Karan Paul
Born (1969-11-03) 3 November 1969
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materBrown University
Occupation(s)Chairman, Apeejay Surrendra Group
SpouseIndrani Dasgupta
Parent(s)Surrendra Paul and Shirin Paul
FamilyPriti Paul, Priya Paul (sisters), Anand Paul (brother)

Karan Paul (born 3 November 1969) is the chairman of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, one of India's oldest and largest privately-owned family businesses. Established in Jalandhar in 1910, the Group has more than 43,000 employees across tea, hospitality, shipping, retail, real estate, and other sectors.

Early life

Born on 3 November1969, Karan Paul is the grandson of Shri Pyare Lal, founder of the Group, and son of the late chairman, Surrendra Paul. He was born and brought up in Kolkata and New Delhi. He studied at La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata, and Modern High School, New Delhi. He went to Brown University, United States, for his undergraduate studies in philosophy and literature and majored in politics.

Career

Paul joined the Apeejay Surrendra Group in 1992.[1] His first businesses were Apeejay Finance, a finance company, and Apeejay Securities, a stockbroking company, which he ran for about ten years and sold them off in 2006-07.[2][3][4][5] After working at various levels in the Apeejay Surrendra Group for 12 years, Karan became the Chairman of the Group in 2004.[6][7]

Paul oversees the group’s financial planning, business strategy, and diversification into new business ventures and operations[8] as well as management of Apeejay Tea, Apeejay Shipping, and Apeejay Schools. Under his leadership, the group has made large business investments and expanded across various businesses, especially its core businesses of shipping and hotels.[9] The group has forward integrated the tea plantation business by acquiring an FMCG brand Typhoo which retails in nearly 50 countries globally.[10] The group also diversified into new business ventures of marine cluster and logistics parks which has backward and forward integrated the group’s shipping business.[11][12] The real estate division has incremented land banks and consolidated as well as grown real estate commercial developments across India.[13] Karan is director and member of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited, K.P.H.Dream Cricket Private Limited and Director of Apeejay Tea Limited, Apeejay Shipping Limited, Apeejay Infralogistics Private Limited, and Bengal Shipyard Limited.[8]

Board memberships

Karan has been on the executive committees of various chambers of commerce like CII, FICCI, ICC, Bharat Chamber of Commerce, and Bengal Chamber of Commerce. Karan is actively involved with reputed trade organizations and professional forums such as YPO, YLF, INSA, ITA, and West Bengal industry forums.[14]

Awards

In 2006 Karan Paul was awarded one of Italy's highest honors 'Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity' in which Gianni Vernetti, Minister of State of the Ministry of External Affairs, presented the decorations of the 'Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity' in New Delhi. Italy confers this award annually on Italian and foreign nationals residing outside the country who have significantly contributed to the stature of Italy. It could either be by way of promoting Italian culture and language or by any other voluntary activity or humanitarian service.[15] In 2012, the International Confederation of NGOs felicitated Karan with its coveted ‘Karmaveer Puraskaar, 2012 Corporate Citizen for Holistic CSR Initiatives’ award.[16] The award was given to him for his work in the field of social service and for interpreting his responsibilities as an individual and as the leader of the Apeejay Surrendra Group adjudicated by processes created by the international HR audit firm Mercer and Grant Thornton. Some of the initiatives created by him:

  • The Paul Foundation – In 2001, within less than a decade of joining the business, Karan put in place a system of providing grants to students aiming for higher studies in India and abroad through The Paul Foundation.[17][18]
  • Social Sector Initiatives Program – In 2005, a year after he became Chairman, Karan evolved a comprehensive strategy that funneled resources into the Social Sector (Children, Disabled, Women), Education,[19][20] Environment and Stakeholder Relations, all executed through institutionalized processes at the corporate level.
  • Inclusive Sports – In 2015, a reward and recognition platform with the UK’s national charity, the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) was created to ensure that more disabled athletes have access to local competitions. It is the third time Karan has backed the charity’s work after sponsoring the Typhoo Sports for All project in 2009 and 2010 which funded free Disability Inclusion Training across the UK. More than 1000 disabled athletes took part in the regional qualifiers that led to the National Junior Athletics Championships climax in June 2015.[21][22]
  • Anand Paul Education Support Programme – In 2009, the program was started by Karan Paul to identify children from the poorest areas around Park Street, who had either dropped out of school or were not enrolled in school, and help them return to school.[23][24][25][26] The program has also created additional lines of remedial support for children who were put back into school but were again in the danger of dropping out; to tackle the parents’ tendency to divert the child’s attention to other tasks by engaging the parents into adult literacy & skill training program.[25]
  • 100 for 100 – The Group’s centenary in 2010 was celebrated with 100 community initiatives by Karan to cornerstone Apeejay’s commitment to creating an equitable society and a sustainable business. Projects spread across education, environment, art & culture, capacity building of institutions especially those that help the disabled, and focused on the physical and mental health of children and women were designed and implemented. Projects that promoted professional growth and personal well-being of employees were created along with sustainable and well-funded cultural platforms created in cities where Apeejay’s businesses were flourishing.[27][28][29]
  • Volunteer Awards – Karan created India’s pioneering National Award for Volunteers, Volunteer engaging NGOs and Corporates with the best Employee Volunteering Policies in 2011.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] The Award took forward the Individual Social Responsibility (TM) program[38][39][40] instituted by Karan in 2008 wherein should they choose to and want to do so, Apeejay employees have the opportunity to take ownership of social causes they believed in and do social work in office hours during a working week.[38][41]
  • Art, Heritage & Culture – Park Mansions, a residential and commercial building developed by Armenian jute merchant, T.M. Thaddeus in 1910, owned by Apeejay was carefully restored to its original glory under Karan’s direct supervision. The restoration effort earned the Group the CMC-INTACH Heritage Award 2013[42][43]
  • Sustainability – Karan has worked for many years now making his tea plantations rigorously implement global ‘Sustainable Agricultural Network’ (SAN) standards. The retail tea brand in the UK follows a pragmatic approach to corporate sustainability concentrating on improving environmental[44] and ethical performance[45] In 2015, Typhoo’s Indian arm launched India’s first certified teas to be marketed pan India while carrying the Rainforest Alliance sustainability seal. The seal is an assurance to customers that the product is sourced from certified farms that adhere to very stringent sustainable agriculture standards that protect the environment, biodiversity, waterways, wildlife habitats, and the rights and well-being of workers & their families.[46][47][48]
  • Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation – In 2015, Karan created a three-year exhaustive management strategy that will see the Group’s tea plantations company invest in reducing the impact of Human Elephant Conflict in Assam. The project is implemented in partnership with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and has many first-of-its-kind ideas built in with pilot projects to incubate these innovations in Apeejay’s tea plantations. WWF is certain that the project will be able to decrease human and elephant mortality levels substantially from those recorded in 2013 in Assam tea plantations.[49][50]

Personal

Karan is a sports enthusiast[51] and loves the sport of cricket. He is the co-owner of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) team of the Indian Premier League (IPL)[52] along with Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, and Mohit Burman. KXIP is a franchise cricket team with its headquarters in Mohali, Punjab. Karan has been reading serious literature from a very young age and his first love and abiding interest remains Philosophy and literature.[53] He expresses views on issues he feels strongly about in occasional columns he writes for.[54][55][56][57] Karan Paul is married to Indrani Dasgupta, together they have two children Uma Kismat Paul and Kabir Anand Paul [58][59][60][61][62]

References

  1. ↑ "Newsmaker: Karan Paul". Business Standard India. business-standard. 15 October 2005.
  2. ↑ "Societe General, Burmans buy stake in Apeejay Finance". The Economic Times. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  3. ↑ "Societe Generale and the Burman family acquire 75% stake in Apeejay Finance in India" (PDF). Societe Generale. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
  4. ↑ Zachariah, Reena (19 December 2007). "SocGen takes full control of Apeejay Finance". Business Standard India. business-standard.
  5. ↑ "IL&FS Investsmart non consolidated PAT rises 81%". moneycontrol. 25 July 2006.
  6. ↑ "Karan Paul becomes chairman of Apeejay Surrendra Group". The Economic Times. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  7. ↑ thpns (16 July 2004). "Business / Briefly : Apeejay Surrendra group's new Chairman". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Karan Paul: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Apeejay Shipping Limited - Key People". www.aihitdata.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  10. ↑ Business Exchange apeejaygroup.com
  11. ↑ "West Bengal government clears industrial projects". The Economic Times. 13 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Apeejay Infralogistics kick starts operations at Haldia Logistics Park". The Economic Times. 9 October 2012.
  13. ↑ "Luxury living gets new address on Park Street". The Times of India. 20 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "WBIDC". Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Corporate Citizens for Holistic CSR Initiatives Karmaveer Puraskaar". karmaveerglobalawards.
  17. ↑ "Paul Foundation Scholarships". studyguideindia.
  18. ↑ "Apeejay Surrendra Group - Education". www.apeejaygroup.com. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  19. ↑ pradeep. "Surendrapaul Gramoday Vidyalaya". chitrakoot.org. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "Apeejay Surrendra Group - Education". apeejaygroup.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Typhoo and EFDS team-up to support disabled athletes across England". efds.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  22. ↑ "#SportsForAll". Join the Sports For All Campaign. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  23. ↑ "Education support programme". The Hindu Business Line. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  24. ↑ http://www.apeejaygroup.com/Images/clip_on_Sourav_Saha.swf
  25. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ↑ "Helping hand to drop outs from Apeejay group - mydigitalfc.com". mydigitalfc.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2015 - Literature Festival - Literary Festival India - AKLF". aklf.in. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  28. ↑ "Apeejay Surrendra Group 100 Initiatives - Home". apeejaygroup.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "Design Stack is Branding and Graphic Design Studio based in Mumbai. Brand Strategy and Positioning, Graphic design, Brand identity design, Corporate identity design, Retail branding, Logo Design, Brochure Design, Website Design, Packaging, Print Design, Advertising Apeejay Group". designstack.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  30. ↑ Apeejay India Volunteer Awards 2011. YouTube. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  31. ↑ APEEJAY INDIA Volunteer Award - Ram Sundher. YouTube. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  32. ↑ "Volunteering to be different". The Times of India. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  33. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ↑ "Joe Phelan: India's difficulty with being good". businessfightspoverty.org. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  35. ↑ "Apeejay Surrendra Group announces the Winners of the 'Apeejay India Volunteer Awards 2011'". This Week Bangalore. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  36. ↑ Gokul Krishnamurthy (18 September 2011). "A thumb's up for volunteer work". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  37. ↑ "Tata group - mjunction services - Media releases - mjunction services wins top honours at Apeejay India Volunteer Awards 2011 for its exemplary volunt". tata.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  38. 1 2 "After CSR, India Inc starts Individual Social Responsibility". timesofindia-economictimes. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  39. ↑ "After CSR, India Inc starts Individual Social Responsibility - Moneycontrol.com". moneycontrol.com. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  40. ↑ Apeejay Anand Children's Library, Chennai. YouTube. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  41. ↑ Employment Enhancing Professional Skills Training Programme. YouTube. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  42. ↑ "A painstaking labour of love". Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  43. ↑ "A painstaking labour of love". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  44. ↑ "Apeejay Surrendra Group 100 Initiatives - Environment". apeejaygroup.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  45. ↑ Ensuring business resilience: Typhoo's Greenprint for Good. YouTube. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  46. ↑ "Typhoo's eco-friendly teas set to hit India". mydigitalfc.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  47. ↑ "Typhoo - Rainforest Alliance". rainforest-alliance.org. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  48. ↑ "Typhoo Brings Sustainability to Consumers in India". The Frog Blog UK & Ireland. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  49. ↑ "WWF India - Apeejay Tea & WWF-India partnership to reduce the impact of Human-Elephant Conflict in Assam". wwfindia.org. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  50. ↑ "No place to go: The plight of Assam's cornered elephants is getting worse". Firstpost. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  51. ↑ "A game of golf with Karan Paul". ndtv.com. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  52. ↑ "Promoters - Kings XI Punjab". Kings XI Punjab. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  53. ↑ "Yes, i am in love". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  54. ↑ "Let's Change the game, says Karan Paul". Archived from the original on 28 April 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  55. ↑ "People". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  56. ↑ "Karan konfidential". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  57. ↑ "Karan Konfidential". Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  58. ↑ "Ask Indrani". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  59. ↑ "Say it with a smile". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  60. ↑ "Art In Life". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  61. ↑ "OFF THE CUFF with Umesh Jivnani - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 26 May 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  62. ↑ "The sound of courage - Pune Mirror -". Retrieved 8 January 2018.
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