A Multifaceted Personality

Shri Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary has carved a niche for himself in the fiercely competitive worlds of both business and politics. What distinguishes his personality is that he is a people’s person, believing in bringing out the best in each individual. Anyone who engages with Shri Chowdary stays within his circle of mentorship, benefiting from his understanding of shortcomings and encouragement of strengths among all his associates.

Childhood & Family

Shri YS Chowdary was born on June 2, 1961  at Ponnavaram, near Kancikacharla, in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, India. Shri Chowdary was named after his grandfather Shri Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary. He comes from a highly respected family with a prominent status in society. He is the fourth of the five children in the family. He had his early education in Miryalaguda and Vijayawada and High School and College eduation in Hyderabad in the combined Andhra Pradesh. 

The Yalamanchili family originally hails from the twin villages of Ponnavaram and Pedamaddali in Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. His paternal grandparents, Shri Yalamanchili Satyanarayana Chowdary and Smt Yalamanchili Dhanalakshmi, migrated to the capital city of Hyderabad in the late 1950s. Shri Chowdary’s paternal grandfather Shri Satyanarayana Chowdary has the distinction of being the first IPS officer from the erstwhile Krishna district. He was a recepient of the President’s Medal for his service. His maternal grandfather late Shri Sivalingaiah was also the first graduate in erstwhile Krishna taluq. 

Shri Chowdary’s father, Shri Y Janardhana Rao, retired as Chief Engineer in the Irrigation Department of Government of Andhra Pradesh. He received several honours during his career including a certificate of merit by the then Chief Minister N T Rama Rao. His mother, Susheela Kumari, is a homemaker. She was a single child, inheriting huge tracts of ancestral lands in her native place. They have four sons and a daughter. They are Shri Y Jitin Kumar, Shri (Late) Y Sivalingaprasad, Shri Y Sivaramakrishna, Shri Y Satyanarayana (Sujana) Chowdary and Smt S Dhana Lakshmi. While the earlier generations of Shri Chowdary’s family served the government in senior positions, the current crop has undertaken the entreprenurial route and settled in varoius business ventures. 

Shri YS Chowdary has strong family ties. His company “Sujana” is a combination of the first two letters of his mother’s name (Smt Susheela Kumari) and the first four letters of his father’s name (Shri Y Janardhana Rao).

Shri Chowdary enjoys fulfilling family life. He is happily married to Smt. Padmaja, and together they have raised two wonderful children, a son named Karthik and a daughter named Naga Chandini. Both of them are married. They have grown into successful adults in their own right.

Shri Chowdary has been able to strike an enviable balance between his roles as a successful entrepreneur and a caring family man. His ability to excel in his professional endeavors while also being there for his family is a testament to his exceptional qualities as a husband, father, uncle, brother and role model for his children and grandchildren.

Education

Engineering and love for technology were ingrained in Shri YS Chowdary right from his childhood. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (1980-84) from Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT) Hyderabad, and a master’s degree in Machine Tools Engineering (1984-86) from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Incidentally, Shri Chowdary’s father Shri Janardhana Rao also graduated from the same PSG College of Technology in 1955 as student of the first batch of the Mechanical Engineering branch.

Entrepreneurial Journey

Shri Chowdary, though hailing from a highly respected family of civil servants, never considered a regular job after obtaining an engineering degree in post-graduation. The young Chowdary saw himself as a job creator rather than a job seeker. Understanding employment creation as the need of the hour, Shri Chowdary took the entrepreneurial route and through sheer innovation and hard work created a business empire.

Starting with a home appliances company catering to the needs of middle-class Indians in 1986, Shri Chowdary went on to build Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, Sujana Metal Products Ltd, and Sujana Towers Ltd. In the next two decades, the Sujana Group expanded into Steel, Power & Telecom Infrastructure, Energy, Healthcare, Urban Infrastructure, Appliances, Light Engineering, Education, and International Trade. Over a period of three decades, he went on to translate his entrepreneurial vision into the creation of a large conglomerate known as the Sujana Group.

Subsequently, the Group has reoriented itself to adapt to the emerging developments and changing dynamics of the market. Shri Chowdary is currently focussing on emerging sectors like predictive health as well as preventive medicine and the ever-changing Electric Vehicle mobility technology.

Political Career

Shri YS Chowdary’s entry into politics was not by design. Although always interested in public policy and the economic uplift of society as a whole, he did not show any inclination towards a political career until much later.

It all began with his association with NTR Trust, formed to commemorate the services of the legendary late NT Rama Rao, actor par excellence, and the founder of the Telugu Desam Party. In 2005, Shri Chowdary joined NTR Trust as an advisor, leading to a close association with Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister and president of TDP. Shri Chowdary played a key role in expanding the Trust’s activities, and during this period, his association with Shri Naidu grew strong. Shri Naidu encouraged Shri Chowdary to pursue a political career. Guided by Shri Naidu, Shri Chowdary contributed to the strengthening of the party organization and its political strategies, becoming a close adviser to the party leadership. By 2009, Shri Chowdary became an important part of the TDP top brass. Recognizing his contributions, the TDP elevated him to the Rajya Sabha as a Member of Parliament in 2010.

From then on, Shri Chowdary’s political innings became more public-oriented. He took an active interest in Parliamentary proceedings and policy formulations at the national level. Shri Chowdary played a crucial role in paving the way for an alliance with the BJP in the 2014 Assembly and Parliament elections, in which the party returned to power after a gap of ten years. When the TDP decided to be part of the Central Government led by Shri Narendra Modi, the party selected Shri YS Chowdary to be a Member of the Union Council of Ministers.

In order not to have any conflict of interest with his previous business activities, and also based on his background and his subject expertise, the Ministry of Science & Technology was offered to Shri Chowdary. For a serial entrepreneur who never showed interest in active politics until much later in life, Shri Chowdary came a long way in public life in a short time. He used the opportunity to make a difference to the country and the residual Andhra Pradesh by bringing several institutions of higher education in science, management, health, and research, as well as central funds for various major projects.

Shri Chowdary submitted his resignation as Minister in the Union Council in 2018, following the TDP chief’s decision to part ways with the BJP. Shri Chowdary continued as an MP from BJP until 2022. At present, Shri YS Chowdary is a member of the BJP. Even though he did not hold an official position during 2022-24, Shri Chowdary remained actively engaged in public life, deeply committed to addressing issues of national and regional significance that pertain to the welfare of the people.

Shri Chowdary is currently Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Andhra Pradesh. He has been elected on BJP ticket with unprecedented majority from Vijayawada West constituency in the 2024 elections. Shri Chowdary is now focussing on improving the lives of his constituents.

Philanthropy

Another facet of Shri Chowdary is his philanthropic contributions. The Sujana Charitable Trust was founded in 2007, focusing on the education and health of the underprivileged. The Sujana Foundation, operating under the Charitable Trust, actively participates in relief works for those affected due to natural calamities. 

Mentoring & Public Policy

Shri Chowdary is still bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, but he has been away from the day-to-day management of the Group since 2004-05. He continued to be the non-executive chairman until August 2014, when he resigned from the position. Since then, he does not hold any directorship in any corporate entity. His companies are currently run by many of his associates, proteges, and batchmates, while Shri Chowdary continues to guide and mentor many youngstes in the field of healthcare and EV mobility space.

Shri Chowdary lately has chosen to devote a lot of his time to healthcare, focusing on how to predict health and prevent sickness. With an aim to contribute innovative solutions through technology in preserving life, Shri Chowdary is currently an advisor and mentor to numerous research organizations and budding entrepreneurs in the healthcare sector. Shri Chowdary is also a keen follower of Electric Vehicle industry and is also advising budding entreprenuers in this area. Shri Chowdary hopes for the transfer of his knowledge, decades of experience, and networking in building future pioneers of the health sector as well as climate-friendly transport sector. 

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