Kushal Pal Singh

* Kushal Pal Singh's father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh was a civil servant with a keen nose for business. Upon independence from Britain the country was to be divided to create Pakistan. Chaudhary Raghvendra figured this would lead to mass migration, which would, in turn, create a need for mass housing. His prescience made him launch Delhi Land & Finance in 1946, a year ahead of Indian independence. Although he lacked capital, Singh went on a land-buying binge. Tapping into old family connections, he convinced farmers to sell their land to him on credit. They would be paid the principal plus interest once the land had been carved into plots and sold. This formula worked so well that he eventually developed 21 residential and commercial "colonies" all over Delhi, including South Extension, Hauz Khas and Greater Kailash, which today are prized properties. The good times ended in 1957, when land development in Delhi was nationalized.

* Over 15 years Singh assembled the Gurgaon holdings, starting with 40 acres that his father-in-law still held. The surrounding families had an average landholding of 4 to 5 acres, with half a dozen relatives sharing the title. To win their trust, he attended weddings, mediated family disputes, helped out during illnesses. "I became part of each family, almost like an elder brother," he recalls. Singh lobbied hard to get the farmland reclassified as "nonagricultural" and managed to obtain licenses for developing it. When they were later canceled as political winds shifted, DLF faced lawsuits from buyers.

* In 1981 Singh caught one of those lucky breaks in his life. As he tells it, he had a chance encounter with Rajiv Gandhi (whose mother, Indira, was still prime minister) when Gandhi's car overheated and he stopped for water at a village well in Gurgaon. Singh happened to be sitting nearby. Young Gandhi leaned on the troublesome local authorities for years, into his own term as premier, and DLF was able to get its foothold. Singh's leap of faith in Gurgaon paid off in spades. The average cost of the 3,000 acres that DLF initially amassed in Gurgaon was $2,000 an acre--a tiny fraction of today's market value. "Gurgaon was deserted when K.P. first took me there to see it 25 years ago. But he had the gumption to go relentlessly after it," says Deepak Parekh, chairman of home mortgage company HDFC, which started lending to DLF early in its expansion drive.

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* He invited GE’s CEO Jack Welch. Welch was given a warm welcome at the traditional home of the Maharaja of Jaipur by colorfully dressed riders on elephants and a huge GE logo was made of fresh flowers dominated the front lawn. That visit set the stage for GE’s move six years later into DLF city in Gurgaon. The deal made the American company DLF’s most prominent tenant, helping K P Singh to further expand the operations of DLF in Gurgaon.

Highlights

* Upon independence from Britain the country was to be divided to create Pakistan, a Muslim nation. Chaudhary Raghvendra figured this would lead to mass migration, which would, in turn, create a need for mass housing. His prescience made him launch Delhi Land & Finance in 1946, a year ahead of Indian independence.
* Tapping into old family connections, he convinced farmers to sell their land to him on credit.
* Over 15 years Singh assembled the Gurgaon holdings, starting with 40 acres that his father-in-law still held. The surrounding families had an average landholding of 4 to 5 acres, with half a dozen relatives sharing the title. To win their trust, he attended weddings, mediated family disputes, helped out during illnesses.
* In 1981 Singh caught one of those lucky breaks in his life. He had a chance encounter with Rajiv Gandhi (whose mother, Indira, was still prime minister) when Gandhi's car overheated and he stopped for water at a village well in Gurgaon. Singh happened to be sitting nearby.
* Welch was given a warm welcome at the traditional home of the Maharaja of Jaipur by colorfully dressed riders on elephants and a huge GE logo was made of fresh flowers dominated the front lawn. That visit set the stage for GE’s move six years later into DLF city in Gurgaon.

==BENEFITTING FROM CRISES==
==USING FAMILY CONNECTIONS==
==BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS==
==CATCHING LUCKY BRAKES??==
==NURTURING BIG CONTACTS==