Some 30 years ago, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao used to cycle 25-30km a day in rural Andhra Pradesh collecting money for the rice, spices, jute or grains he had supplied. Rao was a mechanical engineer, the first graduate in his family living in a village not far from Vizag. Today, Rao oversees assets worth Rs15,000 crore in power, roads, and airports. Though Rao is extremely low profile, when you think of private initiative in Indian infrastructure, you have to think of GMR. Rao ente" />
Some 30 years ago, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao used to cycle 25-30km a day in rural Andhra Pradesh collecting money for the rice, spices, jute or grains he had supplied. Rao was a mechanical engineer, the first graduate in his family living in a village not far from Vizag. Today, Rao oversees assets worth Rs15,000 crore in power, roads, and airports. Though Rao is extremely low profile, when you think of private initiative in Indian infrastructure, you have to think of GMR. Rao ente" />
Some 30 years ago, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao used to cycle 25-30km a day in rural Andhra Pradesh collecting money for the rice, spices, jute or grains he had supplied. Rao was a mechanical engineer, the first graduate in his family living in a village not far from Vizag. Today, Rao oversees assets worth Rs15,000 crore in power, roads, and airports. Though Rao is extremely low profile, when you think of private initiative in Indian infrastructure, you have to think of GMR. Rao ente">
We have grown in assets but compared to other large groups, we are only beginning. I don’t want to be the biggest; I want to set up a good organization
ML: Could you tell us
something about your family and your childhood. GMR:My family came from a small
village called Rajam, 100km from Vishakapatnam (Vizag). We were in a trading
family buying jute and grain from the farmers and selling it to the mills. We
are four brothers and three sisters and nobody was really educated. I was the
third son. I had failed in my SSLC (secondary...
