Jalaj Dani is an Indian businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the second generation of the Danny family, one of the founding families of Asian Paints Limited, India’s largest home-grown paint company. He served as the public face of Asian Paints for about two decades, during which time he was responsible for the company’s human resources, supply chain and chemicals portfolio. In 2017, he resigned from the leadership position of Asian Paints and became a co-founder of the company. He is the Chairman of Addverb Technologies and IIM Trichy and an independent director of HDFC and Havells.
Wiki/Biography
Jalaj Ashwin Dani is from Mumbai. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and advanced management courses at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, Paris.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′11″
Hair color: black (semi-bald)
Eye color: black
Jalaj Dani and his son Mudit Dani
family
He belongs to a Hindu Jain family. His grandfather came from Kapadvanj, a historic town in Kheda district of Gujarat.
Parents and siblings
His father Ashwin Dani (1944-2023) was the non-executive chairman of Asian Paints Limited. He died on September 28, 2023 after a brief illness.
Indian businessman Ashwin Suryakant Dani
His mother’s name was Ina Denney. She is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner and a loyal follower of yoga teacher BKS Iyengar. She taught yoga to pregnant women at the Iyengar Yoga Center, which the couple established in 1998 in their residential building, Home Villa. She also serves as the Managing Trustee of the Guruji Iyengar Yoga Research Foundation (LOYRT).
Ina Ashwin Danny
He has two brothers, Malav Dani and Hasit Dani, both of whom are non-executive directors on the board of Asian Paints.
Malav Dani, brother of Jalaj Dani
Hasit Dani, brother of Jalaj Dani
wife and children
His wife, Vita Dani, is a sports entrepreneur and philanthropist who runs the Dani Foundation. She is also the Chairman of 11evenSports. Apart from this, Vita co-owns Chennaiyin FC football club that plays in the Indian Football League along with actor Abhishek Bachchan and former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni. She is also the founder of the Professional Table Tennis League Extreme Table Tennis. They have two children, son Mudit is a professional table tennis player and daughter Smiti Dani is a business analyst at McKinsey & Company.
Jalaj Dani and wife Vita Dani
Jalaj Dani and Vita Dani’s children Mudit and Smiti Dani
Profession
Jalaj Ashwin started his career by joining Asian Paints Ltd. The company was founded by his grandfather Suryakant Dani along with his three friends Champaklal Choksey, Chimanlal Choksi and Arvind Vakil in February 1942 in Girgaon Gawadi, Mumbai. In June 1999, Jalaj resigned from the board of directors of Asian Paints and was reappointed as Vice President, International.
Jalaj Dani talks about how coaching transforms and harnesses people’s potential at an Isha Foundation event in 2017
In 2002, when Jalaj served as head of international operations, Asian Paints became a major global player in the decorative coatings industry when it acquired a controlling stake in Berger International Limited. Thereafter, Jarraj was appointed Chairman of Berger International. In April 2004, he became the International President of Asian Paints and subsequently oversaw a series of overseas acquisitions. He worked in this capacity for eight years. In April 2012, he was promoted to the company’s President of Human Resources, International and Chemicals. In June 2015, he became president of human resources, supply chain and chemicals. He resigned from the leadership role in 2017 after 18 years with Asian Paints. Thereafter, he became a co-founder of Asian Paints. In February 2018, he became a board member of Addverb Technologies Private Limited, India’s largest robotics company focused on warehouse automation and robotics. In September 2020, he became Chairman of Addverb Technologies.
Jalaj Dani attends the inauguration ceremony of Addverb Technologies’ world-class manufacturing facility “Bot-Valley” in 2021
In March 2018, he became Chairman of the Sport, Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure Skills Committee (SPEFL-SC). Apart from this, he is also an invited Chairman and Board Member of Fourth Frontier Technologies Private Limited, a startup that has developed the world’s first and only wearable smart heart monitor that provides high-quality continuous ECG and cardiac Healthy real-time feedback. Jalaj chaired the Paints and Coatings Industry Skills Council (PCSC) from its inception in 2015 until September 2017. He served as the President of the Indian Paints Association (IPA) from 2015 to 2017. Jalaj is actively involved in the activities of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and other business councils in various capacities. He is a trustee of Tribhuvandas Foundation, established by Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel, founding chairman of Kheda District Milk Producers Cooperative Union (now known as AMUL). In November 2018, he became chairman of the non-profit Sportscom industry federation. He is an investor in several startups such as Skillmatics ie, Grasper Global Pvt Ltd (in children’s educational products and games), Smart Express Pvt Ltd (logistics sector) and Surge Technologies (an India-based startup). United States (engaged in innovative technology fitness and sports equipment to help fitness enthusiasts improve the quality of their workouts).
Other important positions held by Jalaj Dani:
- Chairman, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management (Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu)
Jalaj Dani from IIM Trichy
- Independent Director on the Board of Directors of HDFC Limited and Havells India Limited
- Director, Reliance Foundation
- Member, Board of Directors, National Skill Development Authority (NSDA), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, India
- Member, Steering Committee of Pradhan Mantri Kaushalya Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), an agency under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, India
- Member, Fitness India Movement Advisory Committee
- Chairman, Sport, Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure Skills Committee (SPEFL-SC)
- Chairman of Sports Communications Industry Federation
- National Committee (CII) and Co-Chairman of the National Sports Commission (CII)
- Member of FICCI National Executive Committee
- Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (ISB) Next Generation Leadership Board (NGLB)
- Board Member, Piramal Foundation and Piramal Educational Leadership Foundation
- Vice President, Kapadwanj Kelavani Mandal, Gujarat
- Trustee, HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Center, Mumbai
- Member, Bombay First and Bombay Project Management Committee
- Member of Governing Body of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gujarat, Expert Academician
charity
The Dani family is known for its focus on constructive philanthropy – empowering people and communities through transformative action such as holistic learning, and promoting well-being such as physical literacy and sport. In the early 2010s, Jalaj and Vita Dani began working with an 80-year-old organization. – An old foundation called Kapadwanj Kelavani Mandal provides affordable education to the residents of Kapadvanj, the hometown of the Dani family. The foundation runs 13 educational institutions, many of which are named after Suryakant Dani. The couple later founded the Danny Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of creating a self-sufficient society. The foundation is associated with five organizations: Kapadwanj Kelavani Mandal, Annamrita Trust, ELMS Sports Foundation, Project Mumbai and Pratham. It also established the Sport for Transformation Fellowship, which allows sport professionals to work with teachers. Annamrita works towards implementing the government’s mid-day meal scheme in schools. Pratham works to improve the quality of education for underprivileged children. The Denny Foundation also supports the Mumbai Project. The Mumbai Project is a unique model of public-private partnership working on areas ranging from health to environment, governance to education, to improve the city of Mumbai. The Danny Foundation is the sponsor of the ELMS Sports Foundation, which focuses on strengthening sports, especially at the grassroots level, to help the country win medals in global sporting events.
Facts/Trivia
- Jarraj Dani’s wife, Vita Dani, is the niece of Indian businessman Dhirubhai Ambani. Her brothers Hital Meswani and Nikhil Meswani are board members of Reliance Industries.
- Jalaj was named a “Star of the Year 2000” – a potential leader of the new millennium – in 1998 by Business India magazine.
- As of 2022, he holds 16,00,200 paid-up equity shares of Asian Paints.
- As of September 28, 2023, Jalaj Dani’s father Ashwin Dani has a net worth of $7.8 billion. He was ranked 49th on Forbes India’s 2013 list of the 100 richest Indians with a net worth of $1.31 billion.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education