Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao, a mechanical engineer by training, is the Founder and Chairman of GMR group, one of the largest infrastructure organizations in the country with interests in airports, energy, highways and urban infrastructure (including SEZ). Employing the Public Private Partnership model, the group has successfully implemented several mega infrastructure projects in India and overseas.

Rao was ranked 198th in the world's richest list by Forbes in 2007 and his wealth was valued at $4.3 billion (Rs. 20,000 crores) in 2009. In April 2009, he was linked with a £500 million takeover of English Premier League side Liverpool F.C. He also owns the star-studded Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket team Delhi Daredevils.

Rao started with jute mills and went on to found the GMR group. Within a few years, he diversified his business interests into sugar, ferro alloys, banking, IT and most significantly, infrastructure. In 2007, the GMR group won a bid to privatize India's third busiest airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport.

GMR group has also completed the $200 million Hyderabad airport project. The Delhi terminal constructed by GMR is the fifth-largest terminal anywhere in the world, with 78 aerobridges and a front façade that measures a massive 300 metres.

Rao was born in Rajam in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on July 14, 1950. It is said that Rao started life with Rs. 300,000, one truck and two acres of land - his share in the division of the family assets.

He resigned his job with the Public Works Department and set up no fewer than 28 agro-based ventures including jute mills, a rice mill, sugar mill and a brewery. In 1985, he became the major shareholder of Vysya Bank.

According to a report, in the mid-1990s when it became clear that infrastructure would become the next sunrise sector, Rao began to sell his assets - brewery to Vijay Mallya, bank to ING, and life insurance to Rajan Raheja so that he could enter the capital-intensive infrastructure sector.

In 15 years, GMR has put up power projects of over 800 MW (over 5,000 MW is under construction or on the drawing board), constructed roads of 420 km (another 310 km is in the pipeline), bought Dutch power utility InterGen for $930 million, developed a brand new airport at Hyderabad, built a new terminal at the Istanbul airport and now given a facelift to the Delhi airport, according to a newspaper report.

To serve the needs of the marginalised sections and the rural society, Rao set up the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, to raise their living standards. The Foundation is active in the areas of education, health and hygiene, community development and empowerment.

Rao was chosen as the 'Entrepreneur of the year' at the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence in 2006 - 07. The award was given to him in recognition of his exemplary entrepreneurial spirit and potential in breaking into the big league of top infrastructure organisations in India. He has also been awarded the 'Most Promising Entrant to the Big League' by CNBC TV18 at its 'Indian Business Leader Awards 2007'.

In spite of all his wealth, Rao leads a simple and unassuming lifestyle. He drives around in a Toyota and starts his day at 4 in the morning with a jog followed by meditation. A workaholic, he is known to work beyond midnight on all days. At work, he can often be found with his arm around the shoulders of the junior-most employee, enquiring about his family. He loves to recount stories of his early struggles in business. Those who know Rao well describe him as a down-to-earth man with no pretensions.