Savitri Devi Jindal (born 20 March 1940) is an Indian businesswoman and politician. She was the chairperson emerita of O.P. Jindal Group. She is also the president of Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha. Jindal family net worth is estimated to be $20.5 billion.
The majority of Jindal’s fortune is derived from her family’s O.P. Jindal Group, a conglomerate set up by her late husband, Om Prakash Jindal. The New Delhi-based company operates steel, mining and power companies and has stakes in publicly traded JSW Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Energy, Jindal Saw, Jindal Stainless and investment company JSW Holdings.
Savitri Jindal inherited her stake in O.P. Jindal Group after her husband died in a helicopter crash in 2005, and sons Prithvi, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen manage the family businesses. Their father devised a structure in which each of his four sons would hold a fifth of the family’s shareholding in each company, and he would hold another 20%. This meant each son would be in charge of his operation and own a piece of his brothers’ businesses. Savitri Jindal controls her husband’s stake in the O.P. Jindal Group, and has been credited with her sons’ stakes, according to exchange filings, reflecting her status as matriarch. Her share in each company will be transferred to the son heading it when she dies.
O.P. Jindal Group also owns 92% of closely held JSW Infrastructure, which builds ports, shipyards and ship repair facilities. The valuation of the company is based on the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of two publicly traded peer companies: Adani Ports and Gujarat Pipavav Port.
The family also owns JSW Cement, which is valued based on the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda and price-to-earnings multiples of three publicly traded peer companies: Shree Cement, Ultratech Cement and ACC. The valuation of JSW Cement was updated according the latest financial information on Feb. 9, 2023. This led to an increase of about $1.3 billion in the net worth calculation.
The value of her cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, market performance, insider transactions and taxes.
Biography
The former housewife took over as chairwoman of the O.P. Jindal Group after her husband, Om Prakash Jindal, died in a helicopter crash in 2005. Her husband, who was also power minister in the Indian government of the northern state of Haryana, founded the O.P. Jindal Group in 1952. The company has interests in steel, mining and power.
Savitri Jindal’s father arranged for her to be married to industrialist Om Prakash Jindal when she was 15 years old, after Vidya Devi — O.P.’s first wife and Savitri’s sister — died. O.P., who was 20 years older than Savitri, had six children from his first marriage, the eldest being almost as old as Savitri. O.P. and Savitri had three children of their own.
Their sons — Prithvi, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen — now manage the family businesses. They took over the business before their father died in 2005 and while they’ve led the conglomerate have listed power producer JSW Energy on the National Stock Exchange of India and expanded overseas, buying iron ore mines in Chile and coal mines in Mozambique. Her youngest child, Naveen, runs New Delhi-based steelmaker Jindal Steel & Power, the family’s biggest company by market value.
The matriarch also inherited her husband’s political constituency and is a legislator in the north Indian state of Haryana. She continues to pursue Jindal’s social welfare agenda, promoting education, health care and the environment.
The family compound in New Delhi, where the sons and their families live, is comprised of four independent bungalows linked by a common kitchen.
Political life
In 2005, Jindal was elected to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha from Hisar constituency, which was earlier represented by her late husband Om Prakash Jindal for a long time. In 2009, she was re-elected to the constituency and was appointed the cabinet minister in the Haryana Government on 29 October 2013.
In the previous cabinet, she had served as the Minister of State for Revenue and Disaster Management, Consolidation, Rehabilitation and Housing and also the Minister of State for Urban Local Bodies and Housing.
The revenue of the company quadrupled after she took charge of the company. With a background and history from the state of Haryana, she served as the member of Haryana Legislative Assembly and held the office of Minister of Power till 2010. O.P. Jindal group was started in 1952 by O.P. Jindal, an engineer by profession. It became the conglomerate of steel, power, mining, oil and gas. Each of these four divisions of her business is run by her four sons, Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen Jindal. Jindal Steel is the third-largest producer of steel in India.
Milestones
- 1930 Om Prakash Jindal born in Nalwa village in India’s Haryana state.
- 1952 O.P. Jindal Group formed.
- 1965 Marries O.P. Jindal after his wife, who is also her sister, dies.
- 1999 Jindal Steel & Power is listed on the National Stock Exchange.
- 2005 Husband O.P. Jindal dies in helicopter crash in north India.
- 2005 Becomes chairwoman of O.P. Jindal Group.
- 2010 JSW Energy raises $968 million in an initial public offering.
- 2012 CIC Energy and Jindal Steel agree to merge.
