Shiv Nadar rules out starting a venture capital fund, cites conflict of interest

At a time when IT czars are foraying into venture capital, Shiv Nadar, chairman of the country's fourth largest software services provider HCL Technologies, is fighting shy of any such plan. The reason- Mr Nadar sees a conflict of interest in starting a venture capital fund while he���s still part of HCL, a stand contrary to that taken by his industry peers- Infosys chief mentor NR Narayana Murthy and Wipro chairman Azim Premji. While Premji runs a private equity fund called Premji Invest, Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy trimmed their stake in Infosys to start a fund called Catamaran that would invest in Indian companies.

In the last few years, Mr Nadar has taken a backseat from the day-to-day operations at HCL and is focussed on carving an overall vision for the group. As part of the Shiv Nadar foundation, he runs the SSN College of engineering in Chennai. Excerpts:

You���re already doing a lot of work in the area of education through the Shiv Nadar foundation. As an extension, would you also look at doing something to encourage entrepreneurs? Some of your industry peers have turned venture capitalists.
No. I have no intention of doing that at all. We have two institutions- HCL technologies and HCL Infosystems- and that���s what we have. The rest is for pure philanthropy. (Watch)

But aren���t you looking at creating more entrepreneurs?
I can���t do anything, which is in conflict with the institutions I built. That���s not where we go at all.

NR Narayana Murthy is starting a fund. Premji has a private equity fund. Why would you not do the same?
I will not. I quite enjoy philanthropy. Every time I come to Chennai, have you seen me coming for a business trip? No, it���s always SSN. I don���t even go to the city. I come here only for this because I feel very fulfilled.

So you���re not changing your mind on that anytime soon?
No, not me.