"It is indeed a privilege to be recognized outside one’s country, and in the presence of such highly acclaimed and respected individuals. I thank you all for bestowing this prestigious award that I feel honoured to receive."
Chandra was born in a village in Hisar district, Haryana in a "baniya" family. In 1965, he dropped out of 10th grade to join the family Business of commission agents and traders who procured and supplied rice to Food Corporation of India.
In the 1980s he started Manufacturing flexible packaging (mainly plastic tubes) for goods such as toothpaste under the name Essel Packaging. He followed up with a leisure park EsselWorld in north Mumbai, then known as Bombay.
Chandra launched India's first satellite TV channel, Zee TV, in 1992. The channel competes with, among others, Sony Entertainment Television and STAR Plus. His TV channels, numbering up to 70, including those in local language Hindi, reach 959 million people spread over 169 countries.
In 2005, in collaboration with Dainik Bhaskar group, Chandra launched an English daily, DNA, in Mumbai to challenge the well settled The Times of India newspaper. The competition was one of the biggest newspaper battles of Mumbai. Sustaining earlier losses, the newspaper eventually turned around.
The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time is an autobiography of Subhash Chandra. It was co-edited by Pranjal Sharma. The book was launched on 20 January 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi. The book was also officially unveiled at Zee Jaipur Literature Festival on 21 January 2016.
