Baba Kalyani

Baba Kalyani
Kalyani at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2009.
Born	(1949-01-07)January 7, 1949 Pune
Residence	Pune
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	BITS Pilani MIT
Occupation	Chairman of Kalyani Group
Net worth	$2.7 billion (2015)
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2008) Order of the Polar Star Bundesverdienstkreuz (2012)

Babasaheb Neelkanth Kalyani is an Indian businessman who served as the chairman and managing director of Bharat Forge, the flagship company of the Kalyani Group and the world's second-largest forgings manufacturer after ThyssenKrupp of Germany.

Babasaheb Kalyani was born in a Lingayat family on 7 January 1949 to Sulochana and Neelakanth Kalyani, a Pune-based technocrat and maker of auto components. He completed his high school from Rashtriya Military School Belgaum/Belgavi, formerly King George Royal Indian Military College. He attended BITS Pilani, from where he earned a BE(Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering in 1970, and later Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned an MS degree.

Baba Kalyani joined Bharat Forge in 1972 when the company's annual turnover was about US $1.3 million; it was then a global company with 11 manufacturing facilities spread across India, USA, Germany, Sweden, and China.

Kalyani pioneered the export of automobile components from India to China in 2002. Bharat Forge was the country's largest exporter of automotive components for eight consecutive years, with exports contributing almost 50% to total sales. Every second heavy truck manufactured in USA runs on a "Made by Bharat Forge, India" front axle beam. Bharat Forge’s global customer base comprises 38 automobile manufacturers besides several tier suppliers to the industry.

He is the Founder Chairman of Pratham Pune Education Foundation, an NGO that is engaged in providing primary education to children belonging to under-privileged sections of the local community. Since its inception in 2000, Pratham Pune has made a difference in the lives of over 100,000 children in Pune society. Kalyani is also providing free technical and vocational training to rural youth at a government Industrial Training Institute [ITI] Taluka in Pune district that is being run as a Public-Private partnership, a model being replicated in other parts of the country. Kalyani also supports various other NGOs and charitable institutes engaged in education and assisting the disadvantaged and needy.