In the dusty streets of Patna, a 15-year-old boy had no option but to drop out from school and help his father with scrap dealing business. The conditions were harsh and poverty had gripped them from all sides. Starting his career as a scrap dealer (kabaadi wala) the man is now famous all around the world as Metal King.
His story of making it to the list of heavyweight businessmen is truly inspirational.
After working with his father and collecting scrap for 4 years, Anil moved to Mumbai where he started working as a scrap dealer and began melting metals. His income started to go upwards and he began saving some money doing this. He worked his way up and then turned towards Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and established India’s first copper smelter here.
In 1976, Anil gave a new turn to his career after he set up Vedanta Resources. After setting up India’s first copper smelter in Tuticorin and expanded his business in the field of mining and metal extraction. He saw a need to set up his business abroad and opened the headquarters of Vedanta Resources in Britain’s capital London.
The company extended its operations in dealing of copper, aluminum, zinc, lead and iron ore and now operates from Zambia, South Africa, Australia, Ireland and many other countries.
In 2003, it became the first company to get listed in the primary list of London Stock Exchange. The progress did not stop there and after four years that is in 2007, it was on the New York Stock Exchange, too. In the year 2012, Anil Agrawal was featured in the Forbes list of of rich people and bagged 314th position with wealth worth $3.5 billion.
Anil Agarwal has seen poverty and suffered its pain from very close quarters. In 2014, he pledged 75% of his wealth to be donated to the poor and needy. If you calculate it in Indian rupee, it comes to a huge Rs 21,000 crore, which the maximum donated by any Indian.
Money is not everything. I want to give back what i have earned
Agrawal has taken this move when Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, challenged the rich and wealthy from all around the world to give away a large chunk of their wealth towards social work and upliftment of the marginalized. While making the donation, he also said that he would do full-time charity work once he retires from his businesses.
Anil has knowledge, experience and a deep understanding of the nuances of corporate world. But now he will also work towards transforming the structure of 4,000 Anganwadi Centres in Bihar and making them function better and smoother.
Apart from this, he has also resolved to he will also look after establishing of a world-class college where poor students from any state of the country will get free yet quality education.
It does read like an unbelievable story but Anil Agarwal has shown the world that no feat is far enough. He rose above from poverty, became a successful businessman and built an empire many would never have imagined. After that he did the harder thing of pledging majority of his wealth for welfare of the poor. His story is a strong inspiration for small businessman who are aiming to make it big.
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