Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani is an Indian businessman who served as the chairman and managing director of

Bharat Forge Bharat Forge Limited is an Indian multinational company involved in forging, automotives, energy, construction and mining, railways, marine, aerospace and defence industries. The company was founded by Nilkanthrao A. Kalyani on 19 June 1961. Hea ...

, the

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

company of the

Kalyani Group The Kalyani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate focused in four primary sectors, viz. Engineering Steel, Automotive & Non-Automotive Components, Renewable Energy & Infrastructure and Specialty Chemicals. It has also made strides into ...

and the world's second-largest

forgings Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which ...

manufacturer after

ThyssenKrupp ThyssenKrupp AG (, ; stylized as thyssenkrupp) is a German industrial engineering and steel production multinational conglomerate. It is the result of the 1999 merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp and has its operational headquarters in Duisburg a ...

of Germany.

Early life and education

Babasaheb Kalyani was born in a

Marathi Brahmin Marathi Brahmins (also known as Maharashtrian Brahmins), are communities native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are classified into mainly three sub-divisions based on their places of origin, " Desh", " Karad" and "Konkan". The Brahmi ...

family on 7 January 1949 to Mrs. Sulochana and Mr. Neelakanth Kalyani, a Pune-based technocrat and maker of automotive components. He completed his high school from Rashtriya Military School,

Belgaum Belgaum ( ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

; and also attended Dr.(Mrs)Erin N.Nagarvala School (formerly National Model School), Pune. He attended

BITS Pilani Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a Deemed university in Pilani, Jhunjhunu, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has ...

, from where he earned a BE (Hons.) in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, ...

in 1970, and later

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

where he earned an MS degree.

Career

Baba Kalyani joined Bharat Forge, a global manufacturing company, in 1972. To contribute to a clean and emission-free environment, Kalyani set up Kenersys Limited to manufacture various energy-efficient wind turbines for domestic and international markets. The company also has its own wind turbines in Maharashtra which generate "green energy" for the group's manufacturing operations. He is also engaged in developing solar energy equipment for the non-conventional energy sector. In a joint venture with KPIT Cummins, Bharat Forge is developing a hybrid solution that would contribute in the country being able to meet its vehicular emission targets. In SKF board of directors member since 2011. Kalyani received the Indian government's

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

award for contributions to Trade and Industry, and was made Commander First Class of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by the Swedish government in recognition of his contribution in furthering trade and business cooperation between Sweden and India. Other awards include Global Economy Prize, 2009 for Business by Kiel Institute, German Businessman of the Year, 2006 by Business India Magazine, Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 for Manufacturing by

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

, and CEO of the Year 2004 by the Business Standard group. Government of India constituted a task force under the chairmanship of Baba Kalyani to study policies related to special economic zone (SEZ) on 6 June 2018. On 19 February 2015, the Kalyani Group announced a joint venture with

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. ( he, רפאל - מערכות לחימה מתקדמות בע"מ, formerly Rafael Armament Development Authority), ("Rafael" from Hebrew acronym of "Authority for the Development of Armaments" - ) is an Israel ...

of Israel. This

joint venture company A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

will be based in India. In April 2021, ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth to be around US$2.3 billion.

Philanthropy

He is the founder-chairman of Pratham Pune Education Foundation, an NGO that is engaged in providing primary education to children belonging to under-privileged sections of the local community, which was established in 2000.

References

External links

Kalyani Group web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalyani, Baba 1949 births Living people Businesspeople from Maharashtra Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany