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Mahendra Nahata Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography » StarsUnfolded
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Age: 66 Years
Hometown: Kolkata, West Bengal
Wife: Manju Nahata
Some Lesser Known Facts About Mahendra Nahata
- After completing his formal education, Mahendra Nahata joined his family business in Kolkata.
- He worked in his family business for eight years and learned the techniques to manage a business.
- During this period, he also worked in the marble mining business.
- He then became one of the first people in India to introduce mechanised marble mining.
- He did not depend only on manual labour, he used automatic rock-cutting machines, excavators, and dumpers. These automatic tools completed the tasks of about 300 workers.
- According to him, the work was very difficult. His day usually started at 7 a.m. and ended at 9 p.m. He spent long hours at mining sites.
- He used to work in the temperature of nearly 50°C while encouraging and guiding the workers.
- In the 1980s, he noticed that the telecom equipment manufacturing industry was growing at a fast speed and predicted that telecom would become one of the most important industries of India in the future.
- Mahendra Nahata later became one of the pioneers of the Indian telecom industry.
An old picture of Mahendra Nahata while answering a call
- In 1987, he co-founded Himachal Futuristic Communications Limited (HFCL) and became its Managing Director.
- After two years, in 1989, he shifted from Kolkata to Delhi to look after the operations of the company.
- People often asked him why he shifted from the tea business to telecom.
- He then jokingly replied that the only common thing between these two businesses was the letter “T.”
- According to him, the tea business involved only trading and had less opportunities for growth. He shifted from tea to telecom as he wanted to build something new in a fast-growing industry.
- At that time, former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi had launched the Technology Mission to improve the telecom sector of India.
- After this, Nahata decided to become a part of this technology mission.
- In 1994, under his leadership, HFCL took part in a tender which was issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to supply micro radios.
- HFCL designed its own radios and supplied around 2,500 micro radios. Reportedly, this was considered a very difficult task during that period.
- These radios were sold at a much lower price than what the DoT had been paying earlier. The company earned a 20 percent profit.
- Nahata once stated in a media talk that HFCL completed the radio design in nine months. They invested around Rs. 5 crore in the project. He admitted that if the project had failed, it would have created serious financial problems for their company.
- Under his leadership, HFCL built a strong base for telecom equipment manufacturing in India.
An old picture of Mahendra Nahata
- The company first started manufacturing transmission equipment.
- Later, it expanded its business into access equipment, optical fibre cables, telecom accessories, defence electronics, and terminal equipment.
- Nahata once discussed in a media talk the challenges he faced when the telecom industry was expanding rapidly.
- He said that India had very low import duties on telecom equipment and components at that time, and during this time, HFCL had to compete with many large multinational companies (MNCs) from around the world.
- He believed that the only way to compete on global level was by developing better technology while keeping manufacturing costs low.
- He once discussed one of the biggest challenges he faced was designing modern telecom equipment with advanced technology at a lower cost than multinational companies.
- Another challenge he faced was matching this advanced technology with the global companies, which they were using in infrastructure equipment.
- During the same time, HFCL was also competing with the Chinese manufacturers, who were producing large volumes of equipment at very low prices.
- He then used both machines and human labour at HFCL and did not depend only on automation.
- During his period as the President of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA), he supported local manufacturing and encouraged government policies that would strengthen India’s telecom industry.
- A magazine named ‘Voice & Data’ honoured him with the title “Telecom Man of the Millennium” in 2003.
- He has also served as the Co-Chairman of the Telecom Committee at FICCI and Chairman of the Telecom Committee at the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- He has also been a member of the boards of IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, and CSIR.
- In 2010, his company Infotel Broadband Services became the only company that won a pan-India Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum licence.
- Later, Reliance Industries acquired Infotel Broadband Services and named it Reliance Jio Infocomm.
- Nahata then became a small partner in Reliance Jio Infocomm and joined its board as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director.
- He then became known for being the person who helped the Reliance Industries to invest in the Indian telecom sector.
- In July 2020, Nahata invested Rs. 47.87 crore in Reliance Industries. He converted the Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) into Equity Shares at a face value of Rs. 10 per share.
- He then became a 0.54% partner in the company.
An old picture of Mahendra Nahata during a business meeting
- In 2026, the value of his investment was estimated at around Rs. 5,800 crore (about $611 million), according to estimates by Motilal Oswal.
- This gave him an estimated 121 times return on his investment, as he had invested at a much lower price than global investors such as Meta.
- As of 2026, Nahata had more than 40 years of experience in telecom strategy, technology infrastructure, and telecom planning.
- During the 2025-2026 financial year, under his leadership, HFCL reported a revenue of Rs. 4,950 crore. It earned a profit of Rs. 329.5 crore.
- During the same year, Nahata received Rs. 7.8 crore as his compensation.
Mahendra Nahata with Mukesh Ambani
- According to him, India should increase its investment in research and development (R&D) so that the country could become not only a manufacturing hub but also a centre for designing new technology.
- He likes travelling to distant place, reading fiction books, and watching Hindi films in his free time.
- He likes to spend about 30 minutes watching a film while having dinner everyday.
- During the initial years of his business, he worked hard to understand technology as he had no technical background.
- Once, during a media talk, he stated that he sometimes dreamt of living in a small cottage in the hills with some farmland, where he could enjoy farming.
- He works 12 to 13 hours a day, six days a week. He does not work on Sundays. According to him, if he works on Sunday, he feels tired throughout the following week.
- He once stated in the media that work has made his life exciting and satisfying as people recognise his achievements.
Mahendra Nahata while demonstrating a product
- As a businessman, he is inspired by Dhirubhai Ambani. He often stated in media talks that achieving even 10 percent of what Dhirubhai Ambani achieved would make him feel satisfied.
- He considers Mahatma Gandhi as his inspiration because his ideas influenced a lot of people around the world.
- He often gives credit of his success to his father, who taught him the value of honesty, even if it meant accepting financial losses.
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