B. K. Syngal

Brijendra Kumar Syngal (1940 – 9 July 2022) was an Indian telecommunications executive who was referred to as the ‘Father of Internet & Data Services in India’. His five-decade career included senior executive positions in the major and public sector telecom companies in India including Chairman and Managing Director of VSNL, India’s leading provider of telecommunication services, Chairman of Reliance Telecomm and Vice Chairman of BPL Communications. Syngal also served as Chairman, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (London); Governor, INTELSAT Board, Washington DC; and as a Councillor for the INMARSAT Council in London.

He was also credited with bringing the internet to India in 1995, ahead of any Asian country, with the exception of Japan. He was named one of the '50 stars of Asia' by the Business Week magazine in 1998. He was also honored by his Alma Mater (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur) with a life fellowship for his contributions in the field of communications and changing the life of millions by bringing internet and digital connectivity to India.

Some of his other awards given in recognition of his outstanding achievement in the telecom sector include: "Partners in Progress" award, by the Govt. of Maharashtra, "International Excellence Award – 1994" in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of telecommunications both in India and abroad.

One of Mr. Syngal's earliest major accomplishments included assisting ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) and Department of Space with the launch of their satellite in 1992, when US-imposed sanctions prohibited use of US-based facilities for tracking of satellites during the most crucial launch phase. He was instrumental in the award of a major contract for supply of space segment capacity on the Indian INSAT system in 1994–1995. Under his chairmanship (1991-1998), VSNL launched the first publicly-available Internet plans in India in 1995.

VSNL rose to become an international company, both in terms of the services it offers and its ownership. Under Mr. Syngal's chairmanship, VSNL also contributed to the explosive growth of India's software industry. The software growth increased from US$60 million in 1991 to US$2 billion in 1997–98. Employment in the software sector increased from 40,000 to 6,00,000 in the same period. In 1998, he and his team of associates joined Reliance, and remained there until his resignation in 2001. During his tenure as Reliance Infocomm chairperson, Syngal was said to be also serving as the president of the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India—one of the telecom industry’s trade associations.