India's oldest billionaire is worth $2.5 billion. He started out as an LIC agent

Lachhman Das Mittal, 92, is the founder of Sonalika Tractors

Lachhman Das Mittal, 92, is now India’s oldest billionaire after the death of Keshub Mahindra, who passed away on April 12 at the age of 99.

Mittal is the founder and chairman of Sonalika Group who managed to build an empire worth billions in barely three decades. Born in 1931 in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, he started his career as an insurance agent. Mittal became an entrepreneur only at the age of 65, six years after he retired from the government-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

According to Forbes, Mittal retired from LIC as deputy zonal manager in 1990. Sonalika Tractors was incorporated six years later and is today India’s third-largest tractor maker by market share. It has turned Lachhman Das Mittal into India’s oldest billionaire – his net worth is $2.5 billion today.

The rags to riches story of Mittal has its fair share of hardships and triumphs. He once recounted an incident to Business Standard. “Once I applied for a dealership of Maruti Udyog but was rejected. Today, I give out dealerships,” he said.

Mittal has largely stepped down from the day-to-day running of Sonalika Group, handing the reins over to his sons. His eldest son Amrit Sagar is the company’s vice-chairman, while his youngest son Deepak is the managing director. His second son is a New York-based doctor. Interestingly enough, Mittal’s family still has an LIC connect – his daughter Usha Sangawan is LIC’s first female managing director.