Murari Lal Jalan
Murari Lal Jalan was born on 1st August, 1964 in a small town in eastern India named Ranchi. With his eagerness to learn from an early age, he was always ahead of his peers in education. He started out with his professional life in his early teens and joined the family business of paper trading. All through his teens he worked with his father in the different trading businesses the family run. In his early 20s, he ventured into a new industry of photo imaging and started out with opening photo labs which developed photographs. With his sheer passion to excel in any business he pursued, Mr. Jalan
was able to grow this business from one lab in his hometown to numerous labs in eastern India.
In the early 1990’s, Mr. Jalan with a grand vision in his mind, set foot in Russia to try his hands in the same business of photo labs but in an unknown territory with no knowledge of the language and local culture. With his “Never Give Up” attitude, Mr. Jalan was quick to learn the Russian language and expanded the photo lab business in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg which led him into the distribution business of photo imaging products of the renowned company – Konica Minolta. The mid 1990s saw Mr. Jalan succeed in this business and soon it grew from Russia to many ex-Soviet countries. The 1998 financial crisis in Russia brought challenges with itself but as we say
“When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.” With the support of his colleagues, not only did he weather the storm but went on to become the world’s largest distributor for Konica Minolta.
The turn of the millennium and the success from the distribution business saw Mr. Jalan venture into various countries and businesses and he expanded his now growing empire to Brazil, UAE and India in the early 2000s. During the next decade and half, Mr. Jalan got involved in various businesses including paper manufacturing in India, real estate development in India & UAE, construction equipment leasing in the UAE, wholesaling & trading in the UAE and various other investments ranging from sports, healthcare, dairy, mining and renewable energy projects. This was the period which saw the business group headed by Mr. Jalan expand in scale and geography and transform it from an entrepreneurial venture to a multinational institution.
In the recent past, Mr. Jalan has been fortunate to come to Uzbekistan and commit himself to various lifestyle real estate projects in the country. Mr. Jalan aims to provide to the people of Uzbekistan – golf homes, educational institutions, medical and recreational facilities and many more such facilities which are at par with the world standards and will truly provide the people of Uzbekistan a chance to enhance the lifestyle of themselves and their loved ones.
While god has been kind in helping Mr. Jalan walk the path he has walked, he has always been conscious of his social responsibilities and has always looked for an opportunity to give back to the society. He has contributed his time, efforts and money to create his own philanthropic institutions along with helping numerous other institutions who have been involved in various activities including – providing free mid day meals to students, distributing free artificial limbs to the handicapped, teaching students in make shift schools, providing medical care to the needy, providing food and safety equipments during Covid 19 in Uzbekistan to many other such activities.
Mr. Jalan is a family man, an avid reader, an ardent cricket fan with a liking for movies. He has created wealth through his vision and hard work and believes in using this wealth for the well being of those in need. He is a true visionary who is eager to learn at every given opportunity. With the second generation of his family now in business, he is a guiding force to them. He is an Indian national, a UAE resident, but truly a world citizen.
CSR DETAILS
Starting out with food being distributed out to the poor and needy living on the streets of his hometown, Ranchi, to being associated with the world’s largest “not for profit” mid day meal program in the world, Mr. Jalan has been fortunate enough to serve the society in their needs of food, education and healthcare. Mr. Jalan has created several institutions of his own to be the channel in serving the people directly and also associated with various non government organizations through his family run Orion Foundation to contribute and assist them in their field of work and expertise:
1. Rehabilitation of physically challenged – Mr. Jalan has created an organization of his own to provide the differently abled people to may have lost their hands or legs with artificial limbs, calipers, crutches, ambulatory aids like wheel chairs, and other aids and appliances totally free of cost. Mr. Jalan believes in empowering these differently abled people, particularly the resource less, so they may lead a life of dignity and become productive members of their family and community. He has not only created his own organization to provide this service but has been working hand in hand with other organizations who have been actively serving since decades in the same cause.
2. One Teacher School – Involved in providing education to the children who won’t have the means to go to a school. Creating schools in buildings which were not in use to teaching the kids under a tree, these “One Teacher Schools” have provided education to numerous kids helping them to lead a better life.
3. Scholarship Program – Providing full scholarship to aspiring meritorious students from the economically weaker sections of society - irrespective of caste, creed, faith or race – so that they can pursue higher studies after successful completion of their high school program.
4. Redevelopment of schools – To develop a system of education by building new schools and redeveloping old ones to help building a generation of young men and women infused with patriotic fervour; physically, vitally, mentally and spiritually fully developed; capable of successfully facing challenges of life.
5. Mid Day Meal Program – World’s largest “Not For Profit” mid day meal program operating all over India in over 19,000 schools feeding over 1.8 million students on a daily basis so no child skips school because of hunger.
6. Autism / Celebral Palsy – Association of parents of children with mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities and has been working for their education, vocational training, welfare, social integration and rehabilitation.
7. Welfare and rehabilitation of children with disabilities – Assessment, Diagnosis,
Therapeutic Intervention, Inclusive Education, Human Resource Development and Bio-
Medical Research for overall development of children with special needs. Skill based
training is provided to make young adults employable and economically independent.
8. Old Age Homes – Mr. Jalan has worked with various old age homes in Eastern India which takes care of the people in their last years medically and financially and help them lead a life with dignity and amogst the people who understand each other.
BUSINESS DETAILS
Brief Business Background:
An avid businessman and the Chairman of AgioImage Group, Mr. Jalan joined the family business of paper trading at a young age. He ventured into photo services and the photographic products market, then on to trading & distribution, real estate development, paper manufacturing and healthcare. Present businesses span these various segments, spread over UAE, India, Russia and Uzbekistan. A born businessman, Mr. Jalan has been able to successfully identify the right business opportunities at the right times and to capitalize on them. Today, backed by decades of multiindustry,
multi-market and multi-culture exposure, he possesses a wealth of entrepreneurial skills,
business experience, vision and financial acumen, with which he steers his various businesses.
Chronological order of businesses:
Prior to 1986: Worked with the traditional family business of paper trading in India.
1986 – 1992: Developed photographic products and services business, setting up a chain of photo labs in several cities in India.
1993 – 1999: Ventured into the Russian market, starting with a pilot lab in St Petersburg and then establishing a chain of labs. This led to the birth of Agio Image for the distribution of photographic products of the Japanese conglomerate, Konica Corporation (later Konica Minolta) for all of Russia and some CIS countries, in the mid 1990s.
Since 2000: Moved the headquarters of AgioImage to Dubai, UAE from where further expansion of the group took place in various industries and countries. Starting of real estate business in Dubai along with acquisition of a existing trading and distribution business, followed by subsequent investments in Brazil to expand the photographic business, acquisition of paper manufacturing factories in India, solar energy projects in the Philippines, healthcare in Uzbekistan and further expansion in the real estate sector in Uzbekistan.
Business Experience & Qualities
Russia:
With the onset of democracy, the country was just opening up to business opportunities when Mr. Jalan ventured into these unknown waters, to establish a base, starting with a pilot lab in St Petersburg and then establishing a chain of labs across Russia. His sincerity and dedication were well rewarded when the Japanese conglomerate, Konica Corporation, sensing the opportunities and wanting a reliable partner in Russia, finalized its distribution for their entire range of photographic products for all of Russia and some CIS countries with him, in the mid 1990s. Aggressive marketing, brand-building and strong customer support soon established Konica in the market and the business was successfully turned into their largest distributorship around the globe within the
decade.
Brazil:
With an aim to move into the western hemisphere and sensing new opportunities in Latin America, Mr. Jalan had taken up Konica Minolta’s offer in 2002, to expand their business in Brazil. Subsequently, the growing distribution business was expanded by adding a photographic paper slitting and packaging plant in the industrial city of Manaus in the Amazon region.
Dubai:
With the real estate market poised for growth in Dubai, Mr. Jalan diversified into the real estate business, relating to the construction and leasing out of workers’ accommodation, which grew with the real estate boom until 2008 and weathered the subsequent recessionary storm, due to the financial soundness of the group. Currently, the Group has around 1 million square feet of constructed area leased to prime companies, with further construction activities in the pipeline. Investments were made in various construction equipment and machinery, to enter the market of leasing these to various companies in Dubai’s construction industry. The group also handles distribution and sales of photographic and other consumer durable products, comprising a range of world renowned brands such as Sony, Konica Minolta, Tamron, Panasonic,
Nakabayashi, Velbon and others, with a presence in the wholesales and re-export market, retail chains and the online segment.
India:
Agio Paper & Industries Ltd – Mr. Jalan acquired a challenged writing & printing paper
manufacturing factory in 2003, with annual capacity of 16,500 MT. It was successfully turned around into a profitable business with its production capacity doubled. A captive Biomass power plant of 4 MW capacity was also installed to meet its power demand.
Orion Techcity – Sensing an opportunity in the real estate market in eastern India, where the Government was keen on developing eastern India as a financial and IT hub, Mr. Jalan invested his energies into a mega township project in the heart of Kolkata city, to be constructed over a sprawling 18 million sq.ft. of land, joining hands with the State Government.
Philippines:
The Group’s recent diversification initiative into Renewable Energy business, had also been the vision of Mr. Jalan to pursue solar energy project development opportunities in India and South East Asia. The Group owns two solar power projects the Philippines, for a total capacity of 25MW.
Uzbekistan:
Mr. Jalan entered into the medical segment in the CIS region by opening a state of the art hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, specializing in eye care. To cater to growth possibilities in the region, Mr. Jalan has initiated strategic tie-ups with renowned Indian hospitals to further develop the healthcare business in Uzbekistan. Recently Mr. Jalan has ventured into the real estate industry in Uzbekistan and has committed himself to various projects in multiple cities of Uzbekistan including Tashkent, Namangan & Bukhara. The group is building multiple township projects including educational
institutions, hospitality projects, entertainment parks and many more. The total built up area of all projects is in excess of 4 million square meters.
