Naveen Jindal

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Naveen Jindal (born 9 March 1970) is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, politician, sportsperson and the Member of Parliament of Kurukshetra constituency in Haryana. He is the youngest son of Late Om Prakash Jindal, also an industrialist-politician who was associated with the Indian National Congress. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India, from the Kurukshetra constituency in the 2024 Indian general election for a 3rd term.^[2] Previously, he represented the constituency in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha as well between 2004–2014.^[3][4] As an industrialist, he currently serves as the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited^[5] and Chancellor of the O. P. Jindal Global University.

Jindal was born in Hisar, Haryana, on 9 March 1970. He was the youngest of the four sons of the late industrialist-philanthropist-politician Om Prakash Jindal^[6][7] and Savitri Jindal. Both of them were ministers in the Government of Haryana.^[8][9] Jindal studied at Campus School, CCS HAU^[10] and Delhi Public School^[11] before graduating in Commerce from Hans Raj College, Delhi University in 1990.^[12] He completed his MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas in 1992. There he served first as Student Government vice president, then president, at the same time earning the Student Leader of the Year Award.^[13]

His father was born into a farming family in Haryana's Hisar district, and became the founder of the steel and power conglomerate, the O.P. Jindal Group. Om Prakash Jindal contested elections to the Haryana Legislative Assembly and won thrice in 1991, 2000 and 2005 and contested elections to the Lok Sabha from Haryana's Kurukshetra constituency in 1996 and won. He served as a minister in the Government of Haryana until he died in a helicopter crash in 2005, aged 74.^[14][15]

After his death, her wife Savitri Jindal joined politics and contested the Haryana Legislative Assembly elections from Hisar in 2005 and 2009 from the ticket of the Indian National Congress and won both terms. She was appointed as a minister in the Government of Haryana. She is the Chairperson Emeritus of Jindal Stainless Limited.^[16][17]

Naveen is married to Shallu Jindal. The couple has two children, a son and a daughter.

Naveen has eight siblings, including Prithviraj Jindal, Sajjan Jindal and Ratan Jindal. Prithviraj Jindal is the Chairman (Non Executive) of Jindal SAW Ltd.^[18] Sajjan Jindal is the Chairman of JSW Group.^[19]

Naveen Jindal won a landmark legal case which affirmed that all Indians had the right to fly the National Flag on all days of the year.^[20]

Jindal's struggle for the tricolour began in early 1992 when he hoisted a tricolour at his factory in Raigarh. The then Commissioner of Bilaspur objected to it on the ground that as per the Flag Code of India, a private citizen was not permitted to fly the Indian flag except on certain days. Jindal filed a petition before the High Court arguing that no law could forbid Indian citizens from flying the national flag and, furthermore, the Flag Code of India was only a set of executive instructions from the Government of India and therefore not law. While he went out to court against the objections of the government officials, he did not remove the flag and kept it flying at the factory.^[21]

The High Court allowed the petition and held the Flag Code of India was not a valid restriction on the right to freedom of expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. The High Court observed that, according to Article 19(2), the only valid limitations on this right were those that were contained in the statute.^{[citation needed]} In cases concerning the regulation of the flying of the national flag, such limitations could be found in the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1950 or the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act 1971.^{[citation needed]}

The Union of India filed an appeal against this decision to the Supreme Court on the basis that whether citizens were free to fly the national flag was a policy decision, and could not be subject to court interference.^{[citation needed]}

Supreme Court was pleased to grant leave and stay the operation of the impugned judgment. The flag continued to fly as Jindal's lawyer said "it would not be contempt of court since the judgement had only been stayed".^{[citation needed]}

The matter then came up for hearing before the Supreme Court which observed that prima facie they see no reason why citizens cannot express patriotism by displaying the national flag. The court also observed that restrictions on flying of the national flag only on certain days by private citizens seemed unsustainable.^{[citation needed]}

The Supreme Court on 23 January 2004 dismissed the Civil Appeal No. 2920 of 1996 arising out of SLP No. 1888 of 1996 filed by the Union of India against the judgment and order dates 22 September 1995 of Delhi High Court and held that flying the national flag was a symbol of expression that came within the right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.^[22]

Jindal has been strongly advocating to mark 23 January as the "National Flag Day".^[23] While India observes Armed Forces Flag Day on 7 December, it does not have a National Flag Day.

Jindal is the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (formerly known as Jindal Strips Limited) which was a moderately performing enterprise when Jindal first took over its Raigarh and Raipur operations in 1993.^[24] Today, JSPL operates an iron manufacturing plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, and plants in Jharkhand and Odisha.^[25] The company has set up captive power plants using waste products from the sponge iron making process to generate power.^[26]

He has been ranked amongst Asia’s 25 Hottest People in Business by the Fortune Asia magazine for turning a struggling steel company into an Asian blue-chip giant. He has also been ranked as India’s Best CEO by Business Today based on a BT-INSEAD-HBR study of top value creators for the period 1995 to 2011. JSPL has been rated the Second Highest Value Creator in the world by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of USA.^{[citation needed]}

Naveen Jindal set up the world's first coal-gasification based steelmaking plant at Angul, Odisha that uses the locally available high-ash coal and turns it into synthesis gas for steel making thus reducing the dependence on imported coke-rich coal.^{[citation needed]} Jindal believes that coal gasification technology has immense potential for countries like India, where non-coking coal is abundantly available. JSPL's coal gas-based steel tech became a case study at Harvard University.^[27]

Recently Union steel minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh inaugurated Jindal Steel's 1.4 MTPA TMT rebar mill at its integrated complex in Odisha's Angul district.^[28]

Jindal Steel is expanding its Angul Plant capacity from 6 MTPA to 12MTPA and the company will achieve an overall 15 MTPA steelmaking capacity by 2025.^[29]

In 2014, the Supreme Court of India in a surprise move cancelled the coal blocks allocated to Indian steel and Power companies that had been allocated through successive Governments at the Centre.^{[citation needed]} Jindal's company too was affected as its coal blocks got cancelled and it has to pay the arbitrary retrospective levy. This led to a scenario where most of the private steel and power companies in India became Non Performing Assets.^[30]

Jindal's company JSPL saw a tough time with debt levels going to 50,000 crore rupees.^[31]

The company went from the second-highest wealth creator with a share price of Rs 700 to a debt-ridden one with its share price tumbling down to Rs 62. The company however scripted a turnaround and came back green. In 2022 March, its share price jumped to Rs 530.^{[citation needed]}

Business India magazine wrote: "JSPL has placed a singular focus on sweating its assets, improving capacity utilisations and deleveraging. From a loss-making company to making a PAT of Rs7,500 crore is a big story."^[32]

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Jindal founded^[33] the O.P. Jindal Global University (OPJGU or JGU) in 2009, in memory of his father, Mr. O.P. Jindal.

Jindal is also the Founder and Patron of the OP Jindal University, Chhattisgarh.^[34] It started as an engineering college in 2008 and in a span of 4years, OPJU became India’s first and only private university to offer courses in steelmaking, metallurgy and management. The University was awarded the ‘Best Private University in Chhattisgarh’ at The Progress Global Awards 2020.

Jindal completed his MBA from the School of Management, the University of Texas at Dallas. In 2011, Jindal made a very substantial donation to the same institution, and as a result of which, the School of Management was renamed "Naveen Jindal School of Management" the same year.^[35]

During the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, India witnessed a tragic and emergency situation as hospitals ran short of the sudden demand for liquid medical oxygen. With death looming all around, there was despair. The Indian steel industry came forward and decided to halt production and divert their stock of liquid medical oxygen to hospitals.^[36]

He was also felicitated with AsiaOne Super 50 COVID-19 Commitment Award 2020-21.^[37]

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Jindal's involvement in politics began in his student days. He was the President of the Student Government and recipient of the Student Leader of the Year Award at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA.^[38] After completing his post-graduation in the US, Jindal returned to India and began managing his father's political affairs.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 he stood for elections from the Kurukshetra constituency in the north Indian state of Haryana on an Indian National Congress ticket. He defeated his nearest rival Abhay Singh Chautala by a margin of 130,000 votes.^[39] He was re-elected in the 2009 general elections. His focus as an MP has been on the problems of corruption, over-population, women's empowerment, environment, health and education. Jindal moved a private member bill in Lok Sabha for a comprehensive Food and Nutrition Security Scheme that paved the way for the Food Security Act. He lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kurukshetra.^[40]

Parliamentary responsibilities & initiatives

• Member, Standing Committee on Home Affairs
• Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defense
• Special Invitee, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Civil Aviation
• Convener, Parliamentary Forum on Children
• Executive Member, Indian Parliamentary Group
• Additional Member, Parliamentary Forum on Population & Health
• Member, Kurukshetra Development Board
• Sports Secretary, Constitution Club of India
• Convener, Sub-Committee on Modernisation of Prison Administration, Ministry of Home Affairs

After resigning from primary membership of the INC on 24 March 2024, he joined the BJP. He ran as a BJP candidate in the 2024 Indian General Election.^[41]

Coal Scam Allegations:^[42] Naveen Jindal faced allegations of involvement in the coal allocation scam in India, alongside ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and others. The CBI filed a final report in further probe directed by a special court, citing certain disclosures made by a chartered accountant seeking to turn approver. CBI had alleged that ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, also accused in the case, had favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) — in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

Electoral Bonds Controversy:^[43] Jindal Group companies, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Jindal Stainless Ltd, purchased electoral bonds worth ₹195.5 crore and were among the top 50 donors, according to the data by the Election Commission of India.

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Naveen Jindal is an active Polo player. He is the Captain and Patron of the Jindal Panther Polo Team. He started playing Polo 3 decades ago at the age of 18. He started his own team in 1995 that has won various tournaments including the Indian Open, Indian Masters, Maharaja Hari Singh Memorial Cup, Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Cup and the Bhopal Pataudi Cup. He was declared the Most Valuable Player at the finals of Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup 2019.^{[citation needed]}

“I was always very fond of horses. When we moved to Delhi, I joined the President’s Estate Polo Club just to ride. I saw people playing polo and was fascinated by it. I started playing and got hooked," he said in an interview with Mint.^[44]

Naveen Jindal is an accomplished skeet shooter. The Indian Shooting Team, under his captaincy, won a silver medal in the South Asian Federation Games, April 2004, in Pakistan. He has also represented the country in the Asian games held in Busan, South Korea in 2002.

In 2003, he set a National record in skeet shooting which stays unmatched till today.^{[citation needed]}

He was also a part of the Haryana shooting team that won the gold medal at the 54th National shooting Championship competition (Big Bore) in the civilian category held at Gurgaon in May 2011.^[45]

• Gold medal in the team skeet event for India at the Singapore Open Shooting Championship, 2007
• Silver medal in the team skeet event at the 9th South Asian Federation Games, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2004
• Bronze in the team event at the Singapore Shooting Invitation, 2003
• Silver in the team event at the Singapore Shooting Invitation, 2002

• Jindal has been conferred with the Justice P.N. Bhagwati Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to legal education and corporate philanthropy. Instituted by the Capital Foundation, the award was presented by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, December 2011^[46]
• Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the field of Energy and Infrastructure, 2010^[47]