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Kiran Grandhi, recently named Corporate Chairman of the GMR Group, first hit the limelight in 2005.
That was when the Government started the process to modernise the Delhi and Mumbai airports. People in the know say he lived, ate and drank the Delhi airport project.
The media couldn’t have enough of the youngest member of the GMR family (Kiran has an older brother and sister).
Probably realising what bagging the Delhi project would mean for the Group globally, Kiran and a team of about 50 (including expats) remained holed up in two floors of ITC’s Grand Kakatiya Hotel in Hyderabad for months, poring over documents and putting together a winning bid.
The two floors were off limits for most during those months.
The investment paid off, and the GMR consortium won the bid to modernise the Delhi airport.
Kiran has also been involved with the group’s other airport projects, in Istanbul and Male, apart from exploring airport business opportunities in South America and Saudi Arabia.
GMR insiders say the latest responsibility being given to Group Chairman G.M. Rao’s youngest son is the natural way the company does business — persons in senior positions are shuffled every three years.
But this still has not helped douse the media attention on Kiran. Kiran joined the family business in 1996 as Director, but only after spending a year cutting his teeth in the treasury department of ING in Singapore.
It’s not all work for Kiran. He Ais a permanent fixture at IPL matches. He hops from one city to another to watch his team, the Delhi Daredevils, play.
He had played the game himself when younger, and had represented Andhra Pradesh’s under-18 team.
An eye for detail is the hallmark of Kiran’s working style.
One morning, after meeting over coffee at the newly developed Delhi airport, Kiran and this correspondent, busy in conversation, walked out of the restaurant. Minutes later, Kiran realised he had not paid the bill and briskly walked back.
“I have not settled the bill. One must settle it, however big or small the amount is,” was his explanation.
>ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in
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