Khanna family

The Khanna family is a prominent Punjabi Hindu family originating from India. Members of the Khanna family have been involved in various fields, including business, finance, politics, philanthropy, sports, and sports administration. Khanna family members initially gained prominence and notability from the 1950s onwards. Members of the family have been noted for their wealth and power, both within and outside of India. Through many of its members, the Khanna family is related to numerous other notable individuals and families.

History and background
The Khanna family's history stems from the city of Lahore in the Punjab Province of British India, where they were a wealthy family as a result of the manufacturing business founded by Shanti Lal Khanna in 1939, during the British Raj. The Khanna family has Punjabi Hindu origins and traces its roots to the Punjabi Khanna clan. During the Partition of India in 1947, the Khanna family fled the city and resettled in Delhi, India. The family initially lost their wealth in the Partition and had to rebuild in Delhi.

The Khanna family's rise began in independent India after they settled in Delhi following the Partition. Family members first gained prominence in the 1950s, when Shanti Lal Khanna restarted his business and founded Delhi Small Scale Industries, a manufacturing company in Delhi. From the 1960s, the success of brothers Vipin Khanna and Vinod Khanna, two of the sons of Shanti Lal Khanna, and their descendants grew the Khanna family's business, financial, and political reach. Members of the Khanna family are primarily based in Delhi, though some members, both current and past, have resided in various locations across India and abroad. Additionally, some family members are not Indian citizens.

Business and financial interests
The Khanna family initially rose to prominence in the 1950s, due to the success of its members in business and finance, fields in which many family members continue to be involved and expand their interests. Although various members of the family have jointly owned businesses with certain relatives at different times since the 1960s, they generally maintain separate business and financial interests. Members of the family have had business and financial interests in both India and globally. The Khanna family has been noted, including at times controversially, for its power and influence both within India and internationally, which they have reportedly used to expand their business and financial interests, and enhance their network of connections.

1960 – 2020
Since the 1960s, various members of the Khanna family have had interests in a wide array of industries, including agriculture, alcohol, commodities trading, consultancy, electronics, general trading, hospitality, infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing, mining, power, railways, real estate, software, steel, telecommunications equipment, and utilities. Beginning in the 1980s, some members of the Khanna family, starting with Vipin Khanna and followed by his middle son Arvind Khanna, have been particularly noted for their vast business interests in the arms and aerospace industries. Vipin Khanna and later Arvind Khanna have allegedly exerted significant control over the approval of defence procurement contracts in India. Indian government authorities have claimed that the Khanna family has controlled arms deals in the Indian defence industry since the 1980s. Arvind Khanna also founded one of India's first private sector defence companies in 2001, and his company was one of the first nine companies to receive a defence manufacturing licence. From the 2000s, members of the Khanna family, beginning with Vipin Khanna and his youngest child Aditya Khanna, entered the financial services industry by co-founding an investment bank that included an asset management division. Aditya Khanna later founded his own investment bank and investment company, and maintained ownership interests in private equity asset management companies. Other members of the family have also been involved in investing, fundraising, and providing investment advisory services.

2020–present
Since the 2020s, some members of the Khanna family have continued to expand their business and financial interests in industries where they have traditionally had a presence and other related industries. Aditya Khanna's business interests include mining through the company Ethiopotash, and real estate fund management through the firm Etonhurst Investment Advisors. Navin Khanna, the eldest son of Vipin Khanna, has business interests in the commodities, alcohol, food and drinks industries. The eldest child of Vinod Khanna, Sundeep Khanna, has business interests in agriculture, power, utilities, real estate, hospitality, and consultancy. Vinod Khanna's younger son, Rajesh Khanna, has business interests in mining concessions and commodities trading. Rahul Khanna, the son of Navin Khanna, has business interests in the hospitality industry in London, England. Adhiraj Khanna and Suryaveer Khanna, the sons of Arvind Khanna, have business interests in the defence, aerospace and asset management industries. Some members of the family have also expanded their business interests into adjacent industries. Sundeep Khanna has expanded into the renewable energy and cooling industries. Vinita Singh (née Khanna), the daughter of Vipin Khanna, expanded into the cybersecurity industry. Adhiraj Khanna and Suryaveer Khanna have expanded into the space and wealth management industries.

Beginning in the 2020s, members of the Khanna family started more entrepreneurial ventures and began venture capital investing. Aditya Khanna co-founded Bharat Supply, originally founded as Faarms, a logistics technology, e-commerce and financial technology company focused on rural India. Rohan Khanna, the elder son of Sundeep Khanna, has founded various companies and startups. Shivin Khanna, the son of Rajesh Khanna, has founded a financial technology company and has been an investor in the craft beer company Bira 91. Rajeshwari Kumari, the daughter of Vinita Singh, founded her own luxury Indian designer brand.

Politics and politically related activities
Various members of the Khanna family have been involved in politics and other politically related activities. In the 1990s, Arvind Khanna entered Indian politics. Arvind Khanna has held various elected and political party positions, and has had considerable political influence because of his vast personal wealth. Vipin Khanna served as the Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in New Delhi from 1996 to 2005. Vinod Khanna was the Honorary Consul of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in India, was the founding Chairman of the Indo-Zaire Friendship Association, and was the Chairman of the Indo-Kenya Friendship Association.

Political offices held

 * Arvind Khanna
 * General Secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal's youth wing.
 * President of the Punjab Youth Congress.
 * Member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Sangrur, 2002 – 2007.
 * MLA from Dhuri, 2012 – 2014.
 * Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) treasurer.
 * General Secretary of the PPCC.
 * Member of the All India Congress Committee.
 * Vice-President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Punjab (2022–present).

Familial political and diplomatic relations
Members of the Khanna family are related to prominent individuals and families in politics and diplomacy. Ravi Khanna's wife, Amrit Kumari Khanna, and Vipin Khanna's wife, Naginder Kumari Khanna, were daughters of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, who was a member of the British Empire's Imperial War Cabinet during World War I, served as Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes from 1926 to 1931, represented India at the League of Nations, and was considered the leader of the Sikhs. Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna were the paternal aunts of Amarinder Singh, the former Chief Minister of Punjab. They were also sisters of Yadavindra Singh, the last Maharaja of Patiala, who later served as the Indian Ambassador to Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Nations. Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna were sisters-in-law of Romesh Bhandari, former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and former Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and sisters-in-law of Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, former Chief Minister of Odisha and the last ruling Maharaja of Patna.

Sports and sports administration
Some members of the Khanna family, and their close and extended relatives, have been involved in sports. In professional sports, Navin Khanna is a former professional polo player who played a significant role in growing polo in India through financial contributions; Arvind Khanna is a former golfer who also helped other professional golfers financially; and Rajeshwari Kumari is an Olympic-level trap shooter and won a silver medal in the 2022 Asian Games. Vinita Singh's husband and Rajeshwari Kumari's father Randhir Singh, is also a former Olympic-level shooter.

The family has also been involved in the sports industry. From 1997 to 2006, Arvind Khanna's Tiger Corporation joint venture company, Tiger Sports Marketing managed the Indian Golf Tour. In 2006, Tiger Sports Marketing established the first Professional Golf Tour of India. Navin Khanna owned a polo team. Aditya Khanna was a co-founder of Punjab Kings, which was known at the time as Kings XI Punjab, an Indian Premier League cricket team founded in 2008, and Arvind Khanna was also a co-owner of the team. Members of the family, along with their close and extended relatives, have held positions in sports administration. Arvind Khanna served as the president of the Professional Golfers Association of India, president of the Fencing Association of India, and as the Secretary-General of the Punjab Olympic Association. Vinita Singh's husband, Randhir Singh, has been a member of the International Olympic Committee, is serving as the Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia, and has also held other positions in sports administration. Through their wives, Ravi Khanna, who was married to Amrit Kumari Khanna, and Vipin Khanna, who was married to Naginder Kumari Khanna, were sons-in-law of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, one of the co-founders of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the national governing body of cricket in India.

Philanthropy and social work
Various members of the Khanna family have been involved in philanthropy and social work. Arvind Khanna founded the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Umeed Foundation in 1997. The Umeed (which translates to hope in Hindi) Foundation is one of Punjab's largest NGOs and is involved in healthcare, employment generation, and social and economic empowerment initiatives. Rajesh Khanna, his wife, Priya Khanna (née Mehra), and their son, Shivin Khanna, serve on the board of the Mehra Foundation. The foundation was founded by Priya Khanna's grandfather, Ram Gopal Mehra, in 1968. The Mehra Foundation is involved in healthcare, education, academia, and scholarship initiatives.

Aditya Khanna is involved with a broad spectrum of Indian and global NGOs, and is on the advisory board of the United Nations’ UNAIDS Health Innovation Exchange. Sundeep Khanna is a member of Rotary International and served as the President of the Rotary Club of Delhi Garden City.

Other involvements, activities and relations
Members of the Khanna family, across multiple generations, have also gained prominence in various other fields and activities. Ravi Khanna, the eldest son of Shanti Lal Khanna, was a lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army. Other fields and activities that family members have been involved in include art and law.

Other familial relations
The Khanna family is related to other notable families. Vinod Khanna's wife, Nirmal Kumari Khanna, was the daughter of Trilok Nath Shankardass and a member of the Shankardass family, which was a notable Kenyan Indian business family from Nairobi, Kenya. Adhiraj Khanna married Tanya Chadha Khanna, the younger daughter of liquor industrialist and philanthropist Raju Chadha, the niece of industrialist and noted liquor baron Ponty Chadha, and a member of the Chadha family.

Selected lineage and historical relations
The Khanna family is also related to additional historical and former Indian royal families and dynasties. The sisters Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna, former princesses of the historical Patiala royal family and the wives of Vipin Khanna and Ravi Khanna, respectively, were direct descendants of Raja Ala Singh, the 18th-century founder and first ruler of Patiala, and members of the Phulkian dynasty. Both sisters held princely titles in India until their abolition in 1971 through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India. Both sisters' lineage extended further back, and they were direct descendants of Rawal Jaisal Singh, the early medieval 12th-century founder and ruler of the Kingdom of Jaisalmer. Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna's lineage was also ancient, tracing even further back to Rao Bhatti, a 3rd-century Classical period Indian monarch, who was the common ancestor of the Bhati Rajput clan. Members of the Khanna family who are direct descendants of the sisters Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna and their respective husbands, Vipin Khanna and Ravi Khanna, trace their direct lineage to these individuals. Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna's brother-in-law, through their other sister, Shailendra Kumari, was Himmat Singh, a member of the Rathore dynasty. Further former and historical royal families and dynasties that the Khanna family is related to through the siblings of Naginder Kumari Khanna and Amrit Kumari Khanna include the House of Holkar, the Bijawar royal family, and the Maihar royal family.

Notable members and descendants
Notable members and descendants of the Khanna family include:


 * Aditya Khanna (born 8 December 1971)
 * Arvind Khanna (born 29 May 1967)
 * Navin Khanna (born 1 April 1962)
 * Rajeshwari Kumari (born 10 December 1991)
 * Shanti Lal Khanna (d. c. 1980s)
 * Vinod Khanna (born 24 July 1934)
 * Vipin Khanna (14 December 1930 – 7 November 2019)

Notable marriages into the family
Notable individuals and members of notable families who have married into the Khanna family include:


 * Adhiraj Khanna (born 19 December 1993) married Tanya Chadha Khanna (born 19 May 1994). Tanya Chadha Khanna is the younger daughter of liquor industrialist and philanthropist Raju Chadha, and a member of the Chadha family.
 * Rajesh Khanna (born 14 August 1967) married Priya Khanna (née Mehra; born 20 September 1968), a philanthropist and a prominent art restorer. Priya Khanna is the daughter of businessman and philanthropist Lalit Mehra.
 * Ravi Khanna married Amrit Kumari Khanna, the daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and a member of the Phulkian dynasty. Amrit Kumari Khanna held the title of princess until princely titles were abolished in India in 1971 through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
 * Shanti Lal Khanna married Vidya Khanna, the daughter of Bhagat Ram Sahni, who founded the Arya Samaj movement in Srinagar and was awarded the Rai Sahib title during the British Raj.
 * Vinita Singh (née Khanna; born 14 January 1960) married Randhir Singh (born 18 October 1946), an influential sports administrator and former Olympic-level shooter.
 * Vinod Khanna married Nirmal Kumari Khanna (1938–2018), the daughter of Trilok Nath Shankardass and a member of the Shankardass family, which was a Kenyan Indian business family from Nairobi, Kenya.
 * Vipin Khanna married Naginder Kumari Khanna (1937–2012), the daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala and a member of the Phulkian dynasty. Naginder Kumari Khanna held the title of princess until princely titles were abolished in India in 1971 through the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.