Working Lives India: Industrialist

Sanjay Reddy wrote his five yearly life plans whilst he was still at university in his twenties. He had a goal for every five years, and life, for him, has gone largely to plan.

Now in his late forties, Mr Reddy is the heir apparent to the GVK empire. An international conglomerate which has diverse interests in construction, power, airports, they have recently just bought an Australian mining company. And all this in one generation. The company was founded by his father, GV Krishna Reddy. It grew to national prominence when it won a prestigious contract to renovate and run Mumbai airport.

Mr Reddy sees the airport as a major victory, confounding sceptics, even from within the company who doubted they could win.

He is a natural entrepreneur - and sees the family business as a "great platform from which he can experiment". Keen to earn his entrepreneurial spurs, he branched out and set up GVK Bio Science, early in 2001. A strategist who is keen to spot and exploit business opportunities, he knocked on doors in the US marketing and selling the business in its early days.

His father is his "idol", though he does admit to being a little scared of him as a child, and "hiding behind curtains".

Success for him has meant "freedom", and the ability to buy what he wants. But his legacy is memories. A self-confessed workaholic, he relaxes with his wife Pinky in their new home in Hyderabad, indulging in his passion for collecting Indian art.

Indian entrepreneurs, he feels, are poised to take over the global stage - confident, and ready for any challenge. He thinks working in India prepares them for every eventuality.

With successes like GVK Bio Sciences and the Mumbai airport behind him, he is ready for a new challenge. GVK has just acquired a major coal mine from an Australian mining company, and Mr Reddy is off on a new adventure - to Australia, to head up the new business.