Lord Paul’s Caparo Group aims to be the biggest automotive technology company in India. It’s well on the way.
In its latest deal, Caparo has been given the job of pressing the panels and manufacturing the body structures for Tata’s value-for-money small car, the Nano, which will sell for around £1,000.
Caparo will supply Tata from a brand new facility in Singur, India, which is next to Tata’s factory.
Caparo is also working with Jaguar and Land Rover on a low carbon vehicle and with Aston Martin on a brake upgrade for the DB9. In addition Caparo India has sealed a deal with Hyundai to build luxury buses.
Caparo’s success, and Lord Paul’s wealth, have come through the meteoric rise of the Indian and Chinese economies and their insatiable demand for raw materials.
The Marylebone’s Black Country-based Caparo Group was founded by Indian-born Lord Paul, and is valued at around £1.4 billion.
Steel, automotive, engineering and property group Caparo has its major regional office in Oldbury and a technology division on Wolverhampton Science Park.
It has other Midland facilities in West Bromwich, Stourbridge and Warwick. It continues to expand worldwide from more than 60 sites in Europe, Asia and North America, with India the main focus of its growth.
Caparo – whose chief executive is Lord Paul’s son Angad, is also in the excitement business, having produced the Caparo T1 high performance two seater track or road sports car.
The T1 was one of the stars at the Suto Expo show in Delhi and has also smashed the track record at the Dubai Autodrome.
In addition one of Lord Paul’s sons, Ambar, heads the family’s fast growing Contemporary Hotels chain.
It continues to be a busy time for 78-year-old Lord Paul. He is chairman of the Olympic Delivery Committee tasked with initiating measures to acquire land and provide infrastructure for the event, as well as being Chancellor of two universities – Wolverhampton and Westminster.
In the House of Lords he is a vocal champion of the economic importance of universities and the contribution made by the higher educational institutions to the country’s prosperity. He has championed a far-reaching high-tech collaboration between Caparo and Wolverhampton University.
He founded the Ambika Paul Charitable Foundation, named after his late daughter, which has donated many millions to good causes, including a £1 million donation to London Zoo – one of his daughter’s favourite places – to prevent it from closing.
Despite his millions, Lord Paul is a strict vegetarian who lives by simple Hindu principles and encourages his employees to put integrity and respect at the top of their values.
