Ajit Gulabchand

Ajit Gulabchand
Ajit Gulabchand
	Ajit Gulabchand at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta, 2011
Born	Maharashtra
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Industrialist
Father	Gulabchand Hirachand

Ajit Gulabchand (born 1948)^[1] is an Indian industrialist. Gulabchand is the chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Company. Gulabchand serves as chairman of the board of governance at National Institute of Construction Management & Research (NICMAR) and as chairman of Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli.^[2]

Early and personal life

Gulabchand was born to a Jain trading family, originally belonging to Wankaner in the Kathiawar region of Gujarat, which had settled by the early 20th century in Solapur, Maharashtra.^[3] He is the son of Gulabchand Hirachand (1896-1967), one of the four brothers who founded the Walchand group, a business conglomerate which flourished in the first half of the 20th century. Ajit has eight brothers and sisters, and his eldest sibling is twenty-eight years older than him. He was nineteen years old when his father died in 1967. The surname of the family is "Doshi," but this is rarely used. Art historian Saryu Doshi was a relative of Ajit Gulabchand through her husband, Vinod Doshi.

Ajit Gulabchand was formerly married to Meera Gulabchand, daughter of film-maker Vasant Joglekar and actress Sumati Gupte Joglekar. The marriage did not have the support of Gulabchand's family, since Meera came from a very different background. The couple separated after a few years of marriage and may have divorced; They have a daughter named Shalaka Dhawan.^[4] Since around the mid-1980s, Ajit Gulabchand has been in a steady relationship with journalist Tavleen Singh. They have no children together, but Ajit has been involved in raising Aatish Taseer, Tavleen's son by a previous relationship. Aatish is a distinguished writer and journalist. Gulabchand and Tavleen reside in one of the most expensive sea-facing apartment complexes in south Mumbai.

Career

Gulabchand has been a director of Indian Hume Pipe since 1993. He has served as director of HCC Infotech, Hincon Technoconsult, Ucchar Investments, Hincon Realty, LAVASA Corporation, Motorsports Association of India, Constructmall.com, and as an independent, non-executive director of Bajaj Electricals.

He continues to serve as a Director in Hincon Finance, Hincon Holdings, Western Securities, Champali Garden, Shalaka Investment, and Gulabchand Foundation.

He is a founding member of the World Economic Forum's Disaster Resource Network and a member of the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He is a promoter of the Lavasa township, which was intended to be India's first new hill station since independence.^[5]