Sanjay (left) & Navrathan Kothari (centre): giving back to society

Sanjay Kothari is Vice Chairman of the KGK Group (estb.1905, annual revenue: Rs.12,000 crore), a Jaipur/Hong Kong-based diamond, gemstones and jewellery conglomerate with offices in 20 countries and 18,000 employees. Coterminously, he is also trustee of KGK Foundation, the CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative of the group, providing not-for-profit healthcare, education, heritage conservation, art and crafts and skills development services in the cause of national development. 

Newspeg. Last February, KGK Foundation entered the K-12 education space by rebranding a CBSE-affiliated school in Jaipur as The Shri Ram Universal School (TSRUS). It has been launched in collaboration with the Gurgaon-based Shri Educare Ltd.

History. An alumnus of HR College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, Sanjay is fourth generation of the Kothari family which has been engaged in the precious and semi-precious gems and jewellery business for 120 years. After a few initial years in Mumbai during which he consolidated the KGK Group’s operations in the commercial capital, in 1990 he moved to Hong Kong to launch the group’s international business. Over the next 35 years, Kothari successfully expanded operations to Thailand, Japan, China, the US, UAE and the group’s premium fine jewellery brands including Entice, Martin Flyer, Gregg Ruth, flowered.

With business operations well-established and running smoothly, the Kothari family resolved to give back to society that had “enabled our expansion and development” by registering the KGK Foundation last year. The objective of the foundation is to “transcend boundaries to create opportunities, nurture aspirations and lay the groundwork for a thriving future” for children of economically weak sections of society. “I find pleasure only in the smiles of the underprivileged and in the upliftment of society. For me, real contentment comes only through philanthropy,” said Navrathan Kothari, patriarch of the KGK Group after the foundation was registered in Jaipur in 2024.                

The KGK Foundation consolidates all the group’s philanthropic projects. Among them the Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (BMCHRC) in Jaipur, a NABH- and NABL-accredited 350-bed hospital providing comprehensive cancer care. And KGK Academy in Jaipur/Surat to provide skills and training programmes in gems and jewellery design and manufacturing.

Direct talk. “After establishing a cancer hospital and the KGK Academy, we resolved to establish a model K-12 school in Jaipur, our home city in collaboration with Shri Educare Ltd, which has a national reputation for delivering K-12 education excellence. Our new The Shri Ram Universal School will provide students carefully designed curriculums, well-trained teachers, contemporary and experiential pedagogies, entrepreneurship and social-emotional well-being programmes. These are enriched with excellent sports and co-curricular facilities to develop well-rounded students capable of competing with the best nationally and internationally,” says Kothari, who expects TSRUS to operate at full capacity with 3,700 students in the next three years.

Future plans. Kothari is focused on scaling the foundation’s education ventures. “From 2026, the KGK Academy will offer structured and upgraded certificate courses to 1,500-1,600 students annually. Moreover, we’re constructing a new IB-affiliated school in Jaipur, which will admit its first batch of children in 2026. Another international school is also on the drawing board. Once these are fully operational, we intend to expand our education footprint nationally. Like EducationWorld, we also believe that quality education is the foundation of sustainable progress and India achieving its Viksit Bharat and $30 trillion GDP goals by 2047,” he says.

Wind beneath your wings!

Autar Nehru (Delhi)