‘Whatever the odds: The incredible story behind DLF? is a first-hand account of DLF?s octogenarian chairman KP Singh?s journey ? from a small town in Uttar Pradesh to England, where he became a part of high society, to an army career and finally to the top position at DLF.
The book also throws light on Singh?s life as battlehardened army officer who, through sheer grit and perseverance, made it to the top of a fiercely competitive world.
Singh?s long time friend and ex-chairman of GE, Jack Welch, said it was a wonderful read. ??I enjoyed every page of it,?? he added. Coming from the author of best-selling management books, that was high praise.
Recollecting his friendship with Singh, Welch said it was the DLF chairman and his wife Indira who convinced him to invest in India, even when the world outside considered the country as a closed economy. ??He introduced me to three key people of India ? Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia,?? said Welch. But he did not name the third person.
Releasing the autobiography, Welch described Singh as ??India?s best representative to the global world??.
Singh, impeccably dressed for the occasion and thronged by politicians and business bigwigs alike, recalled the long hours he had spent in the mid-day sun convincing hundreds of farmers with minuscule and barren holdings in Gurgaon to sell their land in the interest of their economic well-being.
After getting frustrated with the country?s urban development policy, he had almost sold his entire stake in DLF for a paltry sum of R26 lakh in 1975. ??It was January 1975. I picked up my pen to sign a share transfer form. I was about to sell all my shares in DLF. On the desk before me was a cheque in my favour for R26 lakh, being the approximate book value of the shares. It was the amount I would get for severing my links with DLF forever,?? he wrote in the book. At present, the market value of his and his family’s holding in DLF is around
R 30,000 crore.
