Mr. Satish Kumar Kaura is an Indian technocrat, industrialist and the founder of Samtel Group, where he holds the post of the chairman. He is also the chairman and managing director of Samcor Glass Limited and the executive director of Samtel Colour Limited. An elected Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Kaura is the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Indian industrial sector.
Mr. Kaura graduated in Electrical Engineering (BTech) in 1966 from Kanpur. Later, he moved to Canada and secured a master's degree (MS) in electronics from Carleton University. Returning to India, he founded Samtel Group in 1973 and established Teletube Electronics Limited, a small industry for manufacturing television picture tubes, in 1974. This was followed by two more ventures, Samtel India Limited in 1981 and an engineering firm, Samtel Engineering and Sourcing Solutions, in 1983. In 1986, he established Samtel Color Limited, with technical and commercial collaborations with conglomerates like Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and the company had an installed capacity of 10 million picture tubes per annum. He also set up Samtel Display Systems (Later renamed Samtel Avionics Ltd.) for manufacturing of high-technology products for avionics and military applications, rugged displays, cockpit displays and equipment for military and commercial platforms. Samtel Avionics has two joint venture companies, Samtel HAL Display Systems, in association with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 2006, for the manufacture of electronic display systems and Samtel Thales Avionics Limited, joining with the French multinational, Thales Group in 2010, for the manufacture of Helmet-Mounted Sight and Display Systems and modern Avionics Systems. Samtel Glass Limited, incorporated in 1986, and Samtel Machines and Projects Limited are the other companies founded by Mr.Satish Kumar Kaura. The Group, as of 2005, has an employee strength of 4500 and has nine factories spread across India and Germany.
Mr. Kaura has been associated with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), as the president of its Northern Chapter, co-chairman of the National Committee on Defence and as the chairman of the Industrial Policy Committee. He has served as the president of the Electronic Industries Association of India and has been on the board of ICICI Group, SRF Limited, Infinity I, Fame Mercantile, Capfin Leasing, Blue Bell Trade Link, and Parsec Technologies (India). He is also a former member of the Review Committee of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Scientific Advisory Council, attached to the office of the Prime Minister of India. Mr. Satish Kumar Kaura was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, 1989 from IIT Kanpur.
