Shiv Nadar's Legacy: Meet The Man Who Led HCL To Success

"If you are calm about your ambitions, you become confident of achieving what you set out to do." This inspirational quote has been written and followed by Shiv Nadar, who founded HCL Technologies.

Today's we share the story of an exemplary Indian entrepreneur Shiv Nadar, whose farsightedness and decisiveness helped him establish a billion-dollar empire (HCL Technologies), a visionary who is one of the major reasons that India is currently the hotspot for Information Technology and a renowned philanthropist of Asia.

Who is HCL Founder Shiv Nadar?

An Indian billionaire industrialist Shiv Nadar wasn¡¯t born with a silver spoon unlike most of the billionaires of this generation. Shiv Nadar was born on July 14, 1945 in a village in Tamil Nadu to Sivasubramaniya Nadar and Vamasundari Devi.

Shiv Nadar, An Indian Billionaire Industrialist And Founder Of HCL Technologies | BCCL

Shiv Nadar did his schooling from various schools in Tamil Nadu. Nadar received a pre-university degree in the American College, Madurai and a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.

Shiv Nadar¡¯s Early Career

Shiv Nadar began his career at the Walchand group's College of Engineering Pune (COEP) in 1967 and moved onto work at Cooper Engineering Company before securing another job at Delhi Cloth Mills digital products division. DCM was then the fourth-largest company in India.

Shiv Nadar, An Indian Billionaire Industrialist And Founder Of HCL Technologies | BCCL

Working a 10-12 hours job made him realise that this was not what he was meant to do. He, along with a few of his colleagues who also worked in DCM¡¯s calculator division had similar opinions on the passionless job and they all decided to quit their job and start their own company.

Climbing the ladder of success

In 1975, Shiv Nadar began his own venture known as MicroComp Limited, in partnerships with several friends and colleagues. These partners were Ajai Chowdhry (Ex-Chairman, HCL), Arjun Malhotra (CEO and Chairman, Headstrong), Subhash Arora, Yogesh Vaidya, S. Raman, Mahendra Pratap and DS Puri. Shiv Nadar was the largest shareholder of the company.

Shiv Nadar, An Indian Billionaire Industrialist And Founder Of HCL Technologies | BCCL

The initial enterprise which Nadar and his partners began was Microcomp, a company which focused on selling teledigital calculators in the Indian market.

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Beginning of HCL Technologies

Like they say, the one thing common among most entrepreneurs is that they consider every opportunity that knocks on their door. This is exactly what Shiv Nadar did.

It was 1976, when he realised that India did not have many computers and IBM was leaving the country due to political issues.

Shiv Nadar was one of the reasons behind the biggest technological revolutions in the country.

With the initial investment of Rs 18,700 he created HCL Technologies.

Impressed by Shiv Nadar¡¯s vision of technological revolutions the Uttar Pradesh government granted him an additional Rs 20 lakh in exchange of 26 per cent stake in the company.

Shiv Nadar, An Indian Billionaire Industrialist And Founder Of HCL Technologies | BCCL

HCL was one of the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP). They were, however, suggested to change the name Uttar Pradesh Computers Limited (UPCL). However, Shiv Nadar chose to name the company Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) as it had a nationwide resonance. Being partially held by a government entity allowed him to do so.

The story of HCL 8C ¨C the first personal computer in India

Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) introduced the first PC in India in 1978 before IBM and Apple Inc. It was called HCL 8C and was based on the Rockwell PP 8 microprocessor. It came with BASIC language and a powerful Sort/Merge Package and could meet the IT needs of medium-sized companies. Before HCL 8C, most of the computers used in India were the IBM 1401¡¯s that required a big data centre with air conditioning.

Also, the IBM 1401 was based on second generation transistor technology and was very slow. IBM was charging around Rs 500,000 per year just to lease this computer. Then HCL introduced the HCL 8C that you could buy outright for just Rs 300,000.

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HCL¡¯s expansion globally

Sensing a boom in the information technology sector much before anyone else. He was able to move his business internationally, where he started providing IT services to Singapore.

Shiv Nadar, An Indian Billionaire Industrialist And Founder Of HCL Technologies | BCCL

In 1979, they found an opportunity in Singapore and set up Far East computers. HCL was worth Rs. 3 crore at the time and this new venture was successful enough to achieve sales of Rs. 10 Lakh in the very first year.

A couple of years later, a company called HCL Overseas Limited was incorporated as a provider of technology development services. It eventually was renamed as HCL Technologies Limited.

Developing the country¡¯s youngsters

During the period Nadar noticed that India lacked young trained employees ready to take up jobs in the IT sector. Shiv Nadar, who valued education right from the beginning, decided to give back to his community. So in 1996, Shiv Nadar started the SSN College of Engineering in Chennai along with providing close to Rs 1 million in shares. This college was started in memory of his late father, Sivasubramaniya Nadar.

SSN College of Engineering in Chennai

In 2006, Shiv Nadar announced that the SSN College of Engineering will promote research apart from ensuring that students benefit from foreign university tie-ups. In March 2008, Nadar's SSN Trust announced the setting up of two Vidyagyan schools in UP for rural students, where free scholarship will be provided for 200 students from 50 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Nadar visited Town Higher Secondary School in February 2011 and donated computers and other equipment worth Lakhs. Shiv Nadar served as chairman of the board of governors, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP), a technical institute until 2014.

Nadar, nicknamed by his friends as ¡°Magus¡± (Old Persian for "wizard"), since the mid-1990s he has focused his efforts on developing the educational system of India through the Shiv Nadar Foundation. Ramanichandran, a prolific Tamil romance novelist, is his cousin.

Considered as the pioneer of modern computing, HCL generates annual revenues of over Rs 76,306 crores, with over 169,000 professionals operating from 50 countries.

SSN College of Engineering in Chennai | SSN

Not known to many, HCL had helped automate NSE across 261 cities and even worked on the Boeing Dreamliner¡¯s Flight Management Systems. Thanks to Shiv Nadar at its helm the company is among the top IT players in India.

HCL is one of India's top information technology companies with a worldwide network of R&D, "delivery centers" and "innovation labs" that operates across various sectors of aerospace, defence, banking, capital markets, automotive, consumer goods, insurance, manufacturing, mining, transportation, logistics, hospitality; and this list just goes on.

Deep Pockets, Big Hearts

According to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List, one of the richest men of India and the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies Shiv Nadar donated Rs 59 crore for rural transformation. Shiv Nadar established The Shiv Nadar Foundation in 1994 with the commitment of the creation of a more equitable, merit-based society by empowering individuals through transformational education to bridge the socio-economic divide.

HCL technologies at Mihan in Nagpur | BCCL

To that purpose the Foundation has established institutions and programs in the underdeveloped disciplinary areas in India related to rural and urban education and art.

The Shiv Nadar Foundation pursues the philosophy of 'Creative Philanthropy'. It is a powerful model which envisages creation of institutions that go beyond the lifetime of its founders and continue to impact future generations for many centuries to come. It is an approach that allows sustained institutionalized philanthropy for long-term, high-impact, socio-economic transformation.

The company in 2011 also established HCL Foundation as the social responsibility arm of HCL Technologies Limited. This foundation focuses on alleviating poverty and achieving inclusive growth and development, majorly focusing on the sectors of health, education, environment & disaster risk reduction and response.

The first woman to lead a listed IT company in India

In July 2020, Nadar stepped down as the Chairman of HCL. His daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, who was the executive director and CEO, took over the position. He continues as the managing director.

Shiv Nadar and his Daughter Roshni Nadar | BCCL

She is the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India. In 2019, Roshni Nadar is ranked 54th on the Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list.

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Awards and Recognition.

Shiv Nadar was awarded Padma Bhushan (the third-highest civilian award in India) in 2008 for his contribution to the IT Industry.

Shiv Nadar and his Daughter Roshni Nadar | Twitter

Shiv Nadar recognised 48th heroes of Philanthropy in 2011, counted by Forbes and in 2017, India Today Magazine ranked him 16th most influential people In India. Shiv Nadar has a very calm nature that rubs off on many employees and people working under him. He has created a very rich culture in the company, he always encourages employees to do their best work, top performers are rewarded with perks like cars and paid holidays as well.