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G. R. Gopinath

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Captain
G. R. Gopinath
G. R. Gopinath, left, 2010
Personal details
Born (1951-11-13) 13 November 1951 (age 73)[1]
Gorur, Mysore State At present Karnataka State. India
Alma mater
Known forFounder of Air Deccan
Military service
Allegiance India
Rank Captain
In this Indian name, the name Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Gopinath.

Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (born 13 November 1951)[2][3] is an Indian entrepreneur,[4] the founder of Air Deccan, a retired Captain of the Indian Army, an author and a politician.[1][5][6]

Early life

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Gopinath was born in Gorur, Hassan, in a Kannada family and was brought up in a small village in Gorur in the Hassan district of Karnataka State. Gopinath's father Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, a school teacher (not to be confused with Kannada Novelist Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar who is his mother's uncle), believed that schools were systems of regimentation and was resolved to teach Gopinath at home.[1]

However, Gopinath was admitted to a Kannada medium school quite late and straight away he joined Standard V. Gopinath didn't clear the military school entrance on the first attempt because he wasn't fluent in English. After his headmaster wrote to the defence ministry, Gopinath was allowed to write the exam in Kannada and he cleared the entrance on his second attempt.[7]

In 1962, after Gopinath cleared the admission test, he joined Sainik School, Bijapur. The school helped and prepared Gopinath to clear the NDA entrance exams. After 3 years of vigorous training, Gopinath completed education from the National Defence Academy, Pune. He then went on to graduate from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.[1]

Career

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After school, he earned a commission in the Indian Army. When he was graduating in 1971, his training was cut short when the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War broke out. He was 20 when he was first posted to Sikkim. He later rose to the rank of Captain. But he was not happy with waiting for a promotion in the army.[8]

He took early retirement from Indian Army, at the age of 28. Upon retirement from the armed forces, he established an ecologically sustainable sericulture farm; his innovative methods earned him the Rolex Laureate Award in 1996.[1] Next, he started the Malnad Mobikes (Enfield dealership) and opened a hotel in Hassan.[9]

In 1997 he co-founded Deccan Aviation, a charter helicopter service with his two friends, who were also in air force. In 2003, Gopinath founded Air Deccan, a low cost airline; Air Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines in 2007. In 2009 he founded Deccan 360, a freight flight business. In July 2013, Deccan 360 was ordered to wind up by the Karnataka High Court order based on petitions filed by Dubai-based United Aviation Services (UAS) and another by M/s Patel Integrated Logistics (PIL) Pvt. Ltd. – seeking recovery of amounts due to them by winding up the company.[10]

In May 2006, he was knighted with "Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur" the civilian award conferred by the French Government. He has received many awards for Air Deccan.[1]

In 2009, Gopinath contested as an independent candidate in Bangalore South constituency at the Lok Sabha elections but was defeated.

In 2014, he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party.[11]

Aviation career

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Deccan Aviation

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Gopinath moved to Bengaluru in 1992 where he bumped into Captain K.J. Samuel, who was his friend in the army. Samuel was a freelance pilot and was planning to set-up a commercial Helicopter service. In 1995, when the Indian government started a regulatory reforms process to encourage entrepreneurship, Gopinath partnered with Samuel and established Deccan Aviation.[1] Deccan's helicopters were chartered by most politicians and the company also got involved in many rescue missions in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kabul and South India. The Company grew to become one of the largest private air charter companies in India and Sri Lanka.[12]

Inspired by the success of Southwest Airlines in the United States and Ryanair in Europe, Deccan Aviation launched India's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan in 2003.[13] Deccan Aviation went public in May 2006,[14] however by then the airline was losing money.[15] The following year, the Vijay Mallya lead UB group purchased a strategic 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation.[16] At the time of purchase, Air Deccan connected sixty nine cities around India.[1] Mallya merged the two airlines soon after[17] and Capt. Gopinath sold most of his stake in the company in 2009.[18]

Deccan Charters

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During the merger process of Kingfisher with Air Deccan, the Charter services division of Deccan Aviation was transferred into a new company named Deccan Charters Limited after it received its Non-Scheduled Air Operator Permit (NSOP) from the DGCA on 10 October 2008. During that period, the Charter operations continued to perform satisfactorily and increased its presence in off shore flying for the oil sector.[19]

Gopinath used the money from the UB Group deal to start Deccan 360, a cargo airline, in May 2009. But that enterprise too was squeezed by a severe cash crunch and shut shop in 2011. The same year, Gopinath became the 100% owner of Deccan Charters by purchasing the stake Mallya held in the company as part of the 2007 deal.[20] The following year, Gopinath launched daily charter flights in the state of Gujarat under the brand name of Deccan Shuttles. The flights connected Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla using a nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft.[21] The service wound up in 2013. In April 2017, Deccan charters bid for and won 34 regional Indian routes under the UDAN scheme.[22] Operating under the brand name Air Deccan, it will commence operations in December 2017 with flights between Mumbai and Nashik.[needs update] Air Deccan will operate 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D turboprop aircraft that are suitable for short-haul flights. The airline has plans to connect Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shillong to regional towns in the vicinity of these cities. [23]

Awards and honors

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The 2020 Indian Tamil-language film Soorarai Pottru (or Udaan, in Hindi) was partly inspired by events from the life of Gopinath and is based on his memoir Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey.[28]

In 2024, Sarfira starring Akshay Kumar, based on the life of Gopinath was released.

Books by Gopinath

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  • Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey, Collins Business, 2010, ISBN 978-81-7223-842-1, 978-93-5029-155-9
  • "You Cannot Miss This Flight: Essays on Emerging India", HarperCollins, 2017, ISBN 9789352644797

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pathak, Nilima (8 April 2011). "Adopting a revolutionary approach". Gulf News. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  2. ^ "GR Gopinath: Latest News & Videos, Photos about GR Gopinath | The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. ^ The Unstoppable Indians: Capt. G R Gopinath, founder, Air Deccan (Aired: March 2009), 16 January 2014, archived from the original on 19 December 2021, retrieved 20 January 2020
  4. ^ Srikar Muthyala (29 September 2015). "The List of Great Entrepreneurs of India in 2015". MyBTechLife. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016.
  5. ^ Bengaluru, Sudha Narasimhachar (1 May 2012). "Adored by millions, Capt Gopinath is a man of many faces". The Weekend Leader. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Captain G R Gopinath: Founder of Air Deccan". Matpal.com. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  7. ^ "G. R. Gopinath: Jonathan Livingston Seagull". Forbes India. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ "G. R. Gopinath: Jonathan Livingston Seagull". Forbes India. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  9. ^ Simply Fly : A Deccan Odyssey. HarperCollins Publishers India. 9 May 2011. ISBN 978-93-5029-155-9.
  10. ^ "It's curtains for Deccan 360". The Hindu. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  11. ^ ET Bureau. "Captain Gopinath to fight LS elections – timesofindia-economictimes". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  12. ^ Dhar, Upinder (2008). New Age Marketing: Emerging Realities. New Delhi: Excel Books. p. 71.
  13. ^ "Air Deccan plans 'very low-cost' flights". Rediff.com. 2 July 2003. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Deccan Aviation IPO on 18 May, price band Rs. 150-175". Business Line. Chennai. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Speculation in the air as Deccan Aviation scrambles for new cash". Live Mint. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Vijay Mallya lands 26% stake in Deccan Aviation". Business Line. Chennai. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan decide to merge". Business Line. Chennai. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Gopinath reduces stake in Kingfisher to 1.75%". Live Mint. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  19. ^ "Director Report Kingfisher Airlines Ltd". ET Markets.com. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  20. ^ "GR Gopinath's Deccan Charters faces severe crisis; puts entire fleet of aircraft on sale". The Economic Times. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Deccan Shuttles to launch operations in Gujarat on Monday". Live Mint. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Captain Gopinath back in the game; Deccan Charter to fly on regional routes". Business Standard. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  23. ^ "Aviation pioneer GR Gopinath makes comeback with Air Deccan, to start disruptive Re 1 tickets". Business Today (India). 15 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  24. ^ Rolex awards for Enterprise Archived 2010-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Karnataka / Bangalore News : 127 persons get Rajyotsava Award". The Hindu. 30 October 2005. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  26. ^ a b "Captain Gopinath". Indian Heroes. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  27. ^ "14th President of India Ram Nath Kovind and Goa Governor P a Sreedharan Pillai grace the Third Convocation of ASBM University". 18 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Sudha Kongara invested 10 years for Soorarai Pottru: Suriya". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
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