Profile: Gali Janardhana Reddy

BANGALORE: Son of a police constable, Gali Janardhana Reddy grew up in a middle-class home, but with dreams of making it big. His first venture in 1989 was a financial firm, Ennoble India Pvt Ltd, which gave him the first taste of wealth.
The operational area was Karnataka, Andhra and TN. In 2000, Reddy bought Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), which had taken over several mining leases and reported a turnover of Rs 35 crore in 2-3 years.The 2002-03 mining boom changed his life and turned him into a mining baron. By March 2009, the turnover was over Rs 3,000 crore. Politically, Reddy shot to prominence during the 1999 Lok Sabha battle of Bellary between BJP's Sushma Swaraj and Sonia Gandhi. Despite Swaraj's defeat, this incident kickstarted his dream journey, both in politics and business. The Reddys captured Bellary, once a Congress stronghold.
B V Srinivasa Reddy
Brother-in-law of Janardhana Reddy, Sreenivasa Reddy is managing director of the family-owned OMC. The company, owned by firm holds iron ore mining leases in 134 hectares in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh and iron ore reserves in these leases are estimated to be around 100 million tonnes. The company is owned by the brothers G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy. Their confidante B Sriramulu and Reddy's wife G Lakshmi Aruna are partners. While the company operates in Andhra Pradesh, it is headquartered in Bellary. Sreeinvasa Reddy has been keeping a low-profile and ighting charges of illegal mining against the company.