Happiness through delightful services

BRAND CONNECT

Published: May 6, 2019 08:05:03 AM IST

Updated: May 6, 2019 06:44:50 PM IST

Jayesh Desai
Founder & Chairman, Rajhans Group
Years of experience: 20+ years

Jayesh Desai is a veteran in the diamond city, Surat. He is a go-getter who has been leading the Rajhans (Desai-Jain) Group since its inception. He is passionate and dynamic, and with his strong business acumen and versatile experience, he is the driving-force behind the group’s diverse activities. He is ambitious and capable of spotting business opportunities, and an optimistic and determined entrepreneur.

Life lessons
For Desai, his employees are no less than his family and he does his best to provide them with the best facilities. What matters to him most is ‘customer happiness through delightful products and services’. According to him it’s not a leader who makes a difference but teamwork.

Achievements
• Gujarat Ratna Award from the then Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel in 2016.
• ET- Inspiring Business Leader of India, 2016.
• Business Knight of Gujarat by ET in 2016.
• 'Young Inspirational Entrepreneur' by Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Bhaskar and My FM in 2017.
• Entrepreneur of The Year Award-2018 by Gujarat CM Shri Vijay Rupani.

Charting The Path
True to the Gujarati business soul and fittingly representing the rags-to-riches story, Desai had come to Surat from a small village of Paravdi (Bhavnagar) with Rs 300 in his pocket. Now, he heads a Rs 6,500 cr business house, which was founded as a small edible oil factory in 1996. It has now turned into a fullfledged business empire operating in realty, confectionery, entertainment, textile, hospitality and e-commerce.

With more than 7,000 direct and indirect employees across various verticals, Rajhans Group is poised to go the distance. The group entered real estate in 2000 and within a decade, Rajhans Infracon Pvt Ltd undertook various projects ranging from residential, commercial, industrial and leisure. It became one of the most trusted realty brands in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana. The proof for the same lies in various awards bagged by Rajhans Realty from renowned industry bodies such as CREDAI, Brands Academy, etc.

With an aim to scaling new heights, the Group entered into the confectionery industry by setting up an international-standard chocolate factory, ‘Schmitten’ within 2,00,000 sq ft of built-up area in 2013. The enormous facility makes Rajhans Nutriments one of the third largest chocolate factories in India. With all the best-in class facilities, quality control unit and expert chocolate-makers, Schmitten imports finest cocoa from Ghana and employs excellent European technology with a range of machineries sourced from the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.

In the year 2000, the enthusiasm and farsightedness of the management gave a new direction in the entertainment industry of Gujarat by establishing a state-of-the-art cinema house, Rajhans Prime Cinema, in Surat. This cinema operates more than 50 screens in major cities with a vision to open 100 more screens pan-India by the end of 2019.

Rajhans Group owns a notable share in the textile as well. In the year 2005, the group further strengthened its position in the textile industry by setting up another dyeing-processing mill at Kadodara, Surat called, ‘Rajhans Poly-Prints Pvt. Ltd’. This accomplishment is touted as a stepping stone to the first venture of Group’s textile wing ‘Rajhans Silk Mills Pvt. Ltd. Today, it has the capacity to produce over 2 lakh meters of textile goods. With this dedication, the Group is eyeing in the high-end linen, shirting and trouser segment soon.

The Group has also launched a first-of-its-kind online platform Shareconomy in 2017, which connects industrial capacity owners with potential capacity seekers around the globe. With the help of Shareconomy, industrial capacity owners and capacity seekers can effectively strike mutually beneficial deals.

Encouraged by the philosophy of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, the group envisioned enormous scope in the hospitality industry by establishing a high-end chain of Enjoy restaurants and Sizzling Salsa. Today, Rajhans Hospitality has become one of the leading landmarks having further expansion plans in boutique hotels at different locations across the country such as Vaishnodevi, Shirdi and Tirupati.

With a proven track record of success backed up by strong business insight, Desai heads planning and strategic business development and plays a vital role in developing business strategy for every vertical of the Group. A captain with versatility and philanthropist values, he drives his group to be in the list of top 10 business houses in India.

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