His confidence filters through the eyes. Confidence that makes him look at you without blinking till he has made his point. But Surinder Kapur, chairman of The Sona Group, a $750-million industrial conglomerate, is frank enough to tell you it didn?t develop very easily. It was his stint at Michigan State University where he went to do his degree in engineering followed by a masters and a doctorate that changed him as a person. ?I don?t get intimidated by people. Because I was intimidated enough in America, I overcame it,? he says with a smile.

The journey began from Volga Restaurant of Delhi. Where his father, SP Kapur, called his six sons for a little chat to decide what they would do in future. The Kapurs ran a well-known jewellery house, Kapur Di Hatti, in Delhi. When it was Surinder?s turn, his father told him he should be an engineer. ?I had no clue what an engineer was. In those days, children didn?t challenge what the adults said.?

Kapur does remember wanting to be in the Navy. In fact, he had even cleared his NDA. ?I wanted to be an engineer in the Navy. We were in Delhi and I?d never been to the sea and sea seemed fascinating.? he chuckles. But a slap from his mother and his father?s decision of sending him to the US to pursue higher studies put an end to the Navy dream. Today he is happy that things turned out the way they did. ?I?ve never regretted it. I don?t know how life would have been.?

After he graduated, his father told him he shouldn?t waste the opportunity to study more. ?I?d come back on holidays, hoping to stay at home but was sent back and that?s how I did my BE, ME and then PhD, all from Michigan State University.?

In fact, it?s interesting that of all the six brothers, it?s only Surinder Kapur who studied as much as he did. He was good at sports but a mediocre student. But once he was in Michigan State University, there was no turning back. ?Those were tough days. It was never easy being a foreign student in America where you just lived off the money from home. So, like all Americans, you had to supplement that money by working.?

So Kapur did all kinds of work. ?I was a janitor, a sales person, a washing cleaner, and I worked in a factory in summers. We did our dishes at home.?

Also living in America, says Kapur, was a great experience. ?Americans were very hostile towards Asians at that time. So living there taught me to compete in that environment and I did exceedingly well academically. I also made some wonderful friends there, people who are still friends.?

When Kapur came back to India after his doctorate in 1972, he was a confident young man, ready to dream on. In fact, Kapur had been dreaming to make it big even as he was a child. ?I remember reading about the Tatas and the Birlas and wondering how marvellous it would feel to have so many people work under you. So, I guess that was the beginning of my dream. If I look into my past, this is what I remember.?

He returned to India during an exciting time. The ideas of change were there, so were a lot of controls. And in those days, Kapurs says, entrepreneurship was to get a licence. Kapur came back with the vision of starting his own business. ?I tried setting up a foundry, but the frustration of trying to get the licences was too big.?

A chat with his father-in-law Raunaq Singh of Apollo Tyres cleared things a little. His wife Rani?s family was setting up Bharat Gears and he agreed to work with them. It was an association of almost 16 years, one that Kapur remembers fondly. ?Raunaq Singh was a true entrepreneur. He was the most selfless man I ever met. I learnt how to work without looking for rewards. ?

Sona Group was formally set up in October 1987. ?And it?s been fun since then,? smiles Kapur. The name Sona, one would presume, comes from his background of jewellery business. It does, he agrees because he wanted a connection with his past but there is also a deeper meaning to the word. ?To me the word Sona means trust. Gold business is done on the basis of trust and honesty. I told people who joined the company that you can?t tell someone to blindly trust you. You have to build it. I gave them three beliefs. One, respect for the individual and keeping commitments; two, service to the customer because if you lose that, you are not on the right track and thirdly, belief in pursuit of excellence in whatever we do.?

The results, says Kapur, included the best customer, Maruti, at that time, best collaborator, Koyo Seiko, and the best people in the company. ?So, we began with these healthy mixes with these three beliefs firmly in place. We began with a great set of people. Four of them are still with the company and we call them true founders of the Sona group. All of us were excited about technology and our main focus was on building a leading technology company in India and that is what we have been trying to achieve since then.?

From a company manufacturing auto components for the Indian automotive industry, the group has grown into a multinational comprising Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd, Sona BLW Precision Forging Group, Mahindra Sona Ltd, Sona Somic Lemforder Components Ltd, Sona e-Design and Technologies Ltd, and Sona Mobility Services Ltd. Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd, the flagship company of the Sona Group is a joint venture with JTEKT of Japan. Not only it is the largest steering systems supplier, but also is the only one supplying electronic power steering systems in India.

Nimesh Kampani, chairman, JM Morgan Stanley, feels it?s Kapur?s quality of giving everything his best that sets him apart. ?I?ve known him for almost 35 years now and he has a way with people. For example, it?s not easy to work with Japanese people, but he has managed to have a wonderful relationship with them. He is exceptionally dedicated towards work, employees, social issues, environment and family.?

But Kapur is easily not the one to rest on his laurels. ?Believe me, I?m busier than I ever was,? he says.

The group has 4,000 people working globally. His challenge, says Kapur, is to create enough excitement and motivation in these people to reshape the Sona Group into an innovative company, ?I?m certain that all these 4,000 people have great ideas, so currently I?m in this process of ideation. Anyone can come and give his/ her ideas. And I want to put a group of us together to sit down and examine them and decide which ones we would like to support and fund.?

Entrepreneurship is something that Kapur is very bullish about. He recently sponsored the setting up of SP Kapur Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in partnership with MDI in the memory of his father. Today he might not be busy in day-to-day affairs of his company but fund raising issues and working on becoming a carbon neutral company keep him occupied. But whenever he gets time, he loves to rush to his grandchildren. ?I?m a very family oriented person. I?m constantly in touch with my son and two daughters. I?m closest to my wife. She often accompanies me to work trips and we try and squeeze half a day for shopping or meeting relatives.?

His only outdoor activity, he tells you, is to watch his son Sunjay play polo. In fact, it was his son?s love for polo that made the senior Kapur set up the Samaira Polo Cup in the name of his grand daughter, the daughter of Sunjay and daughter-in-law Karishma. The charity polo game helps raise funds for NGOs working with disadvantaged children.

DS Brar, chairman, GMK Biosolutions and former CEO of Ranbaxy, who has known Kapur for about 15 years says, ?He is warm, simple and socially responsible. He is not the one to show off how much he is doing. Over the years, he has become a true mentor to his family and employees. He lets people flourish.?

Kapur?s philosophy of relating to God and trying to have his life simple keeps him going, ?It?s not that work is a stress for me, but I?m a person who stays calm in most situations. I never get stressed about business. Sometimes when I feel the need, I just go to a temple or a Gurdwara. I don?t pray in my house because there you feel privileged, like you are the only one connecting to God. I may go to Bangla Sahib or Amritsar where I?m just one of the thousands who ask God for help. I?m just one of the few.?

Fact File

* Surinder Kapur was born in the family of jewellers Kapur Di Hatti.

* He did his BE, ME and PhD from Michigan State University.

* He set up The Sona Group in 1987 and today it is a $750-million industrial conglomerate.

* Sona Koyo is the recipient of the prestigious 2003 Deming Award and the TPM Excellence Award, 2008.

* The 64-year-old has been leading the CII missions on innovation in manufacturing since 2006.