Kushal Pal Singh (born 15 August 1931) is an Indian billionaire real estate developer, and the chairman and CEO of real estate developer DLF Limited, founded by his father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvender Singh. DLF has an estimated land bank of 10,255 acres (42 km2), with about 3,000 acres (12 km2) in Gurugram, called DLF City.
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In 2008, he was ranked the 8th richest person in the world in Forbes 2008. His autobiography, named Whatever the Odds: The Incredible Story Behind DLF, was published in 2011; Jack Welch spoke at the launch. According to Forbes India Rich list of 2019, he is the 25th richest Indian.
The majority of Singh’s fortune is derived from his majority stake in DLF, India’s largest publicly traded real estate company, according to its website. Singh and his family control about 75% of the Gurgaon, India-based business. The shares are held by a promoter group, which includes family members and holding companies, according to a July 2023 Bombay stock exchange filing.
Singh is credited with all of these shares to reflect his status as chairman emeritus. DLF has more than 150 projects in 24 Indian cities, according to its July 2023 company presentation.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, market performance, insider trades, taxes and charitable contributions.
Divya Puri, a spokesman for DLF, declined to comment on Singh’s net worth calculation.
Early life and career
K.P. Singh was born on 15 November 1931 in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh in a Hindu family. His father, Chaudhary Mukhtar Singh, was a reputed lawyer in Bulandshahr. After graduating in science from Meerut College, Uttar Pradesh, he pursued aeronautical engineering in the UK and was subsequently selected to the Indian Army by British Officers Services Selection Board, UK. He was commissioned into the Deccan Horse in 1951. In 1960 he joined American Universal Electric Company and, soon after its merger with DLF Universal Limited in 1979, he took over as the managing director with Chaudhary Raghuvender Singh.
Activities
Kushal Pal Singh constructed numerous earthquake-proof office buildings, apartments, shopping malls and leisure facilities in Gurgaon. While he was the chairman of DLF, the company went for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2007 and made about US$2.24 billion, one of the largest IPOs in India. Market capitalisation of the company increased to $24.5 billion, making Singh and his family one of the richest clans in the world. Jack Welch, the former chairman and CEO of General Electric, said in an interview that Singh was one of the initiators for GE’s entry into India
Biography
Education: Indian Military Academy, Meerut College
Singh’s father-in-law, Raghvendra Singh, left his job as a civil servant and formed a company called Delhi Land & Finance Pvt. — now DLF — in 1946. He foresaw that the division of India into two countries a year later would spark demand for housing from refugees streaming in from regions that became Pakistan.
Raghvendra Singh suffered a setback in 1962 when the government forced closely held companies out of real estate in its effort to tame unbridled growth and create orderly cities. He called on his son-in-law, Kushal Pal Singh, to join him. “K.P.” quit the army after nine years as an officer with the Deccan Horse, one of the oldest regiments of the armored corps.
The Singhs formed an electric motor venture with George Hoddy, founder of a company called Universal Electric in Owosso, Michigan. Hoddy became a mentor to K.P. Singh and helped his son, Rajiv Singh, gain admission to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Singhs set up a venture with Philadelphia-based ESB Inc. called Willard India Ltd. to make car batteries in 1973.
Kushal Pal Singh was sitting on the outskirts of New Delhi in 1981 when a jeep broke down. The passenger was Rajiv Gandhi, son of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. They struck up a conversation and Singh told Gandhi that his family had given up its real estate ambitions in the 1960s when the government barred private developers. He wanted to resume property purchases to create a modern suburb 17 miles south of central New Delhi, in Gurgaon. A state law that prevented companies from acquiring farmland for commercial use kept thwarting him. The prime minister’s son helped Singh get a meeting with the chief minister of Haryana, who changed the law to allow farmland to be developed.
In the early 1980s, much like his father-in-law had done almost four decades earlier, Singh started acquiring land by going from village to village, talking to farmers and persuading them to sell. DLF acquired 3,500 acres in the coming years that he divided into plots and began selling to people. The billionaire’s son, Rajiv, made his foray into real estate in 1987, when he oversaw construction of DLF’s first office building in central New Delhi.
DLF has its headquarters in the 10-story building. As multinational corporations began arriving to take advantage of India’s emerging outsourcing industry in the 1990s, Singh pitched Gurgaon as an alternative to New Delhi and attracted companies including General Electric. DLF raised $2.2 billion in June 2007, India’s biggest initial share sale at the time
Milestones
- 1931 Kushal Pal Singh is born in Uttar Pradesh, India.
- 1946 Father-in-law, Raghvendra Singh, sets up Delhi Land & Finance.
- 1954 Marries Raghvendra Singh’s eldest daughter, Indira.
- 1960 Joins father-in-law in forming electric motor venture.
- 1985 Begins development of 3,000-acre DLF City in Gurgaon.
- 1997 General Electric opens an office in a DLF building.
- 2007 Raises $2.2 billion in India’s then-biggest initial public offering.
- 2007 DLF buys controlling stake in Aman Resorts chain.
- 2008 Establishes DLF Foundation.
- 2012 Sells Aman to resort’s founder Adrian Zecha for $300 million.
Personal life and family
Singh is married to Indira Singh, the daughter of Raghvendra Singh, the founder of DLF Limited. K.P. Singh has one son, Rajiv Singh, and two daughters, Renuka Talwar and Pia Singh.
Singh’s son, Rajiv Singh, succeeded him as the chairman of the DLF group in 2020. Rajiv’s wife Kavita Singh became an advisor to DLF Commercial Developers Ltd in November 2002. She was also appointed Advisor to DLF Universal Ltd. on 1 June 2011, with a retainership fee of Rs 250,000 per month and other benefits. Rajiv and Kavita have two daughters, both of whom work for the company K.P. Singh’s elder daughter Renuka is married to G.S. Talwar, a non-executive director at DLF Ltd. Their son, Rahul, has joined DLF India Ltd as a “senior management trainee.” K.P. Singh’s younger daughter Pia Singh is a full-time director with DLF.
