The meteoric rise of Gurdeep Singh aka Ponty Chadha is a rags-to-riches story. His father first set up a sugarcane crusher in Uttar Pradesh and then along with his sons built an empire believed to be worth over Rs.6,000 crore. Ponty and his younger brother Hardeep allegedly shot each other dead at a farmhouse in South Delhi on Saturday following a property dispute.
Ponty’s father Kulwant Singh Chadha migrated from Pakistan to Moradabad at the time of Partition. Initially into selling snacks, he gradually expanded the business and founded the Wave group of companies, which was integrated by his sons Ponty, Rajinder and Hardeep.
The group, through its website, reveals about its interests in malls and multiplexes in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab; real estate in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan; sugar, distilleries and power manufacturing in Punjab; paper manufacturing in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand; besides bottling plants in Punjab.
Ponty is said to have had links with several political parties, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. During the Mayawati regime in 2009, his group was awarded the sole distributorship of liquor in the State. It also took over several loss making corporation-run sugar mills. While in September the group bought the Delhi franchise of Hockey India League, Ponty’s Great Food Value firm bagged a three-year contract for anganwadi food supply in Uttar Pradesh earlier this month. The group had won a land auction last year for about Rs.6,500 crore for developing an integrated mixed-use project in Noida. Its master plan for a Rs.10,000-crore integrated township had also been approved by the authority. However, the matter later came up for hearing in the Supreme Court after 94 farmers challenged the allotment of land.
Ponty had also produced a movie in 2005.