{{Short description|Indian politician (1930–2005)}} {{pp-pc}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Om Prakash Jindal | image = Om Prakash Jindal.jpg | caption = Jindal in 2001 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|08|07|df=yes}} | birth_place = Hisar, Punjab Province, British India<ref name="India Times" /><br />(present day Haryana, India) | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|03|31|1930|08|07|df=yes}} | death_place = Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India | constituency = Hisar | office = Minister of Power, Government of Haryana | term = 2005–2005 | party = Indian National Congress | spouse = {{Plainlist| {{Marriage|Vidya Jindal|1946|1964|end=died}} {{Marriage|Savitri Jindal|1966}} }} | children = 9 (incl. Sajjan Jindal, Naveen Jindal) | website = | footnotes = | date = | year = | source = | known_for = JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and Power }}
'''Om Prakash Jindal''' (7 August 1930 – 31 March 2005), also known as '''O. P. Jindal''', was an Indian industrialist and politician. He was the founder of the OP Jindal Group, a major steel and power conglomerate.
== Early life and education == left|thumb|150px|Om Prakash Jindal in 1950s Jindal was born in the village of Nalwa in Hisar district of Haryana to a farmer family. He began his elementary education in his village but later continued it in the nearby town of Hansi.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dharker |first=Anil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMMlywAACAAJ |title=The Man who Talked to Machines: The Story of Om Prakash Jindal |date=2005 |publisher=Eminence Designs Pvt. Limited |isbn=978-81-902170-0-2 |language=en}}</ref>
As a teenager, he was into bodybuilding and considered becoming a wrestler in Haryana's heartland. However, his parents sent him to Calcutta, along with his elder brothers, due to irregular monsoon patterns and constant disputes over land ownership, to learn the basics of wholesale and retail textile trading, as Eastern India was a hub of commerce at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Church |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENlABgAAQBAJ&dq=JSW+Group&pg=PT135 |title=Profiles in Enterprise: Inspiring Stories of Indian Business Leaders |date=2015-01-26 |publisher=Roli Books Private Limited |isbn=978-93-5194-067-8 |language=en}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Business career ===
At 20, Jindal began his entrepreneurial journey by moving to Calcutta, where he worked as a trader dealing in steel pipes and tubes. He traded in iron and transported surplus pipes from Assam to sell in Calcutta, much of which came from metal left behind by the United States Army Air Forces' Tenth Air Force after World War II. By the age of 22 in 1952, he set up a factory in Liluah in Howrah to make pipe bends and sockets by using waste pipe products from Tata's Jamshedpur factory and Kalinga Tubes' Cuttack factory.<ref name="Rediff" /> In 1964, he expanded his ventures by founding Jindal India Limited, a full-fledged pipe-production company. Five years later, he established another factory in Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-14 |title=From bucket-manufacturing unit to business conglomerate, meet the Jindals |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/jindals-from-bucket-manufacturing-unit-to-business-conglomerate-166673-2013-06-13 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:OP Jindal at JSW Steel, Torangallu, Karnataka.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Jindal with his son Sajjan Jindal at JSW Steel, Torangallu village in Vijaynagar, Karnataka. in 2000]]
He went on to establish Jindal Steel and Power, JSW Group and Jindal Stainless Limited under the flagship of the OP Jindal Group, of which he was the founding chairman. In November 2004, Jindal was awarded the "Life Time Achievement Award" for his outstanding contribution to the Indian steel industry by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to the 2004 Forbes List, he was ranked 13th amongst the richest Indians<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forbes names the 40 richest Indians |url=https://www.rediff.com/money/2004/dec/08richest.htm |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=www.rediff.com}}</ref> and 548th amongst the richest persons in the world.<ref name="Rediff">{{Cite web |date=2005-03-31 |title=From farmer's son to billionaire industrialist |url=https://www.rediff.com/money/2005/mar/31jindal.htm |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=www.rediff.com}}</ref><ref name="India Times">{{Cite web |date=2021-10-09 |title=O P Jindal: Man Who Could Talk To Machines, The Inspiring Story Of India's Original Steel Tycoon |url=https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/om-prakash-jindal-success-story-of-jindal-group-founder-551298.html |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=IndiaTimes |language=en-IN}}</ref>
Before his death in a helicopter crash in 2005, Jindal divided his businesses among his four sons - Prithviraj Jindal, Sajjan Jindal, Ratan Jindal and Naveen Jindal, structuring it with cross-holdings to ensure mutual benefit and shared growth. To maintain family unity, his wife, Savitri Jindal, was appointed chairperson of the OP Jindal Group and its companies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramachandran |first=Kavil |date=December 2020 |title=Inspirations from the life of O. P. Jindal |url=https://newsletters.isb.edu/Family-Business-Briefs/File/FB-Briefs-December-2020.pdf |journal=Family Business Briefs |issue=63 |pages=6 |via=Indian School of Business}}</ref>
=== Political career === right|thumb|250px|Jindal with people of Nalwa village in Hisar, Haryana, during the mid-1990s. Jindal first won election from Haryana's Hisar Assembly constituency and was elected to the Haryana Legislative Assembly in 1991 under the Haryana Vikas Party.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shunning Congress legacy, Naveen Jindal makes fresh start with BJP |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/shunning-congress-legacy-naveen-jindal-makes-fresh-start-with-bjp-604382/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=The Tribune |language=en}}</ref> Later, he got re-elected again in 2000, and 2005 under different parties. He also contested and won the 1996 Lok Sabha election from Haryana's Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. He served as Government of Haryana's Minister of Power at the time of his death and had previously served on the Committee on Food, Civil Supplies, and Public Distribution from 1996 to 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 April 2005 |title=Obituary References - OP Jindal |url=https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/723710/1/1867.pdf |access-date=15 December 2024 |website=Parliament Digital Library}}</ref>
After his demise, his widow, Savitri Jindal, contested the election for the same seat (Hisar Assembly) her husband had held and was elected, subsequently being appointed as the Minister of State for Revenue, Disaster Management, Rehabilitation, and Housing in the Haryana's state government.<ref>Savitri Jindal, A Jain Devotee From Terapanth Sector Declared the Richest Woman in India {{cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.jainsamaj.org/magazines/december-2008.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220013858/http://jainsamaj.org/magazines/december-2008.htm |archive-date=20 February 2009 |access-date=2009-02-06 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> While his son Naveen was elected from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat as an Indian National Congress candidate in 2004 and re-elected in 2009, but he lost in the 2014 general election. Later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024 and won the Indian general election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-04 |title=The BJP's Naveen Jindal defeats the AAP candidate and wins the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha elections in 2024 |url=https://indianexpress.com/elections/naveen-jindal-vs-sushil-gupta-vs-abhay-chautala-kurukshetra-election-results-live-updates-9368808/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life and death == [[File:The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh releasing a book “The Man who Talked to Machines - Story of O. P. Jindal” in New Delhi on August 7, 2005.jpg|left|thumb|250px|The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh releasing a book "The Man who Talked to Machines-Story of O. P. Jindal" in 2005]] Jindal had six children with his first wife Vidya Devi, who died at the age of 34. Shortly after her death, he married her younger sister Savitri. They had three children together.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bhargava |first=Yuthika |date=2024-08-09 |title=OP Jindal wanted to be a wrestler. Then he saw steel pipes marked with 'made in England' |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/op-jindal-wanted-to-be-a-wrestler-then-he-saw-steel-pipes-marked-with-made-in-england/2216075/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>
Jindal died in a helicopter crash on 31 March 2005.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 April 2005 |title=Steel tycoon OP Jindal dies in air crash |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/steel-tycoon-op-jindal-dies-in-air-crash-105040101020_1.html |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=Business Standard}}</ref>
On 7 August 2005, then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, released the biography of Om Prakash Jindal titled ''The Man Who Talked to Machines: The Story of Om Prakash Jindal''.
{{Blockquote|Om Prakash Ji was an inspiring and enterprising person, whose life story is one of extraordinary achievements. His myriad accomplishments truly represent the triumph of the human spirit over the many adversities of life. I pay tribute to the memory of this extraordinary son of India and it is in this context that I am especially grateful for this opportunity to be amongst you today.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=11030|title=PM Releases Biography of Shri O P Jindal |work=Press Information Bureau |date=7 August 2005 |access-date=15 December 2024}}</ref>|Manmohan Singh|13th Prime Minister of India}}
== See also == * Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha * O. P. Jindal Global University * O.P. Jindal University * Vidya Devi Jindal School
==References== {{reflist|2}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jindal, O. P.}} Category:1930 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Haryana Category:Businesspeople in the steel industry Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana Category:People from Hisar (city) Category:Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in India Category:Haryana Vikas Party politicians Category:Haryana MLAs 1991–1996 Category:India MPs 1996–1997 Category:Lok Sabha members from Haryana Category:People from Kurukshetra district Category:Jindal family Category:Haryana MLAs 1996–2000 Category:Haryana MLAs 2000–2005 Category:Haryana MLAs 2005–2009 Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2005