B. V. Rao

After working in a range of different roles: as a telephone operator, railway police staff and as personal secretary to a state minister, Rao enrolled for a short-length course at Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar. He successfully completed a training program in dairy and poultry farming where he had the opportunity to learn under an American teacher, Moore.^[4] His first business venture was with 500 birds entrusted to him by Moore for tending and soon Rao started his own venture on a 7-acre plot, for which funds were raised by selling his wife's jewelry.^[4] The business, started in 1970, grew over the years to the present V H Group, a US$2 billion conglomerate with interests in poultry, meat, pharmaceuticals, cattle feed, sports and with presence in India, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Vietnam, and Brazil.^[8]

When the price of eggs went down in the early 1980s, Rao gathered farmers together and founded the National Egg Coordination Committee in 1982 and became the first chairman.^[9] He was also associated with the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) and headed the India chapter from 1993 to 1996.^[4] He was one of the key figures in the organization of the World Poultry Conference in New Delhi in 1996.^[5] He also founded a higher education institution, Dr B.V. Rao Institute of Poultry Management and Technology.^[10] The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1990.^[6] The World Poultry Science Association inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2004.^[5]

• National Egg Coordination Committee
• V H Group