Hot Seat

Reddy, set, go!

A hospitality veteran with lofty ambition that catapulted him into the sphere of aviation, G V Krishna Reddy, chairman, GVK Industries and Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) talks about his early days and where he intends to go from here. By Chetan Kapoor

There is something about the aura exuded by G V Krishna Reddy. Popularly known as GVK, one feels comfortable yet humbled in his presence, because of the fatherly feel he exudes. "I have twelve children," he laughs, while proudly mentioning his involvement in sponsoring 12 young and upcoming Indian tennis players (including Sania Mirza), a sport he is highly passionate about. "Everyday before going to work, I play tennis; but it has not always been this way. As a kid, my parents banned me from playing because I was very naughty, aggressive and would hit other kids," he informs, with a smirk that reminisces at the thought of his childhood. He continues, "In college, however, I had freedom, which I optimised towards training well in volleyball. Soon after completing my studies, I started playing tennis, and now I absolutely love this sport and support both, young and veteran players because nobody else is sponsoring them."

Having a charitable heart, he prefers keeping a low profile. "I don't talk much and am a highly disciplined, hard-working and committed person." His philosophy, he says, is to work, achieve and create something and most importantly, aim to be the best at it. "I would like to make things happen despite people stating that it is impossible. Nothing is impossible; if others can do it, so can I. In life, all you need is an opportunity to prove yourself, and when given one, the best thing to do is to build the nation," he emphasises, leaving no doubt as to why he is at the helm of affairs of a company that diversifies into infrastructure, hospitality, research services and manufacturing. But Reddy has not always been this committed.

The early years

Growing up, this "very naughty" boy never studied nor obeyed anybody until his parents enrolled him in a village school that they had started. This is where the seeds of transformation were planted. He narrates the story of a kid who got the highest marks in class, for whom everybody started clapping, besides the teacher appreciating him. That is when his close friends and him slowly started studying and understanding. Later, he would sleep early and wake up late, studying the entire night - till finally, one day, he scored the highest marks in science. "I cannot forget that day. I got interested and continued with my studies, and from that moment on, I became disciplined and completely changed - I never spoke to anyone, never went anywhere and just studied, slept and studied some more. My parents could hardly believe it and thought that the headmaster was bluffing and writing my papers, since it was our family that had put up the school and he was our employee. Nonetheless, ultimately they believed me when I passed my public exams later."

After that, there was no looking back for Reddy. Leaving college education midway, he joined his family contracting business when he built Nagarjunasagar - one of the world's largest dams at just 21 years of age, as his father was focussed more on politics and agriculture in the village. "For two weeks I used to cry at night because of the responsibility on my shoulders which included repayments, as we were unsure about the inflow of money," he states, "but after a couple of weeks, I mustered up courage and just went about working hard, ending up doing a terrific job. That gave me added confidence in life, and gradually I started enjoying work as things were progressing."

Later, he built hotels under the brand Taj GVK in Hyderabad, as he aspired to build world-class hotels, which over the years expanded to other parts of the country. Reddy also went to the United States to set up technology for Novopan pre-laminated particles board, which became yet another world-class product, coming back home almost a decade later to take up the task of building Jegurupadu Combined Cycle Power Plant - India's first private power plant project after the liberalisation policy, which he completed in record time. "We have grown in power and in other areas as well, having done really well in hospitality and expressways. We have come to Mumbai for the modernisation of the airport which is a milestone for us, and are planning plenty of things in the future."

Flying high

Today, for an individual coming primarily from an agricultural family that went into construction, Reddy has laid strong foundations for his family and successors, and if one thought that the successive generations may take undue advantage of the brand value of GVK Industries, they ought to be wrong as his son and daughter are highly involved in the various facets of the company. This was because since their birth, all they heard was business, which was an education in itself and also part of their genes, he believes. This has made his life a bit relaxed and allowed him to spend time with his wife and family on Sundays. He enjoys watching movies and shopping abroad whenever opportunity persists.

Besides that, in his free time he prefers gardening and taking care of the plants, probably a part of his agricultural roots and yes, sleeping. He says, "I can sleep any part of the day or night, whenever I get the chance and even on the flights. I love to sleep. Because when I was struggling like a kid, I would sleep before waking up early in the morning and even before going to the school. Even 15 minutes of sleep makes a lot of a difference."

Still he doesn't feel that he has "done many great things" and that there is still something more to be done in life - truly reflecting his belief of seeing the glass as half-empty and not as half-full. "It has always been my wish to see that my shareholders are happy and I would want to keep and make them happy. I work for myself and for them, because when I work for them, I work for myself and will do so as long as I can," the visionary concludes.