Murugesh Nirani

Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani (born 18 August 1965), is an Indian industrialist and politician serving as the Minister of Large and Medium Industries of Karnataka from 4 August 2021. He is a third-term Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Bilgi, Bagalkot and is a minister in the Government of Karnataka. He was honored with Doctorate (D. Litt.) Award for his social work from KIMSD University of Maharashtra on 5 December 2021.

Dr. Murugesh Nirani
Minister of Large & Medium Industries Government of Karnataka
In office 4 August 2021 – 13 May 2023
Chief Minister	Basavaraj Bommai
Preceded by	Jagadish Shettar
In office 7 June 2008 – 13 May 2013
Chief Minister	B. S. Yediyurappa Sadananda Gowda Jagadish Shettar
Preceded by	Katta Subramanya Naidu
Succeeded by	R. V. Deshpande
Minister of Mines & Geology Government of Karnataka
In office 21 January 2021 – 28 July 2021
Chief Minister	B. S. Yediyurappa
Preceded by	C. C. Patil
Succeeded by	Halappa Achar
Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly
In office 2018 – 13 May 2023
Preceded by	J. T. Patil
Constituency	Bilgi
In office 2004–2013
Preceded by	J. T. Patil
Succeeded by	J. T. Patil
Constituency	Bilgi
Personal details
Born	(1965-08-18) 18 August 1965 (age 59) Bilagi, Mysore State, India (present Karnataka)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Kamala Nirani
Education	B.E, Business Studies[1]
Alma mater	Bombay University
Website	murugeshnirani.com, archived from the original on 27 March 2022, retrieved 27 July 2021

Early life and education

Nirani was born in an agrarian family, to Rudrappa and Sushilamma, at Basav Hanchal in Bilagi taluk of Bagalkot district.

He completed his B.E. in civil engineering and gained a diploma in Business Management from Bombay University. He became one of the foremost engineers from his village.^[2]

Entrepreneurial career

Nirani set up his first sugar factory in Bagalkot, with a capacity of crushing 500 tonnes of sugarcane per day.

He received the Make in India award on 24 December 2014. He is also the chairman of Nirani Group, which includes [Nirani Sugars Ltd.], [Sai Priya Sugars Ltd.], MRN Cane Power India Ltd., [Nirani Cements Pvt. Ltd.], and [Bilagi Sugar Mill Ltd.].^[3][4]

As of 2021, over 120,000 farmers benefit from the infrastructure created by the MRN group and over 72,000 people are employed by the MRN Group. MRN group is also one of the largest producers of ethanol in India.^[5]

Political career

He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his adolescence and has been a very crucial part of his political ideology. He says that he derives inspiration from the ideologies of the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV.

Nirani worked as a grassroot worker of the BJP in North Karnataka. He contested his first election to Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Biligi in 2004 and won with a landslide victory.^[6]

On 30 May 2008, Nirani was elevated as the cabinet Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries. He was again sworn in as the Minister of Mines and Geology in the Fourth Yediyurappa ministry.