Kushal Pal Singh

Early life and military career Kushal Pal Singh was born on 15 August 1931 to a family of Jat landlords in Bulandshahr, United Provinces, British India. His father, Mukhtar Singh, was a reputed lawyer in Bulandshahr. He completed his schooling at Mayo College, Ajmer. Later he graduated in science from Meerut College, Uttar Pradesh, he pursued aeronautical engineering in London, England. Singh's uncle was in charge of the stables at the then-Viceregal Lodge, which is now Rashtrapati Bhavan, and during Singh's visit to his uncle, he unexpectedly met the then-Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell, who suggested he pursue riding. His father then sent him to England, hiding from Singh that he incurred financial debt to get him there. While playing polo in near Windsor, Singh met an officer of the Indian Army who attempted to convince him to join a cavalry unit in the army. In 1954, as an army officer, Singh led the Deccan Horse in the 1954 Republic Day parade.

Business career

Early career and growth of DLF After resigning from the army, Singh, together with another retired army officer, initially entered the stud farm business. However, in 1975, Singh almost sold his shares in DLF for 25 lakhs after a decision made by his father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvendra and apathy regarding the real estate sector due to bureaucratic red tape, but Singh at the last minute declined to do the transaction, keeping his shares. In 1976, the Government of India introduced the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (ULCRA) to grow low-income housing and set limits for the ownership of vacant urban land. Singh met Rajiv and spoke about business plans for Gurgaon and how certain laws were hindering his acquisition of land in the state. Lal attempted to ruin Singh's business and even have him arrested, which led to Singh going into hiding on the advice then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Lal also managed to persuade other Haryana politicians to go against Singh. In 1995, Singh become chairmen of the company. Singh constructed numerous earthquake-proof office buildings, apartments, shopping malls and leisure facilities in Gurgaon. In the same year, Singh's Cyber City Gurgaon was awarded the world’s first LEED Platinum City and Community Certification. By 2015, Singh scaled DLF's land bank to 10,000 acres, the largest in India. In 2020, Singh retired from all of his executive positions in DLF, and he was succeeded as chairman of the company his son, Rajiv Singh.

Other business activities Singh was also one of the initiators for General Electric’s (GE) entry into India during the 1980s. His initial work with GE involved bringing their gas turbines to India for infrastructure projects and later expanded to advising GE in other industries. Padma Bhusan award, on 26 January 2010, conferred by the Government of India. The Samman Patra Award, in 2000, conferred by the Government of India for being one of the top taxpayers of Delhi region. A special award conferred by NDTV at the Indian of the Year Award in 2008 for contributions towards India's economic growth. In 2011 he received the Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards. Lifetime achievement award at EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2022, India Singh and Aparna Jain's book Why the Heck Not? was published in November 2024.

Controversies

Political links In the course of Singh's business career, his close links to the Indian National Congress political party and the party's leadership from the Nehru-Gandhi family has been a source of controversy for him. In 2016, Mosseck Fonseca, a Panamanian corporate service provider and law firm, stated that Singh qualified as a politically exposed person (PEP). In 2011, DLF's real estate deal with businessman Robert Vadra, the husband of Priyanka Gandhi and son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, caused controversy for Singh, who was accused of corruption by then-political activist Arvind Kejriwal, who later became the Chief Minister of Delhi. Kejriwal accused Singh of doing a real estate transaction which heavily favored Vadra in return for political favors.

SEBI sanctions In 2014, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) banned Singh, DLF and 6 others from accessing capital markets for a period of three years due to three violations, non-disclosure of related party transactions, non-disclosure of financial details related to subsidiaries, and inadequate disclosure of outstanding litigation during DLF's 2007 IPO process. In 2015, SEBI also imposed a heavy fine on Singh, DLF and others; however, DLF appealed SEBI's ruling and the case as of 2019, is in the Supreme Court of India.

Panama Papers In April 2016, Singh's name featured in the list of high-profile names released in the Panama Papers, a set of 11.5 million confidential documents created by the Mossack Fonseca.

Personal life and family Singh was married to Indira Singh, the daughter of Raghvendra Singh, the founder of DLF. Singh has one son, Rajiv Singh, and two daughters, Renuka Talwar and Pia Singh. In 2023, Singh stated in an interview that he is in a romantic relationship. Rajiv's wife Kavita Singh became an advisor to DLF Commercial Developers Ltd in November 2002. She was also appointed Advisor to DLF Universal on 1 June 2011, with a retainership fee of Rs 250,000 per month and other benefits. Rajiv and Kavita have two daughters, both of whom work for the company. K.P. Singh's elder daughter Renuka is married to G.S. Talwar, a non-executive director at DLF. Their son, Rahul, has joined DLF India Ltd as a "senior management trainee." K.P. Singh's younger daughter Pia Singh is a full-time director with DLF.