Mr. Hemant Jalan received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1977. During his tenure at IITK, he was the General Secretary (Cultural) from 1976-77 and represented IITK in inter-collegiate debate competitions throughout his stay at the Institute.

After his graduation from the Institute, Mr. Hemant Jalan completed his master's degree in Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, and earned his MBA Degree from Chicago Booth (University of Chicago).


He returned to India in 1980, and was a Management Consultant with A F Ferguson & Co., Mumbai for two years before starting his entrepreneurial journey at Patna. After setting up and running some chemical companies at Patna for many years, he moved to corporate life, heading the Copper business of Vedanta Ltd at Tuticorin (TN) between 1996-99. In 1999 he located to Pune, re-starting his entrepreneurial career. He founded Indigo Paints in 2000, which has grown multi-fold over the years, culminating in a successful IPO of the company in early 202l. Indigo Paints Ltd. is today the fourth largest paint manufacturer in India, with an annual sales of over Rs1000 crores. Honoring his stellar contributions in the field of entrepreneurship, IIT Kanpur confers upon Mr.Hemant Jalan the Distinguished Alumnus Award of 202l.