Leading From The Front

Given his successful track record, Akshaypat Singhania has all it takes to build successful enterprises. The scion of the Singhania family— who currently heads JK International as CMD and is a director at JK Organisation—takes MARWAR through his two-decade entrepreneurial journey and his recent foray into the start-up space.

- Joseph Rozario

AS THE SON OF AJAYPAT SINGHANIA AND THE GRANDSON of industrialist Kailashpat Singhania, Akshaypat Singhania needs no introduction to India’s corporate world. A scion of the illustrious family that took over The Raymond Woollen Mill in the year 1944, he is currently a director at JK Organisation and the chairman and managing director of JK International, whose interests include trading in precious metals and financial activities. In a recent development, the seasoned entrepreneur has created a proprietorial fund of 100 crore which he plans to invest in lifestyle, health care, food and beverage companies and other start-ups.

An avid learner

Akshaypat Singhania began his career in 1988 with a year-long stint in the textile division of the Raymond group. This was just after graduating from Mumbai’s Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. A greenhorn but an avid learner, he soon moved on to JK Bombay (now Raymond Apparel Ltd) after his uncle, Dr Vijaypat Singhania, decided to expose him to the intricacies of the apparel business, as a director. It was here that his real education in entrepreneurism began, as he learnt the nuances of production, planning, inventory management, etc, at the shop floor. That apart, he would help his father in his family office and trading company.

Akshaypat Singhania’s two-year stint at Raymond Apparel proved to be significant for both him and the group in that it was during these years that Raymond Apparel diversified into ready-made garments with the launch of the Park Avenue menswear brand. Looking back, Singhania says, “Raymond was a producer of textile suitings at that time and Raymond Apparel predominantly manufactured safari suits. I used to think, if readymade apparel can be sold worldwide, then why can't we do the same.” The rest, as they say, is history.