Deepak Parekh: Lifetime Achievement

Deepak Parekh is a man with a mission. He may well be the man who has steered HDFC to the pinnacle of mortgage success in India and it becoming a conglomerate with presence in banking, asset management, life insurance, general insurance, real estate venture fund and education Loans. He along with his special team proved to be an effective crisis manager by prudently steering Satyam Computer Services — at the centre of the country’s largest-ever corporate crisis. About customer care, Deepak has a very interesting word – ‘affection’. This philosophy trickles all the way down to each of HDFC group employee dealing with a customer, the number of which stands at over 35 million today.

HDFC is the largest mortgage lender in India with 4.6 million middle-class families having availed housing loan. His commitment to serve India is apparent, as the group has desisted from opening any significant branch network abroad as ‘there is enough work to do in India’. The cornerstone of his philosophy is, if a company earns, it must also return to the society and companies owe a responsibility not just to shareholders but also to all its stakeholders. HDFC, under his guidance, supports several social initiatives in the areas of education, child welfare, medical, and welfare for the elderly and the differently abled among several others. Having built an institution, Deepak is humble, as he believes that during the first 25 years a person should learn, earn for the next 25 and return back to the society for the remaining years of his/her life.