NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal on Sunday said he was able to prove his Principal wrong when he topped Saint Xavier's College in Kolkata even though he was earlier denied admission for not being fluent in English, India Today reported.

Mittal, 62, the UK-based NRI billionaire who was conferred the Global Xavierian Award on Sunday in an alumni meet here, is the Charmian and Chief Executive Officer of Luxembourg headquartered world's largest steelmaker and mining company ArcelorMittal. Recollecting memories of his days as a student, Mittal said he was initially denied admission in the college as he could not speak English.

“I came from a Hindi medium school... the Principal felt that I would not fit into an English medium college. Though I was top in my class in school and I got admission in other colleges, but I really wanted to study in St. Xavier's. So I kept on knocking his door every day and finally he gave up and I promised him that I will be a good student and which I did,” he said in an interview to a news channel.

Read the full report here