Nilekani says life has come a full circle for him, as he heads back to the company he co-founded over three decades ago.
At 62, most people would be glad to hang up their boots and enjoy retirement.
But not for Nandan Nilekani, who has been brought back to turn around the fortunes of the crisis-hit Infosys as the new chairman.
The architect of unique ID Aadhaar -- a data mine that contains biometric information of a billion Indians – says life has come a full circle for him, as he heads back to the company he co-founded over three decades ago.
An active Twitter user, Nilekani took to the microblogging platform to express his thoughts.
"Joined @Infosys at 26, re-joined it at 62. Life does turn full circle!," he tweeted.
Nilekani, along with six other engineers, founded Infosys in 1981. Set up with an initial capital of $250, the company today has grown to be over $10 billion in revenues and has over 200,000 employees.
He served as Infosys chief executive officer between 2002 and 2007. He was appointed as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a cabinet-ranking position, in July 2009.
The technocrat, after bidding adieu to Infosys, tried his hands at politics. He contested the 16th Lok Sabha election from the South Bangalore constituency on a Congress ticket, but lost.
However, Nilekani's mettle made him an attractive catch for the Narendra Modi government, where he was entrusted with the task of overseeing the drive for a less-cash economy after demonetisation last year.
Congratulating him on the new assignment, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted: "Congratulations to @NandanNilekani on becoming non-executive chairman & director of @Infosys. Keep the flag flying. Best wishes".
CP Gurnani, managing director and CEO of Tech Mahindra also extended his greetings saying: "Congratulations @nandanNilekani and welcome back Captain! Wishing you all the best for sailing the ship on a new course for the future!!"
Persistent Systems president and executive director Mritunjay Singh said Infosys needed someone like Nilekani at the Board.
"Congratulations @NandanNilekani and welcome @Infosys, someone like you required at helm. thanks to @Infosys_nmurthy for raising gov issue," he tweeted.
Photograph: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters
