Enterprenurship Management

Name- Shruti Poddar Std- SY-BBI Roll No- 43

Index

Sr No

Particular

Page No

1.

Acknowledgement

2. 3.

Introduction Bibliography

4-7 8

Acknowledgement
Ill like to thank my proff. Krupa for giving me this wonderful project. It was a great learning experience. The project has made me aware of my surroundings and has helped me broaden my horizon.

Captain Gopinath
Personal Life

Coming from a modest background, Captain Gopinath is a multi-faceted personality. He comfortably shifted into different guises: an Army Officer, India's leading business man, an independent political candidate, an eco- friendly farmer and a well known author. With so much diversity to his personality it is no doubt that he is one of the most interesting and distinguished persons that one can come cross. Despite his many roles he is well known as a pioneer of low-cost airlines, a venture capitalist who revolutionized the face of Indian aviation in the country. His book "Simply Fly" sheds light on the remarkable journey of turning his ambitious vision into a successful business story. Unlike other entrepreneurs Captain Gopinath's attempts to inspire young business men in the country have been successful. His phenomenal success in such a short span of time has been rewarded by many well known and prestigious institutions.

Early Life Captain Gopinath hails from a small town known as Gorur located in the Hassan district in Karnataka state. He finished his early schooling at the Sainik Military School that was situated in Bijapur before he joined the famed National Defence Academy and then passed out from the Indian Military Academy. Once he was done with his graduation he was appointed as an Officer of the Indian Army. Career Once he joined the Army, Captain Gopinath served for eight years before he retired from the 'Armed Forces'. Thereafter he became interested in farming and later started a hotel in Hassan. It was not until the year 1995 when the government took measures to improve the aviation sector in India, several rules where relaxed in order to encourage entrepreneurs to invest and explore air transportation. The reforms initiated by the management did see positive results as many new players started to show a keen interest in this sector, Captain Gopinath was also one among them. It was him and a close friend from the armed services who came together with the idea to start a private commercial helicopter service known as Deccan Aviation. In 1997, the service became operational, while Bangalore became its headquarters. The helicopter service extended to cities like Ahmedabad, Cochin, Delhi, Indore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Coochbehar. This aviation company began with just a single helicopter, but currently boasts of a fleet that commutes across several destinations in the country. In 2003, Captain Gopinath began his first air-craft service known as Air Deccan, this air service was a low-cost brand, the main aim was to fulfill the comman man's dream to fly. Air Deccan was one of the first low-cost services in India and was an instant success but due to the excessive competiton from other similar airline carriers, Air Deccan soon started to lose out to the competition. The company's overwhelming growth also saw the entry of several other low cost airbuses such as Indigo Airlines, Go Air, Spice Jet and Jet Lite. In 2007, Captain Gopinath was left with no other altenative but to consolidate with the Kingfisher Airlines, the merger earned him substanial profits. Currently Air Deccan is known as Kingfisher Red with Vijay Mallya being the CEO and Chairman. Meanwhile, the helicopter services exteneted to Sri Lanka in 2004 promoting itself as a major private charter services. The year 2009 saw Captain Gopinath get into the role of a politician when he stood as an independent candidate in

the Lok Sabha elections, but failed to gather sufficent support from the general public. On the business front he was also responsible for starting operations for a new freight flight known as Deccan 360. Problems faced Captain GR Gopinath, had to put his entire fleet of aircraft on sale and fired dozens of employees as he grapples with a severe financial crisis, according to two persons with knowledge of the matter. The company, which has been offering charter services to pilgrims and businessmen since 1997, has not paid employees for more than a year, said these persons. In the last month alone, 11 pilots and 20 technical personnel were laid off and only less than a third of the workforce of around 300 remain, they said, asking not to be identified. Accidents and incidents Air Deccan had an inauspicious start to its operations on 24 September 2003, with its flight from Hyderabad to Vijaywada catching fire on the runway when it was taxiing before take-off. That flight was carrying several dignitaries such as the then BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, the then Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and Telugu Desam Party leader K. Yerran Naidu. This was operated using an ATR 42 aircraft. Again, on 29 March 2004, another Air Deccan flight from Goa to Bangalore had to return back half an hour after take off as smoke filled the cabin. This aircraft was also an ATR 42. On 11 March 2006, an Air Deccan flight travelling from Coimbatore to Bangalore made a heavy landing on the runway at Bangalore's HAL Airport and skidded off the runway.[18] The aircraft was carrying 44 people (40 passengers and 4 crew). Although there were no fatalities, the aircraft, an ATR 72, was severely damaged. Over Coming The Problems Kingfisher merged with Air Deccan.The boards of Deccan Aviation and Kingfisher Airlines unanimously decided to merge Kingfisher Airlines with Deccan Aviation. The merger created the largest player in the domestic aviation market and pave the way for Vijay Mallya to fly his Kingfisher Airlines to overseas destinations. Deccan Aviation was subsequently renamed Kingfisher Airlines. Vijay Mallya become the chairman and CEO of this company and GR Gopinath, who pioneered low cost aviation in India with Deccan Aviation, will be its vice-chairman. Mallyas UB Holdings, owns the closely-held

Kingfisher Airlines and has 46 per cent in Deccan Aviation, will hold a significant majority in the new firm. Future Captain Gopinath is planning to new airlines after non-compete act between Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines and him ends on 28th January, 2013. Many foreign players have shown interest in his project and ready to buy 49% stake, under FDI, in his new venture. He has already applied for the license to Aviation ministry. Awards and Achievements Captain Gopinath has been an important face of India aviation; his business ideologies transformed the airline sector into a thriving and profitable sector. Today, a airline is no more restricted to just an elite group of people but has become a affordable and feasible transportation means in the country. Captain Gopinath's contributions has won him several accolades, some of them have been the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, Rajyotsava Award, Chevalier de la legion d'Honneur, Personality of the Decade Award and Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award. Time Line

1997: He started Deccan Aviation operations. 2003: He commenced Air Deccan operations. 2004: Deccan Aviation extended to Sri Lanka. 2007: Air Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines. 2009: He commenced Deccan 360 and ran for the Lok Sabha election

Awards and honors 1996 - Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2005 - Rajyotsava Award 2007 - Chevalier de la legion dHonneur Personality of the Decade Award

Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award (Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry)

Books by Gopinath Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey, Collins Business, 2010,

Bibilography
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._R._Gopinath 2- http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/captain-gopinath%5Cs-new-flightplan/486267/ 3- http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/captain-gopinath.html 4- http://business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=31511&tp=on 5- http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-12-15/news/35836604_1_captaingr-gopinath-deccan-charters-air-deccan