Srikanth Bolla

Some Lesser Known Facts About Srikanth Bolla

• Srikanth Bolla is an Indian businessman who is known for being the Chairman and CEO at Bollant Industries. He was born blind but even after his disability, he set up a Rs. 1,200 crore company that offers jobs to other people born with disability.

• When he was born, many people in his neighbourhood told his parents to kill Srikanth or leave him in an ophanage because they felt that he would be of no use in future, but his parents never listened to them and gave him all the facilities with the small income they earned from farming.

• When he was six years old, he used to walk several kilometres to school guided by his brother and classmates.

• He faced many problems while growing up. His classmates used to avoid talking to him because he was blind. In an interview, he said that for two years, nobody acknowledged him in school, and he was made to sit on the last bench. During the PT period, he was not allowed to play.

• When he turned eight, he took admission to a boarding school in Hyderabad. There, he learned how to swim, play chess, and play cricket using a ball that made noise so he could find it easily. Srikanth was a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Blind Cricket Team. He used to participate in several state, zonal and national chess and cricket tournaments and won many awards. He is also a nationally ranked-chess player in India.

• He wanted to pursue science after completing matriculation but was not allowed to do so. The school believed that it was against the law for him to study maths and science in high school because of his disability. They thought that it would be difficult for them to teach him graphs and diagrams. He was very upset about the law and with the help of one of his teachers, he filed a case in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh to make some reforms about this law. After waiting for six months, one of the schools in Hyderabad allowed him to study. Thereafter, he also won the lawsuit against his previous school.

• In class 12 boards, he topped his class with a 98%. He got all the textbooks converted to audiobooks, worked day and night to study and managed to secure 98 per cent in the board exams.

• After completing class 12, he learned Braille, then English, and then how to use a computer.

• After completing his formal education, he wanted to join a coaching institute for the Indian Institute of Technology to study engineering, but he was denied admission because of his disability. He also applied to other institutes and got admission to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• In 2005, he was a youth leader and also became a part of Lead India 2020: The Second National Youth Movement. Lead India 2020 was started by former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and it helped in India’s development by removing poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.

• In 2006, Srikanth was among the students who were addressed by India’s former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during a speech.

  

• He joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and became the first international blind student in Management Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• In an interview, he said that when he was in the States, he found it difficult to adjust initially. He only ate french fries and fried chicken fingers for a month there.

• In 2009, he worked as an undergraduate research assistant at The Sinha Lab for Developmental Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• While he was studying in college, he did community service and played sports and games like Archery and Baseball.

  

• Srikanth did a three-month project internship at General Electric India Innovation Centre, Hyderabad in 2010. During this internship, he learned the strategic design, culture, and political lenses of GE IIC.

• He did a summer internship at Infosys LTD in 2011 for three months. In this internship, he was taught about building smarter teams.

• In 2011, while he was studying at MIT, he shared his idea of creating a centre with staff at MIT’s Public Service Center. They provided Bolla with a fellowship. He created a curriculum, bought five computers, rented a building, hired a faculty member, and began 10-week computer classes. Initially, he worked as a Student Tech caller and later he became the executive director of the centre.

• While he was studying in America, he received many corporate opportunities, but he wanted to work in India. Many people questioned him about not joining a good job and starting his own business.

• In 2011, Bolla co-founded the Samanvai Center for Children with Multiple Disabilities. At this centre, he began a Braille printing press and offered various services like education, job training, financial support, and rehabilitation to students with multiple disabilities. The goal was to help them become economically independent and lead self-sufficient lives.

  

• In 2012, he did an INSTEP internship at Infosys, Hyderabad for two months.

• In 2012, after returning to India from the US, he began Bollant Industries, a company that makes things from areca nuts and gives jobs to many people with disabilities. Ratan Tata invested in his startup. Some of the other supporters include Ravi Mantha, who was part of The Indus Entrepreneurs, SP Reddy, a serial entrepreneur, Srini Raju of Peepul Capital, Satish Reddy of Dr. Reddy’s, Kiran Grandhi of GMR Group, and Arun Alagappan of TI Cycles.

  

• He started the company because he realized that not many people like him receive guidance and mentorship to fight the battles that he fought in his life. So, he gave employment to more than 600 people and half of them are visually impaired.

  

• Bollant produces eco-friendly recycled Kraft paper from municipal waste or soiled paper, packaging products from recycled paper, disposable products from natural leaf and recycled paper and recycles waste plastic into usable products. This initiative has helped in resolving employment, economic and environmental issues. The company has five plants in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh. It exports 10-15 per cent of its produce to the US, Australia and Germany.

  

• Srikanth serves as the director of Surge Impact Foundation, founded in September 2016. The organisation aims to guide institutes and people in India to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

• In April 2017, Bolla was named by Forbes magazine in its list of 30 under 30 across all of Asia. He was one of only three Indians on that list.

• In 2019, it was reported that he would join the YSR Congress, the main Opposition in Andhra Pradesh.

• In 2022, a biopic titled ‘Sri’ featuring Rajkummar Rao in the role of Srikanth Bolla was announced.

• In an interview, he said that he wanted to become the first visually impaired President of India.