Ajay Singh is an Indian businessman, sports official and bureaucrat. He is also a well-known investor in many Indian public and private companies. In 2005, he co-founded SpiceJet, India’s second largest airline company. He left SpiceJet in 2010 and rejoined it as its main shareholder, chairman and managing director in February 2015. In July 2022, Ajay Singh came into limelight in a fraud case in which a Delhi-based complainant mentioned that Ajay Singh defrauded him on the pretext of allotting him shares in SpiceJet.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Ajay Singh was born on Wednesday, 29 December 1965 (age 56 years; as in 2022) in Central Delhi. Their zodiac sign is Capricorn. Ajay Singh completed his schooling from St. Columba’s School, New Delhi. After completing his schooling, he obtained Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree from IIT Delhi. After this he took admission in Cornell University of America to pursue MBA degree in Finance. Later, he earned a degree in Law (LLB) from Delhi University. When Ajay Singh was studying at Cornwall University in the United States, he was elected as the President of the India Association of the University.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 9″
Weight (Approx): 75 kg
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Color: Salt and Pepper
Family
parents and siblings
According to some media sources, his father was born and raised in Alwar, Rajasthan and his maternal family was from Meerut, UP.
wife and children
Ajay Singh’s wife’s name is Shivani Singh. Shivani Singh was appointed as the women’s director of SpiceJet in April 2015. The couple have a daughter named Avani Singh, who is a Stanford University alumnus. Avani Singh is associated with the airline sector.
Ajay Singh’s daughter Avni Singh
livelihood
In 1996, Rajendra Gupta, the then Transport Minister of Delhi, nominated Ajay Singh as a board member of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Reportedly, under the leadership and administration of Ajay Singh, DTC’s fleet of 300 buses grew to 6000 buses in just two years. In 1998, he was named as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Pramod Mahajan, the then Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister of India. Ajay Singh was given the authority to change and remodel the functioning and management of ‘Doordarshan’. According to some media sources, two new channels – DD Sports and DD News were launched by Doordarshan under the guidance of Ajay Singh.
spicejet
In 2005, Ajay Singh co-founded SpiceJet with Bhupendra Kansagra by acquiring the grounded Modiluft Airlines and renaming it SpiceJet. It is said that on its first day of operation, SpiceJet sold 38,000 tickets and its load factor was more than 90%. When Ajay Singh exited in 2010, SpiceJet had a capital of more than Rs 800 crore. SpiceJet was acquired by Kalanithi Maran, Chairman and Managing Director of Sun Group. However; By 2015, SpiceJet suffered huge losses due to company mismanagement and uncontrolled expenses. In the same year, Ajay Singh purchased major shares of SpiceJet and began serving as its Chairman and Managing Director.
Ajay Singh posing with SpiceJet airplane
The World Economic Forum appointed him to chair the Aviation, Travel and Tourism (ATT) Governors’ Meeting in January 2019 and he became the first Indian to chair this meeting. During the same year, the International Air Transport Association appointed him to its Board of Governors panel. Subsequently, he was named Chairman of the CII National Committee on Civil Aviation and Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council, India Initiative. Later, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology of India appointed him as its advisor to assist the government in formulating the National Telecom Policy and the Information Technology Act. In January 2021, the Boxing Federation of India again named him as its President, and the Indian Olympic Association appointed him as its Associate Vice President.
political leanings
Ajay Singh was the main organizer of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaigns during the 2004 and 2014 general election campaigns in India. He gave the slogan “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He was often called Chhota Ambani or Narendra Modi’s Chhota Adani by the opposition parties of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Many political advertisements of the Bharatiya Janata Party often feature Ajay Singh on their posters. He is considered the right hand of BJP. Reportedly, his good stint in the airline industry and relations with the BJP helped him grow his business to sky-high heights.
SpiceJet and Bombardier
In 2017, Ajay Singh and the United States signed an agreement in which SpiceJet ordered 205 Boeing aircraft, one of the largest in US history. This deal was finalized when Donald Trump was the President of America and Trump had mentioned in one of his media conferences that this mega deal with SpiceJet India would create thousands of jobs in America. Later, SpiceJet followed up the Boeing order with 50 Bombardier Q400 aircraft and in the history of Bombardier, this order was considered to be the largest order for the aircraft.
Ajay Singh posing with US Vice President Pence in 2017
Controversy
On 11 July 2022, he came into controversy when a complainant named Amit Arora filed a complaint against him for cheating Amit Arora on the pretext of allotting him shares of SpiceJet. In the complaint, Amit Arora said that Ajay Singh gave him a fake depository instruction slip (DIS) of shares worth Rs 10 lakh in return for certain services provided to him. Soon after the complaint was lodged at Sushant Lok Police Station in New Delhi, a case was registered against Ajay Singh under sections 406, 409, 415, 417, 418 and 420 of the IPC. On 12 July 2022, a legal notification was circulated by SpiceJet in the media stating that the complaint against Ajay Singh was completely fake, and the company would file a defamation complaint against Amit Arora. Speaking to the media, a SpiceJet official said,
A frivolous, mischievous and completely fake complaint has been filed with the Gurugram Police by liquor dealer Amit Arora with the intention of damaging the image of SpiceJet and Ajay Singh.
Ajay Singh in media conference
Awards, Honors, Achievements
In 2018, he was the recipient of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum’s Leadership Award. The same year, he earned the CAPA Chairman’s Order of Merit for Excellence in Indian Aviation Award. In 2017, he was awarded EY’s Indian Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Business Transformation category.
Ajay Singh receiving the Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2017
Facts/General Knowledge
- Ajay Singh was a sports lover during his school and college days. He was an active participant in the sports and cultural activities of his school and college. Reportedly, he represented his school’s cricket, football and hockey teams in various tournaments as a captain.
- According to some media sources, Ajay Singh and Indian actor Shahrukh Khan were schoolmates. Ajay Singh was Shahrukh’s senior in St. Columba’s School. During his school days, when Ajay Singh was selected as the captain of his school cricket team, the school authorities selected Shahrukh Khan as the wicketkeeper.
- Ajay Singh started working in his family’s real estate and fashion accessories business soon after returning to India after completing his college studies at Cornell University.
- Ajay Singh’s performance in the Broadcasting Ministry in 1998 impressed Pramod Mahajan so much that when Mahajan reshuffled the Telecom Ministry, he handed over an important post to Ajay Singh.
- In 2010, Daewoo Motors India Limited was declared a debt-ridden company after suffering huge loss of its capital in the Indian market. Ajay Singh had bought this company with the aim of reviving it; However, it was all in vain.
- Indian Boxing Federation appointed Ajay Singh as its president on 25 September 2016.
- In some media reports in 2017, it was being said that Ajay Singh had paid only two rupees to Maran to get SpiceJet back. Reportedly, this was considered to be the lowest amount ever acquired for a listed company in India.
Ajay Singh (centre) hoisting the flag of SpiceJet.
- Ajay Singh and the Delhi government are in a public-private partnership to operate low-floor buses.
- According to some media sources, Ajay Singh has financial stake in many Indian companies as an angel investor. They have partnered with a nanotechnology company in Bengaluru and an IT company in Mumbai. Apart from owning an aviation company, he often invests in real estate companies in Delhi, building luxury residential flats in Central Delhi.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn