'Learnt their rang dhang': Vedanta boss Anil Agarwal remembers 'nervous' days in the UK

Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, who keeps sharing anecdotes and inspiring stories, recently recalled his ‘nervous’ days in the United Kingdom (UK). While it wasn't clear what triggered the post, the chairman of the mining giant said that he always tells youngsters that there is no substitute for hard work.

"Today, let me tell you about the 25% rule that helped me find my footing in the UK," Agarwal, who was born in Bihar's Patna but became the first Indian to get his company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003, wrote on LinkedIn.  

The Vedanta boss said that the first few months in the UK were tough and that he was excited about new opportunities, "but also nervous about making my name in a foreign land".

On a train to Manchester, he said, he overheard that Duratube, a cable company, had gone bankrupt and he started thinking about acquiring it. He immediately called a banker from HSBC Bank and asked him questions about the company. He found out that Duratube was the sole supplier of British Telecom at the time and was located in Feltham.  

"In the middle of our conversation, the banker said, “I beg your pardon.” I froze because I did not know what he meant. I later understood that he wanted me to repeat my question because of my thick Indian accent. But at that moment, we were both awkwardly silent and equally confused," he said.

Agarwal soon realized that his daughter, Priya, was going through similar struggles of moving to a new country, and in her case, a new school.

Like any newcomer, he said, Priya had to make friends all over again and blend into a new culture. "As a father, it pained me to see my daughter struggle because of my decisions, but I had faith that with just a little support from us, she would be able to adapt and overcome anything that came her way," he said.

The Vedanta chief then told her daughter to "just believe in your strengths", and "you don’t have to change yourself, focus on pushing yourself a little harder every day, even if just by 25%, and the world will start admiring you".

Ever since then, he wrote, Priya would take up one activity and try to be better at it – be it swimming, horse riding, or volunteering, and before he knew it, she made her first friend in the UK, which soon turned into many.

"Unknowingly, my little girl taught me a lesson, which was to keep pushing and keep trying harder every day, even if it’s just by 25%. I began putting in extra effort to improve my English, learn their rang dhang, and their ways of doing business. On days I was too tired, I would compensate for it the day after," he said.

With this routine, Agarwal continued, what earlier seemed like tasks, became a habit. And as a result, he said, he was slowly able to build business relations in a foreign land, which helped him secure £3 million from the bank to acquire Duratube. 

Vedanta recently signed an MoU (Memorandum of understanding) with the Gujarat government to set up a semiconductor plant in partnership with Taiwan's Foxconn.