Anand Mahindra

Anand Mahindra started off at Mahindra in 1981 when he joined Mahindra Ugine Steel Co (MUSCO), a major producer of specialty steels, as Executive Assistant to the Finance Director.  In 1989, he was appointed President and Deputy Managing Director of the company.

While at MUSCO, Anand spearheaded Mahindra’s growth and diversification into new business areas like real estate and hospitality management.  In 1991, he was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra, the country’s leading producer of tractors and off-road vehicles.  He initiated a comprehensive change program to make the company an efficient and aggressive competitor in the new liberalized economic environment in India.  In 1997, he was promoted to Managing Director, and in 2003 he also became Vice Chairman.

A few of the boards and committees that Anand serves on are:

• Harvard Business School Association of India – Cofounder and Asia/Pacific Advisory Board
• National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), Government of India – Council and Executive Committee
• India Council for Sustainable Development

Anand has received a great many awards over the years. Some of these are:

• Knight of the Order of Merit from the President of the French Republic
• Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award 2008
• Business Leader of the Year 2009 from the Economic Times
• Top 25 Most Powerful Businesspeople in Asia from Fortune magazine, 2011

He takes a keen interest in education, and apart from being a Trustee of the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, which provides scholarships to students, he is also on the Board of Governors of the Mahindra United World College of India.  In 1996, he initiated the Nanhi Kali program to provide free education to economically underprivileged girl children in India.  He is also a Life Trustee on the Board of the Naandi Foundation, a leader in providing academic support and daily meals to more than 1.3 million children in government schools as well as providing agriculture and natural resource management knowledge to small farmers across India. 

Anand frequently shares his views and ideas on economics and business through his writings in various business magazines.  You can follow his personal views on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anandmahindra.

Anand graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, USA in 1977 and earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School, USA in 1981.  A strong believer in the power of liberal arts to shape the leaders of the future, Anand gave an endowment of $10 million to the Harvard Humanities Center in 2010—now known as the Mahindra Humanities Center.

Anand enjoys world cinema, reading, listening to the Blues, sailing, and tennis.  He lives in Mumbai with his wife.  They have two daughters.