Rajat Gupta recognized as the Global Indian of the year

After being chosen to lead the Brahmins of the consulting world, Rajat , a 1971 Mechanical Graduate of IIT Delhi and a prominent Mech71 member, repeated the feat and was re-elected as McKinsey's managing director in 1997 and again in 2000. With him at the helm, McKinsey grew at a scorching pace. By 2002, he had expanded McKinsey's network to 84 global locations from 58, increased number of consulting staff to 7,700 from 2,900, and lifted revenues to $3.4 billion from $1.2 billion in 1993. During this time, the company entered emerging markets like China and India. Entry into other Asian countries too has been credited to him. Since stepping down as managing director, Gupta, while continuing work with McKinsey as a senior partner, has increased his involvement with India significantly. Apart from continuing to guide ISB, he has also passionately taken up the cause of supporting entrepreneurship in the country by building stronger ties between Indian and US-based entrepreneurs. Gupta believes that if the country is able to breed more passionate and capable entrepreneurs, they are then bound to create world-class institutions that will allow India to take her rightful place on the global stage. The Global Indian Award, instituted by the Economic Times to recognize the achievements of the Indian Diaspora, has always been fiercely contested. People of Indian origin have excelled in fields ranging from business, academia to space exploration. But the crucial aspect that often made the difference was their contribution in building Brand India and the India story. Being an ‘open' category, it also meant that the jury was free to throw up names not in ET's initial shortlist, thereby introducing an element of exciting uncertainty in the proceedings. This year, two new names were added to the initial shortlist: Kellogg dean Dipak Jain, the first Indian to head an Ivy League school, and former boss of McKinsey & Co, Rajat Gupta. After an initial round of discussions, the choice narrowed down to Rajat Gupta and Arun Sarin, Vodafone's CEO. Mr Sarin is very much on everyone’s minds having just finished the Hutch acquisition in India. He is widely reckoned to have done a great job in leading Vodafone through the shoals of the fiercely competitive global telecom market. In the end, the jury felt that the sustained contribution to the India brand and building up India's international image over a long time tipped the scales in favor of Mr. Gupta. It's not just his three terms as a highly acclaimed chairman of McKinsey, but his passion and dedication in improving critical areas like education and healthcare in India that impressed the jury. Mr. Gupta’s immense contribution in setting up the Indian School of Business, which has in the short span of a few years emerged as one of India's leading graduate schools and a center for executive education, came in for special mention. He is also involved in setting up a school of public health. The American India Foundation, of which he is the chairman, seeks to accelerate social and economic change in India. A photograph of Rajat can be found in another item of this blog. The present write up has been adapted from a release on the topic by The Economic Times.