A successful entrepreneur, an author and the former chairman of UIDAI (Aadhar Card) project – Nandan Nilekani. Over the past several decades, Nandan Nilekani has played several roles – from the CEO and co-founder of Infosys to Aadhar Card Project regulator, a member of Indian National Congress Party (INC) and many other positions of critical responsibility. In case, you want to know more about Aadhar Card, read our guides available over here.
However, the reason for this article is to talk about things we didn’t know or know that well about Nandan Nilekani.
A person who introduced us with the new age of technology through Infosys; who gave us the Universal Identification Number (UID) for every individual residing in India; he is none other than Mr. Nandan Nilekani. He wrote a book titled as “Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation”. An IIT Graduate who started with Rs. 200 and today holds a property estimated to be of worth Rs. 7,700 crore. Read further for more interesting things to know about Nandan Nilekani and his journey.
8 Things To Know About Nandan Nilekani:
Some known some unknown facts about Mr. Nandan Nilekani, the man behind the widely implemented UIDAI or Aadhar Card program, are bound to throw up some surprises. Have a look.
1. He is an IITian (that’s pretty obvious one):
He is an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Mumbai Graduate in Electrical Engineering with a vision to change India’s technology power.
2. He started his career at Patni Computer Systems:
After completing the degree he started his career from Patni-Computer Systems, where he met M.R. Narayan Murthy. That’s where the germinated the idea of their first company.
3. Nandan Nilekani is one of the founders of Infosys (ya ya, we know you too know that):
He was one among the 7 founders of “Infosys”. Yes, in case you do not know it, Infosys had 7 founders. He even was the CEO of Infosys for 5 years. After his tenure as a CEO, Nandan left Infosys to join TAGUP (Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects). TAGUP is an advisory group formed by Government of India to look upon different technology for 5 large Financial Sector Projects. It is headed by Nandan Nilekani.
4. Former PM Manmohan Singh invited him to head UIDAI project:
Nandan was invited by India’s former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to setup UIDAI project at a National Level. He was the head of UIDAI – Aadhar Card at a cabinet ranking position (the same position enjoyed by a cabinet ranking ministers – for example, Manohar Parikar as the Minister of Defence or Sushma Swaraj as the Minister of External Affairs).
5. He joined Politics:
He further took opportunities in life and joined politics as the member of Indian National Congress (INC) and contested through Bangalore for the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014. He lost to BJP candidate Ananth Kumar.
6. Nandan Nilekani was the youngest to join the 20 Global Leaders panel on World Economic Forum:
Mr. Nilekani was the youngest entrepreneur to join the 20 global leaders on World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board and he was also entitled by Rotman School of Management an honorary Doctor of Law Degree at the University of Toronto on 31st 2011.
7. He bought a house in Mumbai worth over Rs. 22 crores:
There was a storm in Mumbai’s property market when Nandan bought a house. One of the most expensive deals of apartments in India. A 3 bedroom sea-facing apartment in high rise Samudra Mahal building at Worli, South Mumbai, worth Rs 22.5 crore. The other co-founder of Infosys Narayan Murthy also owns a large apartment in the building.
8. He is a ‘Padma Bhushan’ Awardee:
He even received the prestigious “Padma Bhushan” Award in 2006 and was listed as one of the 100 influential people in the world by Time Magazine. A book written by him is “Imaging India”. In the book, he has written elaborately about the post-independent India, their problems, fear and development.
What do you think about this article. Do share your thoughts in the comments below.
The post 8 Things To Know About Nandan Nilekani appeared first on Aadhar Card Kendra.