Nishita Shah of Indian origin creates a place for herself amongst the high and mighty of Thai business.
She loves Indian food, is buying up Indian art, has business plans in India and is a devotee of Sai Baba. Meet Nishita Shah - the youngest on the Forbes list of Thailand's 40 richest people - who has interests in flying, fashion and in the business of commodities.
A new entrant to the Forbes list, she, along with her family, is ranked Number 19 and worth a neat $375 million.
Shah is the newly-launched public face of the 140-year old GP group, which started with trading commodities and today "holds the family stakes in 40 companies in 20-plus countries".
The bulk of the group's value, however, is derived from the 42 per cent stake that it (mostly Nishita) holds in Precious Shipping - a company listed on the Thailand Stock Exchange, which was started in 1991 and currently boasts a fleet of 44 ships transporting dry cargo.
Shah has visited India "countless number of times" - visits Shirdi (Sai Baba's abode) a few times a year - and sees tremendous business opportunities in the country, which she believes is "vibrant, energetic and full of brilliant people".
The group's business in India currently spans software (a Bangalore-based back office company - Eka Plus), ports (Haldia and Vizag), edible oil (through a joint venture with noble grain) and travel (Diathelem Travel India), and the new areas that she is looking at are the retail sector and the luxury and lifestyle space.
"I see opportunities in high end retail development and multi-brand lifestyle stores. And of course, in the hospitality sector, delivering experiences that exceed expectations," she says.
So what is the philosophy of this 28-year-old young business management graduate from Boston University on money? Well, firstly, she believes that one should live well but remember to save for a rainy day.
Secondly, "When you run a business, many people count on you for their livelihood. Keep that in mind before you bet the house," she told Business Standard in an e-mail interview over the weekend.
What about charity? Should Warren Buffet be emulated by the world's rich? "I think Buffet's decision to give his money to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a commendable and noble gesture. I hope to be able to leave a considerable portion of my wealth to the GP Foundation," she said.
The foundation is still many years away though. For now, in a bid to add a glamour quotient to her varied business interests - she is a director in over 40 group companies - she is set to launch her own luxury fashion label "Nsha" in select boutiques across the world by the end of the year.
With the luxury market gaining traction in India, will Nsha adorn Indian women too? "Absolutely, I think there is a scope for a few Nsha boutiques in India," she said.
This "Indian Thai" - as Forbes described her - carries a lot of Indianness with her. Family is a big part if her life. "Their approval means everything to me," she says.
The walls of her apartment are adorned with borrowed items of Indian art from her mother's collections. "My mother Anju is a big collector of Indian art. I just started so I'm buying up and coming artists but my mother has been kind enough to loan me some of her masters," she says.
She is collecting art from mid-level to very established Masters. "I have a weakness for Jehangir Sabavala and Paresh Maity works. One of my new favourite artists is Thota Tharrani. His use of colour is amazing. I'm also a fan of Surya Moorty, Basant Perigod and Arvind Kolapkar," she says.
And to top it all, she likes to eat at least one Indian meal a day if not two. Now eating Thai in India is common but eating Indian in Thai (land) - that is not what one hears very often!
