- Swaraj Paul
Swraj Paul, Baron Paul (born
1931 ) is anIndia n-born, British-based business magnate andphilanthropist . He was knighted by the Queen in1978 . In1996 he became alife peer , i.e. a member of theHouse of Lords , taking the title Baron Paul ofMarylebone in the City ofWestminster .Background
Swraj Paul was born in
Jalandhar ,Punjab (India) in 1931. His father ran a smallfoundry , making steel buckets and farming equipment. Swraj Paul was educated at thePunjab University and later obtained a Master's degree inmechanical engineering from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.On his return to India, Swraj joined the
Apeejay Group, which his father had founded. It was a twist of fate that he had to visitLondon to get his daughter treated forleukemia . He took over the operations of Apeejay Overseas and relocated permanently to London in1966 . After the Apeejay family partition, Lord Swraj Paul renamed the company Caparo. From acquiring one steel unit, he went on to acquire more and founded the Caparo group in1978 , which developed into one of the leading producers of welded steel tube and spiral welded pipe in theUnited Kingdom . He stepped down from the management of the Caparo group in 1996, handing over his empire to his three sons.Despite being one of the richest people in the UK, Lord Paul lives a simple life.Fact|date=February 2007 In his memoirs, 'Beyond Boundaries', Lord Paul reflects on the main events of his life. It contains the details of his business career, including his attempted takeover of the DCM and Escorts group, and his association with the famous and the mighty, including the Indian political dynasty of
Indira Gandhi (whose biography he wrote) and her sons Sanjeey "Sanjay" Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He advocated the merits of free and open trade policies at a time when these terms invited withering contempt from the high and mighty of Indian political bureaucracy.Lord Paul has received various awards and honours. He was awarded the
Padma Bhushan by Indira Gandhi in1983 and the Bharat Gaurav award by the Indian Merchant's Chamber. He holds the Pro-Chancellorship ofThames Valley University (1998) and its Governorship (1992-97), and the Chancellorship of theUniversity of Wolverhampton and theUniversity of Westminster . He is a member of theForeign Policy Centre Advisory Council and MIT's Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee. He is the chairman of the Olympic Delivery Committee with the key task of initiating measures to acquire land and provide infra-structure for theLondon Olympics 2012.He recently contested for the chairmanship of CommonWealth Parliamentary Association(CPA) and lost to Indonesian Minister.His agenda was to reduce the gap between the west and the east.He is the current British Parliamentarian and Labour member of House of Lords.Lord Paul is also an Honorary Patron of
ZSL and has funded major projects at the Regent's Park site.His sons have ambitious plans in India, moving ahead aggressively in business projects.
A note to legal enthusiasts: Swaraj Paul is the owner of the Caparo firm which later on had a dispute with Dickman auditors. This case went down in English history as being the landmark case for establishing negligence and duty of care.
Trivia
* In April 2005 Lord Paul made headlines when he decided to pull out all stops for the wedding reception of the year for his youngest son Angad at London's
Lancaster House . The wedding itself took place inLondon Zoo .Fact|date=February 2007
* He sent his sons, twins Ambar and Akash, 47, and Angad, to Harrow.
* Lord Paul is a strictvegetarian .
* The industrialist donated twentylakh rupees (approx. £ 25000) to the victims of the October 2005 earthquake in India's Jammu and Kashmir.Fact|date=February 2007 and at least £ 20000 to Gordon Brown for his campaign to become Prime Minister. He is not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.
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