Onkar Kanwar

Onkar Kanwar is the eldest son of Raunaq Singh (1922-2002), the co-founder of Apollo Tyres, and his first wife.{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/HLL-chief-calls-for-character-among-business-leaders/articleshow/23701289.cms |title=HLL chief calls for character among business leaders |website=Timesofindia.indiatimes.com |date=2002-09-30 |access-date=2017-01-25}}{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/md-of-apollo-tyres-raunaq-singh-and-son-onkar-singh-kanwar-feud-over-the-group-flagship/1/302877.html |title=MD of Apollo Tyres Raunaq Singh and son Onkar Kanwar feud over Apollo Tyres' flagship |website=Indiatoday.intoday.in |date=1993-09-15 |access-date=2017-01-25}}

After his undergraduate degree in business administration and industrial engineering, Onkar worked as a salesman in Riverside, California working on estimates for different government contracts for about six months. He then worked for Abbey Etna Machine Company in Perrysburg, Ohio on the shop floor. The president of Etna Company after discussions with the Kanwar family and looking at the perseverance of Onkar invested money to start a new pipe factory in India.{{Cite book|title=The man behind the wheel: how Onkar Kanwar created a global giant|last=Bouquet|first=Tim|year=2016|publisher=Maven/Rupa |isbn=978-81-291-4500-0}}.....

Kanwar has grown Apollo Tyres from a small single-plant Indian company into a multinational with seven plants worldwide, and annual revenues in excess of US$ 3 billion.{{cite web|title="The Man Behind The Wheel", Onkar Kanwar launches his biography - InTabloid.com|url=https://intabloid.com/news/the-man-behind-the-wheel-onkar-s-kanwar-launches-his-biography/010985|website=InTabloid.com|date=17 December 2016}} In June 2013, it was reported that Apollo Tyres would buy US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company for about $2.5 billion in a deal that would make it the world's seventh-largest tyre maker,{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2013/06/12/the-quiet-rise-of-onkar-kanwar-the-new-owner-of-cooper-tires/#42aa8d8541a0 |title=The Quiet Rise Of Onkar Kanwar, The New Owner Of Cooper Tires |newspaper=Forbes |date=2013-06-13 |access-date=2016-04-07}} but the takeover collapsed after legal battles.{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/Companies/p59PSAMFw1o0ak3hXJDsxH/Apollo-Tyres-Neeraj-Kanwar-goes-back-to-the-drawing-board.html |title=Apollo Tyres' Neeraj Kanwar goes back to the drawing board |publisher=Livemint |date=2014-03-03 |access-date=2016-04-07}}

Kanwar also owns speciality hospitals under the Artemis brand in northern India.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/onkar-kanwar/ |title=Onkar Kanwar |work=Forbes |access-date=2016-04-07}}

Kanwar was the president of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry for 2004-05.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/12/29/stories/2004122902220300.htm|title=The Hindu Business Line : Onkar Kanwar takes over as FICCI President|last=ndkrs|website=www.thehindubusinessline.com|access-date=2018-03-05}} He is the chairman of the BRICS Business Council, India which was established during the Fifth BRICS Summit held in March 2013 in Durban, South Africa.{{Cite news|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/need-to-double-level-of-intra-brics-trade-onkar-s-kanwar/556304/|title=Need to double level of intra-BRICS trade: Onkar Kanwar|date=2017-02-18|work=The Financial Express|access-date=2018-03-05|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/817619/brics-may-not-replace-the-old-world-order-but-it-could-still-make-a-difference|title=BRICS may not replace the old world order – but it could still make a difference|last=Sarkar|first=Urvashi|work=Scroll.in|access-date=2018-03-05|language=en-US}}

Kanwar is the recipient of an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for India, in the manufacturing category in 2012.{{Cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/adi-godrej-is-e-y-entrepreneur-of-the-year-113022100652_1.html|title=Adi Godrej is E&Y Entrepreneur of the year|last=Reporter|first=B. S.|date=2013-02-22|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2018-03-05}} In October 2018, Kanwar was awarded ‘Order of Merit’ of Hungary, in recognition of his work towards strengthening Hungarian-Indian economic relations through the company’s investment in Hungary, thereby helping create new jobs in Hungary {{Cite web |title=Onkar S Kanwar awarded with 'Order of Merit' of Hungary |url=https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/onkar-s-kanwar-awarded-with-order-of-merit-of-hungary/66431729 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The Economic Times |language=en}} In November 2018, Kanwar was conferred with Japanese honour 'Order of the Rising Sun', Gold and Silver Star. The honor, awarded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the presence of Emperor Akihito, was in honor of Kanwar’s contributions towards strengthening the economic relations between Japan and India and for promoting Japanese companies’ entry into the Indian market.{{Cite news |date=2018-11-28 |title=Apollo Tyres chairman Onkar S Kanwar conferred with Japanese honour 'Order of the Rising Sun' |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/apollo-tyres-chairman-onkar-s-kanwar-conferred-with-japanese-honour-order-of-the-rising-sun/articleshow/66837490.cms |access-date=2025-04-16 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}

Kanwar is married, has three children, and lives in Delhi. His eldest child is his daughter Shalini who lives in Singapore. His elder son Raaja Kanwar, Chairman and Managing Director of Apollo International Limited and Apollo Supply Chain, leads a global conglomerate with diverse businesses in EPC, logistics, automotive components, retail and lifestyle industry and his younger son Neeraj Kanwar is vice-chairman and managing director of Apollo Tyres.

• File:JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 2Class BAR.svg Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star (2018)

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Category:1942 births

Category:Businesspeople from Delhi

Category:People from Sialkot

Category:Indian billionaires

Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class

Category:People named in the Panama Papers

Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)

Category:Living people