December 03, 2008

A tribute to Indian steel legend Mr OP Jindal

Mr Om Prakash Jindal was born on August 7th 1930 to a farmer Mr Netram Jindal of village Nalwa of district Hisar in Haryana and on the 3rd death anniversary, his contribution to Indian steel sector need to be revisited as he was a successful industry visionary and would remain as a role model for others.

Since his childhood, Mr Jindal was interested in technical work and started his industrial career with a small bucket manufacturing unit in Hisar. In 1964, he commissioned a pipe unit Jindal India Limited, followed by a large factory in 1969 under the name Jindal Strips Limited. At present, there are twenty factories under the flagship of the OP Jindal Organization.

Mr Jindal always had the conviction that India should be self reliant in every sector of industry. He visited several foreign countries to elicit latest industrial technical development and know how and acquired a great deal of knowledge, which he aptly applied to enhance production of his industrial establishments.

In November 2004, he was conferred the prestigious “Life Time Achievement Award” for his outstanding contribution to the Indian steel industry by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

His life's mission was to help others particularly the common man in every possible way. The list of his philanthropic activities is rather long. Mr Jindal's philosophy was that without the upliftment of weaker and backward sections of society our nation's dream of being a leading nation of the world shall remain unfulfilled. To realize this conviction he was motivated into politics and he became a Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly in 1991 and in 1996 he was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sabha from the Kurukshetra Parliamentary Constituency of Haryana. In fact, he was the first industrialist of India to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha.

Mr Jindal's mantra was “Where others saw walls he saw doors”. Then whether it was opening doors or breaking down walls he always led the way. The life journey of Mr Jindal from a farmer's son to a successful industrialist, a philanthropist, a politician and a leader would serve as a great source of inspiration for generations to come.