Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra and The Rise of Berger Paints

by Sonu Bhasin

How do you go from being a shopkeeper to multi-billionaire in forty years?

Kuldip Singh Dhingra, the patriarch of the Dhingra family and the man credited with building Berger Paints, has remained a mystery. He is low-profile, eschews media and continues to operate from a small office in Delhi. In this candid and captivating biography Kuldip reveals his story for the first time.

Kuldip lost his father to an accident early in his life. He and his brothers, Sohan and Gurbachan, started as shopkeepers in Amritsar. From an annual turnover of Rs. 10 lakh in 1970, the Dhingras have built a business with an annual turnover of over Rs. 7,500 crore today. They are among the top thirty richest families in India with a net worth of over $ 4.5 billion.

This never-before-told story of Kuldip moves from Amritsar to Europe to Delhi where he became the largest exporter to the Soviet Union in the 1980s. In 1990 the Dhingras bought Berger.

From dealing with KGB to negotiating with the flamboyant Vijay Mallya; from being pushed to sell arms to challenging big businesses-Unstoppable narrates what a man can achieve if he pursues his dreams relentlessly.

Genres: Biography, India, Business, Buisness, Startup

336 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2019

Reviews

[Charu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story is great, lessons are not

Bollywood movie like story. But real management or business knowledge was less. How Dhingra managed Berger is barely 1% of the content. I enjoyed the story but it is like any other fiction rather than really a business book. Or is not a business book but i was expecting a lot more about Berger than just family life of Dhingra.

[Vikas Kasturi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a business book that would teach me something. To that extent, this book was a let down because it focused too much on the man (Kuldeep Singh Dhingra) and less on his business. Too many stories of his family end up distracting the main theme- how he built the business, some insights on how he thought of growth, how he managed capital etc.

[Abhishek Gadgil · Rating 4 out of 5]

'UNSTOPPABLE' is a story of how Kuldip Singh Dhingra started as a small businessman with annual turnover of Rs 10 lakh went on to takeover Berger paints and turned it into a business with annual turnover of Rs 7500 crores. Those interested to know more about the Berger paints, must go for this.

[Taher Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impeccable story packed with harsh decisions and sacrifices which made Mr.Kuldeep Singh Dingra the UNSTOPPABLE in the industry.

[Priyankar Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read of the remarkable story of Kuldip and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra! From a small paint store retailer in Amritsar to the richest Sardars on the planet - fascinating story to say the least!

[Pramod · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book on the history of Berger paints and Kuldip Singh Dhingra, a rare gem in the wild.

[Aditya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didnt found that useful. It felt like kuldip singh was born with all qualities and didnt face obstacles

[Hitesh Bansal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prolific story of how the business is made ethically with integrity and sheer grit. Hats off to Dhingras and their Berger empire.

[Raj Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice.

[Ammar Bin Karim · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first sight, I dismissed the book as a paid piece of writing. Dwelling into the book, I really found a story worth telling, written in a fluid manner, just forcing you to read more and more until the book exhausted. Forgiving the writer for Kuldip's occasional self praising remarks, the book inspires any rising entrepreneur/ professional to focus on the job with passion, learn and unlearn the matters at hand and deal with people not only as customers but as family.

[Sid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unstoppable to put down !