Meet billionaire who studied engineering in Germany, then built Rs 131000 crore company in India, he is...

Many businessmen in India successfully expanded their family businesses. They went abroad for higher study and returned to join the family business. Many of them are now a billionaire. One such person is Vikram Lal, former CEO of Eicher Motors. Formerly called Eicher India, the company was founded by his father Mohan Lal. Eicher Motors has a market cap of Rs 131000 crore as of June 10. The company also makes the iconic Royal Enfield motorbikes.

According to Forbes, Vikram and his family have a real-time net worth of USD 8.3 billion (around Rs 69320 crore). Vikram, now 82, joined Eicher India in 1966. He pursued mechanical engineering at Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany.

His father founded a tractor shop called Goodearth in 1948 and went on to partner with German firm Eicher to make tractors. The company eventually branched out into light commercial vehicles in 1986, and then into heavy vehicles. His son Siddhartha Lal is now CEO of Eicher Motors. His wife Anita founded Good Earth, a chain of luxury home and apparel stores, now run by his daughter Simran. Eicher has a joint venture with Sweden's Volvo to make trucks and buses.

Besides the automotive industry, Vikram Lal is known for his philanthropic endeavours. He founded the Goodearth Education Foundation in 1996, advocating for children’s health and education.

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