THE WIZARD OF FIZZ

The incredible journey of Sathya Shankar K.-from driving an autorickshaw to building a ₹800 crore business

- BHANU PRAKASH CHANDRA

A seed of an idea is all you need for success. Sathya Shankar K. would know, for there is a teeny, tiny seed at the heart of his success story. His life got a kick-start in 1984.

All of 18, Shankar had applied for an autorickshaw driving licence. But it was more than just a driving licence; it was his licence to dream big. The third of four sons of a poor village priest in Bellare in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, he had to drop out after class 12 for want of funds. With a driving licence in hand, he bought an autorickshaw on loan under the Central government’s self-employment scheme. That autorickshaw was only the beginning of his incredible journey.

Today, Shankar owns a company with an annual turnover of Rs800 crore. His SG Group, headquartered in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada, has several verticals—from Praveen Capital to Megha Fruit Processing Private Limited. It sells 55 products, from packaged drinking water to snacks. In the last four decades, he has experimented with various business models and tasted success with each. He took the adage ‘experience is the best teacher’ quite literally, using every business venture to level up.