Jaiprakash Gaur

Background

Jaiprakash Gaur was born in 1931 in Chitta, a village in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. He completed his early education in small towns of Uttar Pradesh before entering Thomason College of Engineering at Roorkee, an institution established in the nineteenth century to train engineers for the expanding public-works system of British India.

Gaur's formative professional environment was shaped by India's need for dams, irrigation systems, transport links, and power infrastructure after independence. His later work remained closely associated with river-valley construction, hydropower, and the development of private-sector engineering capacity in India.

Education

Gaur studied at Thomason College of Engineering, Roorkee, receiving a Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1950. The college later became the University of Roorkee and is now the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, one of India's principal institutions for engineering education and research.

His education coincided with the early years of independent India's public-works expansion, when civil engineering was closely connected with irrigation, dam construction, and national infrastructure development.

Career

After completing his civil-engineering training in 1950, Gaur joined the Irrigation Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh as a junior engineer. He remained there for approximately seven years and gained experience connected with irrigation and river-valley projects.

In 1957 or 1958, Gaur left government service and began working as a civil contractor with initial capital of approximately 10,000 Indian rupees. His contracting activities developed into Jaiprakash Associates, founded in 1972 as a civil-engineering and construction company, and subsequently into the Jaypee Group.

Under Gaur's leadership, the group expanded from construction into hydropower, cement, engineering and consultancy, real estate, hospitality, information technology, and expressway development. Projects associated with the Jaypee Group included the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Tehri project, and the Nathpa Jhakri Hydropower Project. The group also undertook infrastructure work in India and Bhutan and became a major private-sector participant in Indian hydropower and cement.

Gaur served as founder chairman of Jaiprakash Associates and chairman of the Jaypee Group. He was also associated with the boards or chairmanships of several Jaypee companies, including Jaiprakash Hydro-Power, Jaypee Greens, Jaiprakash Enterprises, Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation, Jaypee Cement, and Jaypee Hotels. He served as chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Roorkee from 2005 and was reappointed in 2008, stepping down in February 2009. In later years he served as chancellor of Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna, linking his industrial career with the group's educational initiatives.

Achievements

• Gaur founded Jaiprakash Associates and developed it into the Jaypee Group, an infrastructure conglomerate active in construction, hydropower, cement, engineering, real estate, hospitality, information technology, and expressway development.

• Through the Jaypee Group, Gaur was associated with major Indian infrastructure projects including the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the Tehri project, and the Nathpa Jhakri Hydropower Project.

• Gaur helped establish the Jaypee Group as a major private-sector participant in Indian hydropower and infrastructure development, with projects carried out in India and Bhutan.

• Gaur contributed to technical education through leadership roles at IIT Roorkee and through the development of Jaypee educational institutions.

Views

Gaur's documented business philosophy emphasizes the importance of efficient infrastructure construction, with attention to quality, technology, time, and cost. His public institutional work also reflects an expressed belief that national development requires investment in both physical infrastructure and technical education.

Connections

Gaur is married and has five children. His son Manoj Gaur became associated with the management of Jaiprakash Associates and the wider Jaypee Group.

Son:

Manoj Gaur

Executive Chairman of Jaiprakash Associates and a senior leader of the Jaypee Group.

Wife:

Gaur

Sister:

Gaur

References

• Road to Riches Forbes profile describing Gaur's early government engineering career, transition to civil contracting, development of the Jaypee Group, and involvement in hydropower and construction.
  2010
• Jaiprakash Gaur Profile Forbes profile documenting Gaur's business career, the Jaypee Group's activities, and his position in Forbes' 2012 India's Richest ranking.
  2012