Madhusudan Kela earned a formidable reputation as a stock-picker and built Reliance into India’s biggest mutual fund. And then he had a rethink
On a warm Delhi evening in 2006, star fund manager Madhusudan Kela and his trusted lieutenant Sunil Singhania were at a dinner with the promoter of food processing company REI Agro. The firebrand duo from Reliance Mutual Fund was considering an investment in the up and coming firm. The company had also arranged their visit to the factory the following morning. But as the dinner progressed and the chat kept coming back to REI Agro’s future plans, Kela became more and more excited. He asked the promoter if they could visit the plant immediately after dinner instead of the next day. Taken aback, the entrepreneur nevertheless said yes. So it was around midnight that Reliance Mutual Fund decided to make one of its most daring bets.
(This story appears in the 11 February, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)