Gautam Thapar Biography 
Gautam Thapar is an Indian businessman and founder of the Avantha Group. He is the grandson of businessman Karam Chand Thapar, thus belonging to the third generation of the business. He was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Manufacturing in 2008. Thapar is President of Thapar University and Chairman of The Aspen Institute India. He is also the President of the Professional Golf Tour of India. King’s College, London conferred an Honorary Fellowship in the year 2013.
He was born on 7 December 1960 as the son of Brij Mohan Thapar. He is the grandson of Karam Chand Thapar, the founder of the Thapar Group of companies. Gautam too entered the family business. After schooling at The Doon School, Gautam studied chemical engineering at Pratt Institute in the United States. After studies he joined family business firm in the role of a factory assistant in a manufacturing unit. Lalit Mohan was already groomed as the successor of Thapar group. Yet Gautam rose rapidly through the ranks using his brilliance. Through his efforts, he brought back to profit, the BILT's chemical division which was suffering huge loss. The results were shown within one year, which impressed Lalit Mohan Thapar.
The family's assets were divided into four in 1999. Gautam became the Chairman of Crompton Greaves in 2004. When Lalit Mohan Thapar retired from Thapar group of indsutries, he chose Gautam over Vikram. Thus in 2005, Lalit Mohan Thapar handed over the business empire along with his voting rights and shares to Gautam. Gautam Thapar became the Chairman of the Avantha Group on 1 July 2006.
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Updated: March 07, 2014
