With ‘new initiatives’ on mind,Ahmedabad Metro chief quits

However,the resignation comes on a day when Neesa Group,the Rs 2,000 crore,pan-India business conglomerate promoted by Gupta,made an announcement about its promoter setting up a Rs 300 crore Private Equity Fund that will be focusing on funding businesses in media and entertainment,hospitality and tourism,lifestyle and healthcare. However,this piece of information was withheld. “I request you to please hold on to this information for now. There is some other development…,” stated an e-mail from an executive working with the Neesa Group.

Incidentally,50-year-old Gupta was already having his hands full. Apart from being the promoter and chairman of Neesa Group – the conglomerate operates 16 companies in hospitality,agri-tech,food-processing,real estate,education,IT,infrastructure,health,energy,biotechnology and security solutions – Gupta has been busy launching new projects.

In a post on his blog on Friday,Gupta states,“The business environment in the country has taken an adverse turn leading to distress in virtually every industry and especially hitting diversified business groups. My own commitment to the company and its stakeholders,including bankers,investors and employees,demanded that I seriously reconsider going back into the realm of business. I had mulled over this issue for quite sometime and took the advice of seniors,wise persons and family and thereafter decided to request the state government to let me move on.”

“The need for taking preparatory steps and applying for regulatory approvals in the name of proposed (PE) fund which is being sponsored by myself dictated moving away from any executive position in government as I begin a new journey in an area where very few will dare to tread in the current environment,” he added.

This year alone,Gupta launched a 24-hour digital news channel in Hindi —- Jano Duniya —- that is headquartered in Ahmedabad . It was his first Hindi channel to be aired from Gujarat. A few months later,Neesa Education,a sister concern of the Group, announced the introduction of bachelors degree course in Mass Communication in Ahmedabad,along with short-term certificate courses in reporting and anchoring,video-editing,post-production,camera and lighting. Earlier this month,Neesa Group announced the launch of a national English news and infotainment channel that will be headquartered in New Delhi.

On Thursday,Cambay Hotels and Resorts,a hospitality brand floated by Gupta,launched its tenth property at Sasan Gir,the home of Asiatic Lions in Gujarat. Located less than a kilometer away from the entry gate of the Gir Sanctuary,this resort is spread over eight acres of land.

A civil engineer from IIT Roorkee,Gupta joined the IAS at the age of 22 in 1985 and served for 17 years. He quit the bureaucracy in 2002 after the Modi government transferred him to an insignificant post. He had turned into a full-fledged entrepreneur after a 17-year stint in the bureaucracy.

Recounting his experience as the chairman of the Ahmedabad Metro project,Gupta writes in his blog,“During the last two and half years,it was venturesome,self-satisfying and successful journey of project development virtually from scratch. In a short span of time,I was able to develop the company into a technically competent,fully functional and construction-ready entity. Such massive progress in such a short span of time had not been achieved in the past either by the Delhi or Bangalore metros,which are currently operational metros apart from Kolkata metro.”