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. (

The Times Group Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group), is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a majority ...

) for an undisclosed sum in 2007. After the expiry of a five-year non-compete clause he launched ''

Vijaya Vani ''Vijayavani'' (Kannada: ವಿಜಯವಾಣಿ) is a Kannada-language newspaper distributed in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is published by VRL Group owned by logistics tycoon Vijay Sankeshwar. Having launched on 1 April 2012, Vijayava ...

'' in 2012. ''Vijaya Vani'' is now the #1 Kannada daily newspaper, with 8 lakh+ sold copies every day. Sankeshwar launched a new Kannada channel, Digvijay 24X7, on April 4, 2017. In 2020, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

honoured him with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest civilian award in the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Personal life

Vijay Sankeshwar was born on 2 August 1950 in Betageri, Gadag Mysore State (now Karnataka) to Basavanneppa Sankeshwar and Chandrawwa. His father, was a businessman who established the printing press B G Sankeshwar and Co. (now Sankeshwar Printer Private Limited) in Gadag. Sankeshwar married the Lalitha Sankeshwar on 14 December 1972. Couple had three daughters and a son, Anand Sankeshwar, is the managing director of VRL Logistics Limited.

Education

Sankeshwar obtained a commerce at Adarsh Shikshan Samiti, College of Commerce, Gadag,

Karnataka University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014, ...

Business career

Vijay got interest in transport business and in 1976 started the cargo business with one truck that he had bought by taking a loan of Rs 2 lakhs. Initially he suffered severe losses due to accidents, no communication, and competition. In 1978, Vijay Sankeshwar and his family shifted to Hubballi to expand their transport business and brought three more trucks for business. In 1983, started a transport company Vijayanand Roadlines Limited. In beginning of 1990 ''VRL'' had 117 commercial vehicles and had turnover more than crores. In 1993, starts the courier delivery across the Karnataka. Sankeshwar purchase 4 Passenger Buses in 1996, which carry passengers Bangalore to Hubballi.

Political career

In popular culture

In 2022, Anand Sankeshwar produced the biopic of Vijay Sankeshwar as '' Vijayanand'' released on 9 December 2022 in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. The biopic will focus on Sankeshwar’s journey from owning a single truck to making it India’s largest logistics fleet.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankeshwar, Vijay VRL Group Living people People from Gadag-Betageri 1950 births 21st-century Indian politicians Lok Sabha members from Karnataka India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Karnataka Janata Paksha politicians People from Dharwad district