Nandan Nilekani

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Nandan Mohanrao Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur. He co-founded Infosys and is the non-executive chairman of Infosys<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> replacing R Seshasayee and Ravi Venkatesan, who were the co-chairs of the board, on 24 August 2017. After the exit of Vishal Sikka, Nilekani was appointed non-executive chairman of the board effective 24 August 2017.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> He was the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After a successful career at Infosys, he headed the Government of India's technology committee, TAGUP.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is a member of Indian National Congress but not active in politics as of 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of October 2025, he is the 100th richest person in India with a net worth of US$3.2 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life

Nandan Nilekani was born in Bangalore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His parents Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani were Konkani originally from Sirsi in Karnataka.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His father worked as a general manager of Mysore and Minerva Mills and subscribed to Fabian Socialist ideals that influenced Nilekani in his early years. Nilekani's elder brother, Vijay, works in the Nuclear Energy Institute in the United States.

Nilekani studied at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School and St. Joseph's High School Dharwad, Karnataka PU College Dharwad and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the IIT Bombay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Information technology

In 1978 he started his career at the Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems, where he met and was interviewed by N.R. Narayana Murthy. In 1981, Nilekani, Murthy, and five others left Patni to start their own company, Infosys. Nilekani became the chief executive officer of Infosys in March 2002 and served as CEO of the company through April 2007, when he relinquished his position to his colleague Kris Gopalakrishnan and became co-chairman of the board of directors. Before assuming leadership as CEO in 2002, Nilekani held various posts, including managing director, president, and chief operating officer. He served as its CEO from March 2002 to April 2007.<ref name=GT-DEX-2009-MP-X/><ref name=GT-DEX-2009-MP-XI/><ref name="About UIDAI">Background. uidai.gov.in</ref> During his five-year tenure as CEO, Infosys' topline grew sixfold to $3 billion.

In 2017 he returned to Infosys after the exit of CEO Vishal Sikka to become a chairman. Upon his return he changed power centre from California back to its Bengaluru headquarters.<ref>Nandan Nilekani may announce a fresh strategy for Infosys</ref> Also, such people as R. Seshasayee (a chairman and board director), Ravi Venkatesan (a co-chairman), Sikka (executive vice chairman and director), and Jeffrey Lehman and John Etchemendy (directors) resigned from their posts.

Bureaucracy

Nilekani left Infosys in July 2009 to serve as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, a cabinet-ranking position that he entered under the invitation of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.<ref name=GT-DEX-2009-MP-X/><ref name=GT-DEX-2009-MP-XI/> As chair of the UIDAI he was responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card, or Unique Identity card (UID Card) project in India. This initiative aims to provide a unique identification number for all residents of India and will be used primarily as the basis for the efficient delivery of welfare services.<ref name="About UIDAI" /> The identification method will be biometric, and the drive to create this government database of the entire population of India has been called "the biggest social project on the planet."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

They developed Aadhaar, which is an Indian biometric ID system, a database, which contains demographic information, home addresses of Indians. In April 2017 1.14 billion Indian people got their ID number. In 2016, World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer called Aadhaar “the most sophisticated ID programme in the world.” This program is criticized for violating people's privacy and exposing personal information.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He is a member of the board of governors of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and the president of NCAER.<ref name="About UIDAI" /> He also sits on several advisory boards, including those of the World Economic Forum Foundation and the Bombay Heritage Fund.<ref name="World Economic Forum">Nandan M. Nilekani | World Economic Forum – Nandan M. Nilekani. Weforum.org. Retrieved on 13 December 2012.</ref>

Nilekani has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his book Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and spoke at a TED conference in 2009 on his ideas for India's future.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nandan Nilekani played a key role in the development of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI),<ref>https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/next-upi-infosys-co-founder-nandan-nilekani-says-this-new-tech-on-roofs-will-create-millions-of-entrepreneurs/articleshow/119642817.cms?from=mdr</ref><ref>https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/aadhar-creator-nandan-nilekani-predicts-indias-next-upi-style-revolution-8043719</ref><ref>https://www.npci.org.in/who-we-are/advisors/nandan-nilekani</ref> a system that revolutionized digital payments in India. He was instrumental in its creation while serving as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and also led a committee that developed a framework for digital payments. Nilekani envisions a future where the energy sector experiences a similar transformation, drawing parallels to UPI and calling it "the next UPI".

Politics

Nilekani joined Indian National Congress in March 2014 and contested from the Bangalore South constituency where he lost by 228,575 votes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> to BJP candidate Ananth Kumar in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.<ref name=toik>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2016, he joined a committee to investigate how people in India could use digital payments to a greater extent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

General election 2014

According to news reports, he was the richest candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with declared assets worth Rs 7,710 crore in his affidavit filed before the Election Commission.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Election box begin no change Template:Election box candidate with party link no change Template:Election box candidate with party link no change Template:Election box candidate with party link no change Template:Election box candidate with party link no change Template:Election box turnout no change Template:Election box hold with party link no change Template:Election box end

EkStep

Nilekani is chairman of EkStep, a non-profit literacy and numeracy platform.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Set up by the Nilekanis with an initial commitment of $10 million (about Rs 82 crore), EkStep looks at solving the 'learning problem' by creating a technology-led platform to help children in improving their 'learning outcomes' quite early in their life. EkStep intends to do it using gamified apps, hosted in the Google Play Store.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

NCAER

Nilekani is president of the governing body of the New Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (NCAER), India’s largest and oldest non-profit economic research think tank. NCAER, established in 1956, does grant-funded independent economic policy research and sponsored research studies for governments and industry. Its work covers almost all branches of economics, from economic forecasting to poverty analysis. NCAER is among a handful of think tanks globally that collect primary survey data on a scientific, national basis covering households, enterprises, consumers, and individuals. NCAER’s economic and social data sets are used widely for research and analysis on India.

Investments

Nilekani is also a serial investor and he has invested in technologoy startups including 10i Commerce, Juggernaut, Mubble Networks, Fortigo, P2SME, Railyatri, Axiom Consulting, Systemantics India, Sedemac Mechatronics, Disha Medical Services, Tracxn Technologies, and LetsVenture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Charity

In 2017 Nandan and wife Rohini decided to donate 50 percent of their wealth to Giving Pledge, which is a movement organized by Bill Gates. The reason why they joined this movement was as following: "We see inequality is increasing sharply in most countries. We see the young and the restless in this interconnected globe, unsure of their future, wanting more but anticipating less."<ref>Nandan Nilekani, wife Rohini to donate half of their wealth under Giving Pledge</ref>

He also donated money to rebuild the hostel campus of IIT Bombay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2008 he also set up the Indian Institute for Human Settlements to help to solve urban challenges for India.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Nilekani is married to Rohini Nilekani (née Soman), whom he met at a quizzing event at IIT.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have two children, Nihar and Janhavi, each of whom has received an undergraduate degree from Yale University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His first language is Konkani. In addition to Konkani, he speaks Kannada fluently along with English, Marathi, and Hindi. The Nilekani family has a 2.31 percent stake<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Infosys as per the quarter ended March 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours and awards

The President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting the Padma Bhushan Award – 2006 to Shri Nandan Mohan Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, in New Delhi on 20 March 2006

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Bibliography

References

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