CHENNAI: If you think 100 Dalit billionaires in 10 years is an impossible goal, have a rethink.
According to Milind Kamble, founder of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), India already has 87 lakh Dalit entrepreneurs, a bulk of whom are vendors to companies such as the Tata group and Hyundai. So his vision of “100 ‘rupee’ billionaires from the Dalit community in a span of 10 years,” doesn’t sound as far-fetched in context.
Speaking at a lecture series organised by the Chinmaya Academy of Management on Wednesday, the Padma Shri awardee said that there were already about five or six Dalit billionaires in the country, hailing from cities like Bengaluru, Coimbatore, and from the state of Kerala. Kamble spoke amidst a distinguished gathering of speakers including former HRD Minister of State Dr Sanjay Paswan, South Indian president of DICCI Ravi Kumar Narra and Swami Mitrananda of the Chinmaya Mission.