SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL (186th on the Forbes list)
Sunil Mittal, 46, is that rare first generation entrepreneur billionaire. After graduating from Punjab University, he started a tiny bicycle business in the 1970s.
That company, Bharti Enterprises, has grown up to be one of India's biggest telecom service providers. In that journey, Mittal has done quite a few odd jobs. He has been a manufacturer of cycle parts, telephone instruments, gelatin capsules and importer of generator sets.
The turning point in Mittal's life came about in 1992 when the cellular licence for the Delhi metro circle was being given out to the private sector. He partnered with French telecom company, Vivendi, to bag the licence. He has not looked back since then.
Today Bharti offer cellular services, basic telephony, and is laying optic fibre cable across 200 cities. Bharti is also putting together a $650 million undersea cable project along with its partner Singapore Telecom connecting Chennai with Singapore.
SBM as he is popularly known in the telecom circles is a mix of earthy charm and an unbeatable business savvy. He attributes his success to hard work, destiny and the support of his managers who stuck through the company's ups and downs.
Interestingly, SBM does not see himself or his children (he has twin sons and a daughter) heading the business in the long run. He says he would be more comfortable if professional managers ran the company.
His vision, however, would be the guiding force for the company. And Sunil Bharti Mittal dreams of making Bharti one of the top two telecom players in the country. It's not an impossible task for a man who was once traversing through Delhi on a two-wheeler, marketing telephone instruments just two decades ago and now has a net worth of $2.7 billion and a ranking of 186 on the Forbes list.