From a 10x10 foot flat to owning a Rs 1,000cr company, this is the inspiring story of Hanmant Gaikwad

Dhandha karne ke liye bahot paise ki zaroorat nahi hai. Sachche dil se, imandaari se kaam karo and you will be successful in whatever you do.

(You do not need plenty of money to start a new business. Just have the right intent and work very hard, and you will be successful in whatever you do)

This is what Hanmant Ramdas Gaikwad, the Chairman and Managing Director of BVG India Limited, the largest integrated services company in India, had to say about success.

Hanmant was born in Rahimatpur in the Satara district of Maharashtra. As a student, he was very smart, and he excelled in Mathematics. His family used to live in a small house with only one room, 10 by 10 feet. The house always went dark during the nights because it lacked electricity. Having gone through many hardships, Hanmant eventually learnt valuable lessons about life, and decided to work harder at his education, knowing that it was the only thing that could get him out of that misery. He received scholarships, which were of Rs 10 a month, from the government right from when he was in the 4th grade.

Having received a transfer order, the family moved to Mumbai, and Hanmant's father fell ill immediately, unable to cope up with the sudden change in weather. The family couldn't run with him falling sick, so Hanmant started selling fresh fruits after school, at the railway station. His mother started work as a teacher at a local municipal school and would mend clothes and stitch them for money. Despite all of this, Hanmant continued to work very hard and passed secondary school with an 88 percentage. He pursued a polytechnic course with electronics after it.

His father's health deteriorated, and he passed away during this period. Devastated, Hanmant did not give up and went on to gain admission at the Government College of Engineering Aurangabad. However, his mother, a teacher who was earning just Rs 2,300 per month, wanted him to join a reputed engineering institute, and she took an advance of Rs 15,000 from a bank and made him join Vishwakarma Institute of Technology. During his time at college, he did various odd jobs like conducting tuitions for children to earn extra money.

He moved to Pune in 1994 to work with Tata Motors as a trainee engineer, and he introduced the idea of providing employment to people through a non-profit trust, giving rise to Bharat Vikas Prathishthan (BVP). With eight employees, who were his friends from his village, joining in, the organisation grew rapidly and is right now serviceable in almost 20 states in the country. Partnering with some big names in the sector, the company has well over 700 clients all around the world and is the largest emergency medical support provider in Asia. Right now, BVG India facilitates the maintenance and cleanliness of Parliament, the Delhi High Court, the residence of the Prime Minister, and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Hanmant now aims to provide employment to over 10 lakh people in the country by the year 2027, and BVG India now has a valuation of more than Rs 1,000 crore.

Having had no guidance or support along way, how Hanmant Ramdas Gaikwad created an empire out of pure hard work and dedication is nothing short of an inspiration.

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