Latest news with #Micromax
India.com
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Meet Rahul Sharma, husband of Asin, started with Rs 20 crore built business of Rs 120000000000, his company is…
Actor Asin's husband, Rahul Sharma was a big figure in the mobile phone industry in India. He was the co-founders of Micromax and once a competitor of Nokia and Samsung. Micromax became one of the biggest players in the mobile industry. But Rahul faced a huge competition from various Chinese mobile companies who were selling their cell phones at a much cheaper rate. Rahul participated in Nikhil Kamath's podcast and shared from where he got an idea to make mobile phones. It came to him while travelling in remote areas of India. He noticed that the entire village had to pay huge amounts to one vendor to charge their phones. So he thought of making a phone with long lasting battery life. He worked on the GSM technology. He had to fight a lot with his co-founders to convince them about manufacturing of mobile phones in India. He decided to make only 10000 phones initially so his founders agreed to give him Rs 20 crores. This is how the first Micromax phone was made. But they couldn't find distributors for the same. He narrated, '''We went back to our fixed wireless guys, and asked if they'd be willing to distribute it. We left some of our inventory with them, and within 10 days, they were sold out. Repeat orders started coming in, and things became crazy.' Rahul added that at its peak, Micromax was making more than Rs 12,000 crore. They were in talks with Alibaba for Rs 6,700 crore funding but didn't raise it because they had so good operating income. Rahul said that they regretted this decision later. His company is earning more money now than Micromax used to get. Rahul and Asin married in 2016, after being introduced by Akshay Kumar.
Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Asin's husband Rahul Sharma recalls starting Micromax with Rs 20 crore, turning it into Rs 12,000 crore company before going bust: ‘Things became crazy'
Former actor Asin's husband, Rahul Sharma, is considered a pioneer of the mobile phone industry in India. As one of the co-founders of Micromax, he successfully challenged international brands such as Nokia and Samsung, at least for a while. Not too long after Micromax became one of the biggest players in the industry, incoming competition from Chinese brands brought the company to its knees. Rahul pivoted, and is now in the manufacturing business. In a recent appearance on Nikhil Kamath's podcast, he recalled the origins of his company, and said that the idea to make mobile phones came to him while he was travelling in remote areas of India. He discovered that entire villages would pay exorbitant amounts of money to one vendor just to charge their phones. Rahul said that he decided to make a phone with long battery life. He said, 'I sat with the guys, worked on the GSM technology, and said, 'Why don't we make a mobile phone?' The first reaction internally was, 'Are you crazy? Who's going to fight these Nokias and Samsungs and Motorolas? We are doing so well, you are driving a BMW 3 Series, why do you want to disturb the apple cart?' I said, 'No, the food is being cooked in different countries, we need an Indian flavour'.' Also read – Asin's husband Rahul Sharma turned down more than Rs 6,500 crore funding, says it could've saved Mircromax from downfall He continued, 'I fought a lot with my co-founders internally, and they said, 'Okay, we'll make 10,000. If it works, it's fine, otherwise our business is doing well.' They gave me around Rs 20 crore. We decided to make a phone with long battery life, because of all these experiences. That's how the first Micromax phone came, and the tagline was, 'Mobile ka baap'. The standby time was 30 days… We made a phone, and then went to the distributors. The real problem started from there.' Rahul said that he couldn't find a distributor for his product, and was sitting on an inventory of 10,000 phones. 'Even the Delhi distributor of Nokia was bigger than us,' he said, adding, 'We went back to our fixed wireless guys, and asked if they'd be willing to distribute it. We left some of our inventory with them, and within 10 days, they were sold out. Repeat orders started coming in, and things became crazy.' In the same interview, Rahul said that at its peak, Micromax was doing a turnover of more than Rs 12,000 crore. Because they had so much operating income, they decided against raising investment even though they were in talks with Alibaba for Rs 6,700 crore. Rahul said that he regrets the decision, because taking the money would have given him ammunition in a battle with Chinese competitors. But, things worked out for him. He said that his company is making more money now than Micromax did back in the day. Rahul and Asin tied the knot in 2016, after being introduced to each other by Akshay Kumar.
India.com
13-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Meet owner of Micromax, who faced Rs 12000 crore fall, now built Rs 6,200 crore company, married to actress Asin, his name is...
Meet owner of Micromax, who faced Rs 12000 crore fall, now built Rs 6,200 crore company, married to actress Asin, his name is… Success Story: Rahul Sharma is a tech genius and an entrepreneur who dethroned Samsung in smartphone war in India. His life is like a rollercoaster ride, from building a billion-dollar business with Rs 3 lakh loan to turning down Rs 6,700 crore funding. In the early 2000s, Rahul Sharma founded Micromax Informatics with his friends Rajesh Aggarwal, Vikas Jain, and Sumeet Arora. In 2008, things changed when they launched their mobile phone, starting the era of budget-friendly mobiles in India. In 2014, Micromax actually shaken the budget-friendly phone market, decreasing Samsung's sales in India. Sharma didn't stop at India. He launched the brand in Russia, becoming the first Indian company to export phones in the country like Russia. Micromax Crashed, But He Didn't: How Asin's Husband Rahul Sharma Rebooted His Fortune with a Rs 6,200 Crore Manufacturing Empire When Engineer Meets Entrepreneur Rahul Sharma was born on September 14,1975. He completed his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University and a degree from Saskatchewan in Canada. How Akshay Kumar Played Cupid During the shoot of Houseful 2 in 2012, Akshay Kumar, who was Asin's co-star introduced her to Sharma. Their bonding blossomed and in 2016, the duo tied knot in a private ceremony. Akshay was the best man in the wedding. Rahul Sharma's Net Worth Rahul Sharma's net worth is estimated at Rs 1,300 crore. He owns several luxury cars such as a Bentley Supersport Limited Edition, BMW X6, Mercedes GL450, and a Rolls-Royce Ghost Series 2. He also owns a luxury farmhouse in the national capital. The Fall Of Micromax From 2010 to 2015, Micromax dominated the mobile market. There was a time when the company held a 50 percent market share. But when Chinese brands entered with cheap prices they cornered exclusive deals with suppliers. One Pivotal Moment In 2014, Sharma rejected USD 800 million funding from Alibaba. This decision was later regretted by him The Silent Comeback In 2017, Sharma launched Revolt Intellicorp – India's first AI-enabled electric bike. That not all, he silently repurposed Micromax's factories and built a manufacturing business. Today, his company Bhagwati Products Ltd (BPL) has a turnover of Rs 6,200 crore.
Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Asin's husband Rahul Sharma reveals how Micromax went from Rs 12,000 crore to bust in five years: ‘Bouncer after bouncer, clean-bowled by full-toss'
Former actor Asin's husband, Rahul Sharma, co-founded one of the biggest players in the mobile phone arena, Micromax. But after a few years during which it dominated the Indian market and took on international brands, it was forced to perform a major pivot. Chinese brands emerged, and the supply chain turned towards them. In several interviews, Rahul has spoken about Micromax's downfall, which was highly publicised because of how huge the company had become. It was during this period of growth that he married Asin, who backed away from the film industry immediately afterwards. Appearing on Raj Shamani's podcast this year, Rahul said that at its peak, Micromax was among the 10 biggest mobile phone companies in the world. It had successfully fended off competition from the likes of Nokia and Samsung in India, and was delivering a turnover of between Rs 12,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore. But things began turning around shortly afterwards. 'Bouncer pe bouncer pad raha tha, uss time full-toss pe bhi bowled ho rahe they,' he said. Also read – Asin's husband Rahul Sharma recalls Akshay Kumar playing matchmaker for them: 'He said the girl is very simple, down to earth…' He said, 'What happened with Micromax didn't happen only with Micromax; it was a global phenomenon. There was a lot of brands globally at the time, but people spoke about us because we were the biggest. The supply chain started shifting, and when the supply chain started shifting…' Rahul said that his company's differentiator was innovation, and they weren't allowed to innovate because Chinese manufacturers entered into exclusive deals with emerging Chinese brands. 'Imagine if today, I want to make a triple-screen phone. I can't, because I don't have the components. Which means I no longer have the edge. We tried for two years, but after a point, we decided that there is no point in burning more money… You can keep burning if there is success at the end of the tunnel, but when the opponent has an endless supply of resources, it makes no sense.' In an appearance on Nikhil Kamath's podcast, Rahul said that they turned down funding of $800 million from Alibaba in 2014, which, in hindsight, was possibly a mistake. 'We thought that if we'd taken care of the Finnish and the Koreans at that time, we could take care of the Chinese too… That was a different game, because when the Chinese came, they came with so much gunpowder,' he said. Rahul has now pivoted to the manufacturing business, and is making more money now than he ever did before. 'Today, our revenue is way bigger than what we used to do in our brand. Most people would probably not know. But we are doing way better than what we used to do earlier,' he told Nikhil Kamath.
News18
09-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Asin's Husband Says He's Earning More Post-Micromax Downfall: ‘People Wouldn't Know'
Last Updated: Once the face of Micromax and India's mobile revolution, Rahul Sharma — husband of former actor Asin — has bounced back from the brand's downfall. Once hailed as the face of India's mobile revolution, Rahul Sharma — co-founder of Micromax and husband of former actor Asin — has resurfaced with a candid reflection on his rollercoaster journey through the tech business. While Micromax once ruled the Indian mobile phone market, its swift decline amid aggressive competition from Chinese brands marked a turning point in Rahul's career. Now, he says, the tables have turned again — quietly and profitably. In a recent appearance on Nikhil Kamath's podcast, Rahul opened up about the meteoric rise and fall of Micromax, and how he's now making more money than ever through his new ventures — even if few people know about it. Reflecting on the brand's early success, he recalled the rapid growth of Micromax, once a household name in India's mobile space. But the influx of Chinese players and a missed funding opportunity in 2014 — when the company turned down an Rs 6,700 crore (USD $800 million) investment — left Micromax vulnerable. 'The business was throwing so much cash, we said, 'We don't need the money'," Rahul said, expressing regret over the decision in hindsight. The COVID-19 pandemic delivered the final blow, he admitted. 'Before the pandemic, we had 50% market share. Indian brands were completely decimated," he noted. In 2020, Rahul made the tough call: 'We said, 'No more' as a brand." But that wasn't the end of his journey. Instead of pivoting to real estate or unrelated industries, Rahul chose to stay true to his roots — tech and manufacturing. 'The factories we'd created for Micromax were already there. Why don't we build on that and start manufacturing for others?" he explained. What started as a survival strategy has now blossomed into a flourishing business under Bhagwati Products Ltd (BPL), which he leads. Today, Rahul owns and operates five manufacturing units, up from just two during the Micromax days. He proudly shared, 'Our revenue is way bigger than what we used to do with Micromax. Most people wouldn't know this, but we're doing way better now." In a Business World report earlier this year, BPL was revealed to have secured major foreign funding, resulting in a tenfold increase in revenue. The company's turnover has reportedly reached Rs 6,200 crore, positioning it as a major player in India's electronics manufacturing sector. Asked if he feels stronger the second time around, Rahul admitted that his appetite for risk has changed. 'I recently had to remind myself to stick to the basics," he said. The hard-earned wisdom from Micromax's fall has clearly shaped his second act — quieter, perhaps, but far more sustainable. Rahul Sharma and Asin married in 2016, after being introduced by Akshay Kumar. While Asin stepped away from the limelight, Rahul quietly rebuilt behind the scenes — a comeback story not everyone saw coming. First Published:
