Who Is Onkar Kanwar? Owner Of Apollo Tyres Which Is The New Sponsor Of Indian Cricket Team's Jersey

Apollo Tyres on Tuesday announced having sponsored the Indian Cricket Team. As the official Jersey sponsor, Apollo Tyres announced, the sponsorship deal at ₹579 crores. Soon, after the announcement, wishes and congratulations poured in for both the Indian Cricket Team as well as Apollo Tyres.

Apollo Tyres is headed by its Chairman and Non-Executive Director Onkar Kanwar. The octogenarian has been renowned in industry circles for steering Apollo Tyres through rough business climate.

Not many are aware of his management style, here are some interesting tidbits from his time as the head of Apollo Tyres.

Turnaround Leadership at Apollo Tyres

Kanwar took over the family business (Apollo Tyres) in 1979 when it was in deep trouble. The company had lost more than its net worth in just two years - facing huge losses and production even related problems. But that did not deter him from thinking big, and focusing on big goals - such as becoming a ₹1 billion company. There are several accounts of how Apollo Tyres was once considering selling the company itself for nothing but one Rupee - a token sale.

Kanwar's leadership ensured that the company did not have to face such casualties.

Conflict over Strategy with His Father

They say everything is fair in love and war; but in business - every business has a conflict. At Apollo Tyres too there were conflicts and differences in opinions. That Onkar Kanwar faced with his Raunaq Singh father.

Raunaq wanted to diversify Apollo into unrelated businesses, while Kanwar believed in focusing on tyres. This disagreement even led to a boardroom battle. Eventually, Onkar’s view prevailed – Apollo stayed focused on tyres rather than becoming a conglomerate.

Global Ambitions and Expansion

Under his leadership, Apollo Tyres expanded from being primarily an Indian manufacturer of commercial vehicle tyres to a global player with a product portfolio spanning multiple continents. Apollo made several acquisitions (e.g. Vredestein, Dunlop’s South African operations) and attempted big deals like trying to acquire Cooper Tires (which ultimately didn’t go through). For the acquisition of Cooper Tires, Apollo had raised its bid up to $2.5 billion in 2014, but by 2021, the acquisition went to Goodyear for $2.8 billion.

Honors and Recognition

Kanwar has received several awards, both in India and internationally. From having won recognitions from the All India Management Association to receiving orders of various countries - Japan, Hungary etc.

Life Beyond Business

Besides the business of tyres, Onkar Kanwar has been involved in healthcare (Artemis Hospitals) and pharma (Premedium Pharmaceuticals). He has also reportedly taken keen interest in CSR - Apollo runs HIV‑AIDS awareness and prevention programmes among the trucking community in India, via health centres in major transhipment hubs.

He is also known to be a student of modern management practices, and applies what he learns. That in addition to his interest in music and travelling.

Published on: Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 05:17 PM IST