Profile c balagopal

C BALAGOPAL Born on 02 October 1952, Chandrasekhar Balagopal completed his schooling from the Lawrence School, Lovedale. He then studied at the Loyola College Madras where he completed his BA and MA in Economics. He then worked on a PhD program at the University of Kerala which he did not complete, because he was selected to the IAS in 1977. After postings in Manipur and Kerala in various capacities, he resigned from the IAS in mid-1983 to commercialize technology developed at the SCTIMST for the first time in India to make sophisticated bio-medical devices.

C Balagopal was the founding Managing Director of Peninsula Polymers Ltd Limited better known as PENPOL. After an initial period lasting for about 7 years during which the company had to face many problems on various fronts including technology, quality, dumping by foreign competitors, the liberalization of the economy post-1991, PENPOL became the market leader in India, and had started to export products to selected markets. In 1999 PENPOL entered into a Joint Venture with TERUMO CORPORATION, Japan a world leader in high-tech medical products. The Blood Bag factory of Terumo Penpol Ltd (TPL) is now the biggest of its kind in the world and employs around 1000 skilled persons. TPL also has a Medical Systems Group with a factory at Trivandrum manufacturing a range of specialized equipments used in Blood Banks. TPL products are exported to more than 50 countries.

After a career as an entrepreneur and manager spanning the period 1985-2012, Balagopal sold his shares to Terumo Corp and retired. He now spends his time writing, mentoring, and investing in startups. During his entrepreneurial journey, Balagopal and his company have been bestowed with a number of awards and recognitions, both from Government as well as from other Organizations.

Balagopal has written a book ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE INDIA based on his experiences as an IAS officer in Manipur in India’s North East. This book is published by Harper Collins and was released in Delhi and Trivandrum in October 2013. His second book THE VIEW FROM KOLLAM: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SUB-COLLECTOR is also published by Harper Collins, and was released in mid-2015.

After retiring from TPL, Balagopal continues to support startup ventures, both as investor and mentor. He plans to get more involved with community development projects in Vilappil Panchayat where his factory is located. He has set up the ANAHA Trust which will undertake funding of community development projects in the fields of primary schools, primary healthcare, and rural livelihoods.

Balagopal enjoys reading, writing, long walks, music, golf, travel, meeting people, and keeping in touch with friends.