Continuing with our series of bringing the stories of eminent personalities of Udaipur to the readers of UdaipurTimes, we bring the story of the entrepreneur, Late Mr. Piyush Singhal, who 35 years ago envisioned the “Make in India” dream and launched the first ever printer manufacturing company in Udaipur, Lipi Data Systems Ltd. and revolutionized the field of electronics.

The municipal corporation of Udaipur has announced that the stretch leading from the Madri Underpass to Road Number 2 would be named after Late Mr. Piyush Singhal, the founder of Lipi Data Systems Ltd, one of the top three Indian IT peripheral companies. The naming ceremony took place on 4 February 2023. Henceforth, the road would be known as “Piyush Singhal Marg”.

UdaipurTimes, on the occasion of the road-naming ceremony, met Sameer Singhal (son of Piyush Singhal and CMD of Lipi Data Systems) and Krishna Gopal Gupta (CEO of Lipi Data Systems) to learn more about this great personality.

Piyush Singhal was born in Agra in 1933 and was the 6th child in the family of 8 children. He did his schooling at Vidya Bhawan School, Udaipur. Piyush Singhal then went on to complete his LLB MA in Political Science from the University of Allahabad. He began his career by starting his own transport company, got married and settled down in Udaipur. He later joined his family business, which was started by his brother. When the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi brought the Information technology revolution in India, Piyush Singhal, in 1986, launched Udaipur’s first ever IT industry.

Charismatic Personality

Sameer spoke at length about his father’s charismatic personality. “We all lived together in the joint family. I always used to admire my father’s ability to communicate with people from all walks of life. He could interact with the blue collar factory workers with the same ease as with the top businessmen and bureaucrats. His good interpersonal skills coupled with an amazing sense of humor helped him get his work done at all levels. He had an air of authority around him. His personality commanded respect.”

Family Man

When Sameer was asked how Piyush Ji was as a father, he fondly recalled his childhood spent with his father and replied with a smile, “He was like all other fathers of that era, ‘Strict’. Although I was the youngest of the 5 siblings but was never the pampered one. All the children were brought up with the right values. We learnt from our parents to respect people and to value money.”

Visionary

Talking about Piyush Ji’s ambitions and vision regarding his company, Sameer replied, “He was an entrepreneur, LipiData was his third venture which he started in 1986. He always wanted to be in the manufacturing industry. “Make in India” was his primary vision. He started with manufacturing line printers and expanded to manufacturing Kiosk and ATM machines.

Integrity and Principles

KG Gupta, the CEO of Lipi who is known to be a close associate of Piyush Singhal, described him as a fascinating personality, who not only took keen interest in business but was also greatly inclined towards arts and culture.

Gupta reminisced that Piyush Ji considered and treated his employees as his family and always stood by them in adverse circumstances. According to Gupta, Piyush Ji always said, “I may not be able to make my employees millionaires but would never leave them hungry.” Each and every employee of his would take pride in saying that they got the chance to work with him.

Message to the Young Generation

“Put your head down and work, be in touch with reality, do not just assume things sitting in an air conditioned office. Go out in the field, get your hands dirty and face the challenges head on, fearlessly,” says Sameer Singhal, in his interaction with UdaipurTimes.