I was born in 1957 as the second son of the late Sat Paul and Lalita Mittal. My father was a politician and, at one point of time, an MP. A gap of two years separates me from both my elder brother Rakesh and younger sibling Rajan.
From Sunil Mittal
As a child, I was rather active for my age. Sensing something special about me, my father told me that I had the vision to accomplish great things in life. He always encouraged me to do what I wanted to do - and this has stood me in good stead.
My first venture was to trade bicycle parts and hosiery yarn. The initial days proved to be difficult, and I earned very little from my business. But I kept at it. Each day, when I retired for the night, I told myself that money would come in the next day.
I would say history is a clear witness to many of the problems that have erupted when two partners from the same industry or same country have come together.
On the ground, our operations are in India. We believe we are in a country where the growth is still to be captured, so we will remain reasonably focused in this country.
I started manufacturing bicycle parts. I come from a city called Ludhiana where almost everybody is self-employed, and either you make bicycle parts or bicycles, or hosiery parts or hosiery goods.
Africa is not for the weak-hearted: infrastructure issues are there. The middle class is absent in most of the countries. We have to cater to the low end of the market to grow.
I personally believe every country has the same amount of spectrum. It is not that India has less... It needs to be vacated from other places; that is what other countries have also done.
If you can teach a child, then her family and her future is taken care of.
In 1983, the government imposed a ban on the import of gensets. I was out of business overnight. I was in trouble.
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