Onkar Kanwar
BornMarch 1942 (age 81)
Sialkot, British India (now in Pakistan)
NationalityIndian
EducationCalifornia State University
OccupationBusinessman
Known forChairman and MD, Apollo Tyres
SpouseTaru Kanwar
Children3
ParentRaunaq Singh

Onkar Kanwar (born March 1942)[1] is an Indian businessman, chairman of Apollo Tyres. He is also the chairman of Artemis Global Life Sciences, PTL Enterprises and Premedium Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd.[2]

Early life

Onkar Kanwar is the eldest son of Raunaq Singh (1922-2002), the co-founder of Apollo Tyres, and his first wife.[3][4][5]

Career

After his undergraduate degree in business administration and industrial engineering, Onkar worked as a salesman in Riverside, California working on estimates for different government contracts for about six months. He then worked for Abbey Etna Machine Company in Perrysburg, Ohio on the shop floor. The president of Etna Company after discussions with the Kanwar family and looking at the perseverance of Onkar invested money to start a new pipe factory in India.[6]

Kanwar has grown Apollo Tyres from a small single plant Indian company into a multinational with seven plants worldwide, and annual revenues in excess of US$ 3 billion.[7] In June 2013, it was reported that Apollo Tyres would buy US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company for about $2.5 billion in a deal that would make it the world's seventh-largest tyre maker,[8] but the takeover collapsed after legal battles.[9]

Kanwar also owns specialty hospitals under the Artemis brand in northern India.[3]

Kanwar was the president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry for 2004-05.[10] He is the chairman of the BRICS Business Council, India which was established during the Fifth BRICS Summit held in March 2013 in Durban, South Africa.[11][12]

Kanwar is the recipient of an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for India, in the manufacturing category in 2012.[13] In October 2018, Kanwar was awarded with ‘Order of Merit’ of Hungary, in recognition of his work towards strengthening Hungarian-Indian economic relations through the company’s investment in Hungary, thereby helping create new jobs in Hungary [14] In November 2018, Kanwar was conferred with Japanese honor 'Order of the Rising Sun', Gold and Silver Star. The honor, awarded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the presence of Emperor Akihito, was in honor of Kanwar’s contributions towards strengthening the economic relations between Japan and India and for promoting Japanese companies’ entry into the Indian market.[15]

Personal life

Kanwar is married and has three children, and lives in Delhi.[3] His eldest child is his daughter Shalini who lives in Singapore. His elder son Raaja Kanwar, Chairman and Managing Director of Apollo International Limited and Apollo Supply Chain, leads a global conglomerate with diverse businesses in EPC, logistics, automotive components, retail and lifestyle industry and his younger son Neeraj Kanwar is vice-chairman and managing director of Apollo Tyres.[3]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "APOLLO TYRES (UK) PVT LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Apollo Tyres Annual Report" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b c d "Onkar Kanwar". Forbes. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  4. ^ "HLL chief calls for character among business leaders". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 30 September 2002. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  5. ^ "MD of Apollo Tyres Raunaq Singh and son Onkar Kanwar feud over Apollo Tyres' flagship". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 15 September 1993. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  6. ^ Bouquet, Tim (2016). The man behind the wheel: how Onkar Kanwar created a global giant. Maven/Rupa. ISBN 978-81-291-4500-0......
  7. ^ ""The Man Behind The Wheel", Onkar Kanwar launches his biography - InTabloid.com". InTabloid.com. 17 December 2016.
  8. ^ "The Quiet Rise Of Onkar Kanwar, The New Owner Of Cooper Tires". Forbes. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Apollo Tyres' Neeraj Kanwar goes back to the drawing board". Livemint. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  10. ^ ndkrs. "The Hindu Business Line : Onkar Kanwar takes over as FICCI President". www.thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  11. ^ "Need to double level of intra-BRICS trade: Onkar Kanwar". The Financial Express. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  12. ^ Sarkar, Urvashi. "BRICS may not replace the old world order – but it could still make a difference". Scroll.in. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  13. ^ Reporter, B. S. (22 February 2013). "Adi Godrej is E&Y Entrepreneur of the year". Business Standard India. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Economic Times".
  15. ^ "Economic Times".
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