IPL Rising Pune Supergiants Owner: All you need to know about Mr. Sanjiv Goenka

Rising Pune Supergiants, being one of the new franchises this year got off to a wobbly start. They won their first game comfortably but struggled in the later games. Rising Pune Supergiants along with Gujarat Lions replaced Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, for these teams are suspended from IPL for two years. Sanjiv Goenka, the Chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group owns this franchise. Technically, New Rising owns RPS. New Rising is an independent company under Sanjiv Goenka. So let’s find out more about the people behind the scenes.

It all started with his father, Rama Prasad Goenka. He founded the RPG group. R.P. Goenka was known as the takeover king for he was responsible for the accusations of some big companies such as CEAT tyres, Dunlop India, KEC International, and CESC. R.P. Goenka then divided his business empire amongst his two sons, Sanjiv and Harsh. Thus, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group came into existence.

Sanjiv Goenka is the younger son of Rama Prasad Goenka. Goenka grew up in Kolkata. He is a proud alumnus of St. Xavier’s College.

Sanjiv Goenka is the Chairman of CESC Limited. Several other top companies such as Spencer’s Retail, Saregama Limited, Philips Carbon Black Limited also fall under his arm. RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group is currently valued at Rs. 3,200 crores.

Mr Goenka has been largely successful in his business ventures. Spencer’s is a forerunner in retailing. Philips Carbon Black Limited is the second-fastest growing carbon black company in the world and is India’s largest carbon black company.

We all are familiar with Saregama India Limited. It owns over half of all the music that is recorded in the country.

Apart from RP-SG, Goenka is currently behind the Asia Institute of Power Management (AIPM). He is also the Chairman of International Management Institute of Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. Not only that, he was also the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Sanjiv Goenka has always shown a keen interest in investing in sports. He is also the co-owner of ISL football club, Atletico de Kolkata. Sanjiv Goenka said, "Football is one, cricket is another and there will be others as we go along. I am examining other options and possibilities."

Goenka had also bid for Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the past. That did not materialise, though. He finally enters IPL with RPS. Rising Pune Supergiants is in line with his company’s brand – RP-SG. Even Pune’s kit sports similar colours of the brand.

“Yes, we do recognise that it is a finite window of two years. But we believe it will create value for us, it will be a great branding opportunity for different brands within the group that includes Spencer’s and Saregama. And we believe that Pune makes commercial sense." Mr Goenka clarified.

Looking closer at Rising Pune Supergiants, they have some big names in their team such as MS. Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Peterson, and Steve Smith. Do not forget Ashwin, M. Ashwin, Rahane, and Ishant Sharma. These players can turn out to be match winners. RPS is one of the favourites to win IPL 2016 despite the poor start.

Goenka also said, "We'll be more aggressive in the sports vertical in the coming days." This is great news for all the sports enthusiasts in the country.