M. Madhusudana Rao
Chief Promoter and Managing Director
Mr. Mannem Madhusudana Rao, the Chief Promoter and Managing Director of the MMR Group companies is a first generation entrepreneur. The journey, though physically covers around 400 kilometres from his village Palukuru in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh to the capital city of Hyderabad, his real journey is story of a successful man from rags to riches. Born into an impoverished working class family as fifth child and only the second of their eight to be educated, now helms various ventures that bring in a turnover of between Rs 75 crore and Rs 90 crore.
For generations, Rao’s family had provided inexpensive labour to the local landlords. There was little money in the household. Inspired by neighbours who managed to find jobs after studying engineering, Peraiah, Rao’s father, sent him and his elder brother to school, first in the village, and then to the social welfare hostel for scheduled caste/tribe children. While his brother went on to take a degree in engineering, Mr. Madhusudanarao, who is fondly called by his close friends as MMR, earned a diploma at a polytechnic because his parents felt that might be a safer option.
Since no job awaited them after graduation, they took up construction work with their siblings in Hyderabad, at houses or digging trenches to lay cables. And then the miracle happened. One day, waiting to be interviewed for a job at a firm of engineers, he overheard an executive talk about the immediate need for workers to lay cables.