Ashok Khade

{{Short description|Indian entrepreneur}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Ashok Khade

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = c. 1955

| birth_place = Ped, Sangli district, Maharashtra, India

| nationality = Indian

| education = Diploma in Mechanical Engineering

| occupation = Entrepreneur

| known_for = Co-founder and Managing Director of DAS Offshore

}}

Ashok Khade (born {{Circa|1955}}) is an Indian entrepreneur and the managing director of DAS Offshore Engineering Private Limited, a company that provides services to the offshore oil and gas industry. He is noted for rising from a background of poverty as a member of a Dalit family to establish a major engineering firm.{{cite web |last=Polgreen |first=Lydia |date=2011-12-22 |title=India's Boom Creates Openings for Untouchables |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/world/asia/indias-boom-creates-openings-for-untouchables.html |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=2024-01-04 |title=From 'Untouchable' To CEO, Businesses Break Down Caste Barriers In India |url=https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/from-untouchable-to-ceo-businesses-break-down-caste-barriers-in-india/ |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Worldcrunch |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last=Lakshmi |first=Rama |date=April 14, 2011 |title=New millionaires hope to serve as role models for India's lower castes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/new-millionaires-emerge-as-role-models-for-indias-lower-castes/2011/04/03/AFesUMfD_story.html |access-date=July 1, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} He was featured in Milind Khandekar's book "Dalit Millionaires: 15 Inspiring Stories."{{Cite news |date=2014-01-20 |title=Inspiring accounts of Dalits who became millionaires (Book Review) |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/inspiring-accounts-of-dalits-who-became-millionaires-book-review-114012000158_1.html |access-date=2020-06-07 |work=Business Standard India |agency=IANS}}{{sfn|Khandekar|2013|p=20}}

Early life and education

Ashok Khade was born into a Chamar (Dalit) family in Ped, a village in the Sangli district of Maharashtra. He was one of the six children of the family. His father worked as a cobbler in Mumbai.{{sfn|Khandekar|2013|p=20}} Khade studied at a school run by a charity in the nearby town. After finishing his local schooling, Khade moved to Mumbai, where he started working as an apprentice draftsman at the Mazagon Dock. He has a diploma in Mechanical Engineering.{{Cite news |last=NADIG |first=KRUTTIKA |date=2011-07-26 |title=Ashok Khade: Man who built most sought-after offshore fabrication company DAS Offshore |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ashok-khade-man-who-built-most-sought-after-offshore-fabrication-company-das-offshore/articleshow/9305952.cms |access-date=2025-07-01 |work=The Economic Times}}

Career

Khade began his career in 1975 at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, where he worked for over 15 years, eventually rising to an executive position in the quality control department. In the 1980s, he was part of a team sent on a multi-year work assignment to West Germany for a submarine project. This experience with international management and technology influenced his decision to become an entrepreneur.

In 1993, Khade co-founded DAS Offshore Engineering with his brothers, Datta and Suresh. The company provides fabrication services for the offshore oil and gas industry. It secured contracts with major clients, including the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Larsen & Toubro, for projects such as constructing offshore platforms, jackets, and subsea pipelines. By 2011, the company's annual turnover was reported to be over {{Currency|32m}} and employed over 4,500 people.

References

{{reflist}}

= Books =

  • {{cite book |last=Khandekar |first=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2ZBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 |title=Dalit Millionaires: 15 Inspiring Stories |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |year=2013 |isbn=978-93-5118-583-3 |publication-date=December 15, 2013 |language=en |access-date=July 4, 2025}}

Category:Living people

Category:Indian businesspeople

Category:People from Sangli district

Category:Indian chief executives

Category:21st-century Indian businesspeople

Category:Businesspeople from Maharashtra

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khade, Ashok}}

Category:1955 births