Born in Roperkheda village in Maharashtra, Kalpana Saroj is a dalit Indian entrepreneur. Presently, she is the chief executive officer of Kamani Tubes Limited.
Kalpana got married at the age of 12. She used to live in a slum with her in-laws, before she left her husband to return to her village and live with her parents due to the physical abuse she was suffering at the hands of her in-laws. She also attempted a suicide after that. At 16, she moved to Mumbai to live with her uncle where she started working in a garment factory to help her family, financially. With the help of government loans, she successfully started a tailoring business and then, a furniture store.
Kalpana Saroj started a film-production house called KS Film Production and produced the first movie which was dubbed in English, Telugu and Hindi Languages. She, then, started a successful real estate business, and came to be known for her contacts and entrepreneurial skills. She was on the board of Kamani Tubes when it went into liquidation in 2001. She bought the distressed assets of the sick company and nursed it back to health. At present, according to her own estimates, she has personal assets worth $112 million. She has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Women Entrepreneurs.
This is a real life story of a lone woman fighter who rose up from the lowest strata of life, fighting all the adversities with courage, determination, hard-work and bravery.