Karan Paul

Established in Jalandhar in 1910, the group has more than 43,000 employees across tea, hospitality, shipping, retail, real estate, and other sectors.

Karan Paul (born 3 November 1969) is the chairman of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, one of India's oldest and largest privately owned family businesses.

Born on 3 November 1969, Karan Paul is the grandson of Shri Pyare Lal, founder of the group, and son of the late chairman, Surrendra Paul.

He was born and brought up in Kolkata and New Delhi.

He studied at La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata, and Modern High School, New Delhi.

He went to Brown University in the United States for his undergraduate studies in philosophy and literature and majored in politics.

Paul joined the Apeejay Surrendra Group in 1992.

After working at various levels in the Apeejay Surrendra Group for 12 years, Karan became the Chairman of the Group in 2004.

Paul oversees the group's financial planning, business strategy, and diversification into new business ventures and operations, as well as the management of Apeejay Tea, Apeejay Shipping, and Apeejay Schools.

Under his leadership, the group has made large business investments and expanded across various businesses, especially its core businesses of shipping and hotels.

The group has further integrated the tea plantation business by acquiring the FMCG brand Typhoo, which retails in nearly 50 countries globally.

The group also diversified into new business ventures of marine cluster and logistics parks which has backward and forward integrated the group's shipping business.

The real estate division has increased land banks, consolidated, and grown real estate commercial developments across India.

Karan is director and member of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited, K.P.H. Dream Cricket Private Limited, Apeejay Tea Limited, Apeejay Shipping Limited, Apeejay Infralogistics Private Limited, and Bengal Shipyard Limited.

Karan has been on the executive committees of various chambers of commerce like CII, FICCI, ICC, Bharat Chamber of Commerce, and Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

Karan is actively involved with reputed trade organizations and professional forums such as YPO, YLF, INSA, ITA, and West Bengal industry forums.

His first businesses were Apeejay Finance, a finance company, and Apeejay Securities, a stockbroking company, which he ran for about ten years and sold them off in 2006-07.

In 2006 Karan Paul was awarded one of Italy's highest honors 'Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity' in which Gianni Vernetti, Minister of State of the Ministry of External Affairs, presented the decorations of the 'Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity' in New Delhi.

Italy confers this award annually on Italian and foreign nationals residing outside the country who have significantly contributed to the stature of Italy.

It could either be by way of promoting Italian culture and language or by any other voluntary activity or humanitarian service.

In 2012, the International Confederation of NGOs felicitated Karan with its coveted 'Karmaveer Puraskaar, 2012 Corporate Citizen for Holistic CSR Initiatives' award.

The award was given to him for his work in the field of social service and for interpreting his responsibilities as an individual and as the leader of the Apeejay Surrendra Group adjudicated by processes created by the international HR audit firm Mercer and Grant Thornton.

Some of the initiatives created by him:

Karan is a sports enthusiast and loves the sport of cricket.

He is the co-owner of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) team of the Indian Premier League (IPL) along with Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, and Mohit Burman.

KXIP is a franchise cricket team with its headquarters in Mohali, Punjab.

Karan has been reading serious literature from a very young age and his first love and abiding interest remains Philosophy and literature.

He expresses views on issues he feels strongly about in occasional columns he writes for.

Karan Paul is married to Indrani Dasgupta, together they have two children Uma Kismat Paul and Kabir Anand Paul.