Invited especially by the sitting Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif for the wedding of his granddaughter, the multi-billionaire Indian tycoon Sajjan Jindal is a scion of the widely-acclaimed Om Prakash Jindal family.
This is what the June 9, 2015 edition of the "Economic Times," world's second-most widely read English-language business newspaper, after the "Wall Street Journal," had stated about the Jindal family: "Ownership is now divided among the four brothers and the mother Savitri Jindal in each of the main listed companies. Group patriarch OP Jindal, who built the sprawling group now worth about $18 billion, many years ago ensured that the wealth of the business was equally distributed among his sons and that everybody benefitted from the growth of individual companies and that they stayed united."
With a readership of over 800,000, this reputed Mumbai-based Indian journal (part of the Times of India Group) had added: "After his death, eldest Prithvi Raj Jindal took over the steel pipes business, Sajjan inherited carbon steel business, rail and power went to Naveen and stainless steel to Ratan Jindal."
However, various esteemed Indian and foreign publications reporting on businessmen and their net worth, have calculated the wealth of the Jindal family differently.
In its June 13, 2013 report, "Mail Online India" had shed light on how Steely Jindals had risen to power and how the family had excelled from bucket-makers to Rs 17,500 crore business titans. Before it became synonymous with one of the biggest scams in India's history, the Jindal group was a business conglomerate that prided itself on its humble roots."
The prestigious media house had stated: "The Jindal empire was built from scratch by the late Om Prakash Jindal, who was born to a farmer at Haryana's Nalwa village on August 7, 1930. He took his first step into the world of business at the age of 22, when he set up a small bucket-manufacturing unit in Hisar. He followed it up by establishing Jindal India Limited, a pipe-production unit, in 1964. Five years later, the Jindal patriarch set up his first big factory in then Calcutta, and thus began the illustrious history of the group that today boasts of a total worth of Rs 17,500 crore."
It had further said: "By 1997, with Jindal devoting more and more time to politics, and the empire's geographical expanse putting a strain on the management, plans began to be made to divide the company among his four sons - Prithviraj, Sajjan, Ratan and Naveen. The eldest, Prithviraj, 46 years old at the time, took over SAW Pipes Ltd, the pipes and tubes division which clocked sales of Rs 501.4 crore during the year ending June 1996. Sajjan, then 41, assumed the charge of mild steel-maker Jindal Iron and Steel Co. (JISCO), Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd (JVSL) - an ambitious Rs 4,000-crore project for the manufacture of hot rolled coils, Jindal Tractebel - the 50:50 joint venture for power with Tractebel of Belgium, and Jindal Praxair -- a joint venture for JVSL's oxygen plant in collaboration with US industrial gas major Praxair."
The September 19, 2011 edition of a famous online Indian magazine "Luxpresso," which is distributed with the "Times of India" in select locations within Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, had acknowledged Sajjan Jindal's 85-year old mother Savitri Devi as the richest woman in Asia, worth over $14.4 billion.
She is a Minister in Haryana Government and member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly) from Hisar constituency.
The "Luxpresso" magazine had gone on to write more for Sivitri Jindal: "The Indian steel baroness, however, enjoys talking about her children and continuing her husband late O.P. Jindal's public works. She is the world's 4th richest mother. She became the chairperson after her husband O.P. Jindal had died at the age of about 75 in a helicopter crash in 2005."
It had reported: "Sajjan Jindal, one of Savitri's nine children, had made headlines in 2014 when it emerged that he was to buy a three-storey bungalow at Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai. The deal for the one-acre property was valued at Indian Rupees 4 billion. The Jindals also own a house in London. Sajjan is the Chairman/Managing Director of Jindal South West (JSW) Steel, India's second largest private steel producer. His youngest brother, Naveen, is a former Indian parliamentarian from the Indian National Congress. The other two brothers are Prithviraj Jindal and Ratan Jindal."
The "Luxpresso" magazine had more to reveal: "Sajjan's daughter Tanvi, had her fairytale wedding in the Italian city Florence in true billionaire style. The wedding was held at Villa Le Rose, a luxurious 15th century house in Florence owned by son of a leading Italian fashion mogul. In 2011, like most billionaire families anywhere in the world, the Jindals too had a seven-seater Cessna and Sajjan Jindal was reportedly looking to upgrade it to a 12-seater flying machine."
Meanwhile, a premier Indian news channel "NDTV" had stated in September 2015: "Four women feature in this year's Forbes list of 100 richest Indians including O P Jindal group Chairperson Savitri Jindal and generic drugs maker USV Pharma Chairperson Leena Tewari."
The "Forbes" Magazine had written: "After recovering last year, Savitri Jindal's O.P. Jindal group, which she chairs, saw its fortunes decline, mostly from a sharp fall in shares of Jindal Steel & Power, run by younger son Naveen. The company shut down operations at its Australian mine, citing mounting losses. JSW Energy, which Mumbai-based son Sajjan runs, acquired two hydropower units from Jaypee Group for $1.5 billion and is reportedly negotiating for a third. His JSW steel, which faces competition from rising Chinese imports, got a reprieve when the government recently imposed import duties to protect domestic producers."
Ranked 23rd among India's 100 richest people by the "Forbes" magazine in 2015, the Savitri Jindal family was ranked 12th in 2014 (net worth of US$6.4 billion). Its 2015 worth, according to the magazine, was $ 4.5 billion.
The 2015 list was topped by eminent Indian magnate Mukesh Ambani for the ninth year in a row with a net worth of USD 18.9 billion.
It is imperative to note that in November 2012, Delhi Police's crime branch had arrested two editors (Sudhir Chaudhary and Sameer Ahluwalia) of the "Zee News Media Group," after acting on a complaint by the then Congress MP Naveen Jindal, who had accused the two of trying to extort Rs one billion worth of advertisements from his company in return for dropping stories linking the Jindal group with Messrs Coalgate.
(Reference: The November 28, 2012 edition of the "Times of India")
