There are 64 multi-industry companies started in India by Indians and many companies that are generating huge revenues, giving employment. Some of these companies have been started way before independence and with every passing day are growing stronger. They have not only shined in India but also all over the world.
Here is a list of 8 companies that have been successfully run for more than 100 years. The stories of the companies stand as an inspiration for us to work with vision, take chances and risks along with hard work summing up to a start and run a successful business. The era in which it was started that is the British era did not make it easy for the founders but they thrived and succeeded. The founders contributed in best of their abilities during the independence movement and their companies, run by their families even today are providing wealth to themselves and the country. They have their scholarships, hospitals and NGO’s making a substantial contribution to the society.
1) Tata group
Name of the founder: Jamsetji Tata
Headquarter: Mumbai
Year of establishment: 1868
Background:
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata is from Parsi Zoroastrian priests family. Born in Gujarat educated in Mumbai he joined his fathers trading firm at the age of 19 in 1858. In 1868 he started trading company Tata Sons. Tata Sons Ltd is the holding company of Tata Group which has varied business running together. Jamsetji Tata wanted to start an iron and steel company, a hotel, a learning institution, and a hydro-electric plant. He inaugurated the Taj Mahal Hotel at Colaba on 3rd December 1903, priding itself with the only hotel to have electricity. Jamsetji Tata married Hirabai Daboo and had two sons, Dorabji and Ratanji Tata. Jamsetji founded Tata Steel, and Dorabji Tata established it in 1907. In 1909 Indian Institute of Science was established in Bangalore. Swami Vivekananda and Jamsetji Tata met accidentally in a voyage and impressed by the laters views Jamsetji approached Vivekanand Ji to endorse the project which he did happily. Lord Curzon, Sir William Ramsay and the Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan played important roles in the project.
Tata Power was founded in 1910 has 10577MW generation capacity. In 1939 Tata Chemicals was founded. Dorabji Tata played an active role in making Tata Power a reality. India’s one of the leading insurance company started in his care. He was married to Meherbai Tata. Her brother’s son, scientist Homi J Bhabha is known as the father of the Indian nuclear programme.
All those who were given prominent positions in the company were made to start from the smallest position to groom them into a better leader and human being.
Ratanji Tata had also actively participated in the growth of Tata Sons. He was an art collector, and his collection is presented in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya (Prince of Wales Museum) along with his brother’s collection. He married Navajbai Sett, and they adopted Naval Tata. Naval Tata has three sons Ratan, Jimmy, and Noel. All of them have actively participated in the growth of the Tata Group.
Ratan Tata worked for 21 years and grew the companies profit 50 times. He has actively invested in the current generation companies doing e-commerce such as Snapdeal, OLA, Paytm and mobile company Xiaomi. Currently, Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been given the main position of Tata Group. The dream of having only electric vehicles in India is being made true under the active participation of the Tata Motors. On acquiring Tetley, it gained international recognition and from there on it went on to acquire many other companies. It has its companies all over the world. Titan, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Tanishq, Fasttrack, Croma, Tata Salt, Tata Starbucks, Voltas, Tata Sky, Tata Docomo, Tata Steel are among famous ventures of Tata. It has its enterprises in defense, electric utility, finance, healthcare, IT Service, Real estate.
Chairman: Natarajan Chandrasekaran
Revenue : 9,136,327,032 Rupees
2) TVS Groups
Name of the Founder: T V Sundaram Iyengar
Headquarter: Madurai
Year of establishment: 1911
Background:
Thiruvengudi Sundaram Iyengar belonging from a Tamil Brahmin family had worked as a lawyer, in Indian Railways, and in a bank before starting his own bus service in 1911. TVS Sons and Ltd was started in the same year. TVS Gas Plant, Madras Auto Service Ltd, Sundaram Motors were started by him. The business turned into an empire and is still being run by the family itself. TV Sundaram had 8 children, Soundaram, Rajam, Doraiswamy, Santhanam, Amu Amaal, Ranga Ammaa, Srinivasan, Krishna. Duraisamy died early. The 4 sons became an important part of the business and thus there are four main branches of the company. His daughter T S Soundaram participated in the Indian independence movement along with Mahatma Gandhi. She even has her own postal stamp. They have started companies in fields like textile, electronics, automotive and in places like Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Spain, UK, and Iran.
Chairman: Venu Srinivasan
Revenue : More than 5,31,68,40,00,000 Rupees
3)Aditya Birla Group
Name of the founder: Seth Shiv Narayan Birla
Headquarter: Mumbai
Year of establishment:1857
Background:
Shiv Narayan Birla traded cotton in Ahemadabad and further moved to trade opium to China along with his adopted son Baldeo Das Birla. This trade earned them a huge fortune. They started chartering cargo ships for which Shiv Narayan Birla moved to Mumbai. Baldeo Das Birla started 2 firms one in Bombay and another in Calcutta. These firms did business in grain, silver, cotton and other commodities. He had 4 sons, Jugal Kishore, Rameshwar Das, Ghanshyam Das, and Braj Mohan. The first 3 had actively contributed to the growth of business related to their father but Ghanshyam was most successful one.
Ghanshyam Das had started Birla Jute, Hindustan Motors, BITS Pilani, Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences. He invested and bought Hindustan Times. He also invested in steel tubes, rayons, chemical, and cement. Ghanshyam Das had 3 children, Lakshmi Niwas, Krishna Kumar and, Birla Basant Kumar Birla. Both his sons worked for the growth of Birla Group. Ghanshyam Das Birla left most of his business to Aditya Vikram Birla which is why it is now known as Aditya Birla Group. Under his guidance, the company grew bigger and better with passing years. His son Kumar Mangalam Birla is the current chairman of the company. It has its ventures in agribusiness, financial services, banking, mining, retail, telecommunication, wind power, e-commerce among many.
Rameshwar Das Birla had 3 sons among which Yashovardhan Birla took over Yash Birla Group founded by his grandfather. It is currently run by Yash Birla his grandchild. It is a 157-year-old conglomerate company. It is currently facing financial and court cases.
Brajaj Mohan’s grandson Chandrakant Birla started his own multibusiness company CK Group which is 69 years old.
Thus the Birla Group apart from being its own multi-business company has its founders family members starting their own big successful companies.
Chairman: Kumar Mangalam Birla
Revenue:32,72,21,95,00,000.00 Indian Rupee
4) Khoday Group:
Name of the Founder: Khoday Eshwara
Headquarter: Banglore
Year of establishment: 1906
Background:
Khoday Eshwara started manufacturing of silk in 1906. his sons inherited his company and started a distillery and stationary divisions. They produced whiskey (Peter Scot, Red Knight), rum, beer, brandy. Khoday Distilleries, Khoday Engineering are part of Khoday Group. Khoday Stem Cell Research and Medical Centre was set up in 2011 with an investment of 150 million rupees. The company is run by the family.
Chairman: L. Ramachandra Koday
Revenue: Unknown
5) Kirloskar Group:
Name of the Founder: Laxmanrao Kirloskar
Headquarter: Pune
Year of establishment: 1911
Background:
Started by Laxmanrao Kirloskar and with the leadership of his son Shantanurao Laxmanrao Kirloskar the company grew to be the biggest producers of pumps and valves. It is known for exporting them to about 70 countries. Further, ventures were started in the production of oil engines, motors, electrical equipment etc. Toyota Kirloskar has Kirloskar as a minority owner producing cars for the Indian market. The various business is handled by the extended family successfully in India and outside too.
Chairman: Sanjay Kirloskar
Revenue :2,59,56,00,00,000.00 Indian Rupee
6) Murugappa :
Name of the Founder: A M Murugappa Chettiar
Headquarter: Chennai
Year of establishment: 1900
Background:
Priding itself with 28 businesses the founder had set up their first business of money lending and banking in Myanmar. They further stared their firms in steel tubes, insurance, cycles, sugar etc. The company is held by Murgappan family.
Chairman: M.M. Murugappan
Revenue :3,99,92,40,00,000.00 Indian Rupee
7) Godrej :
Name of the Founders: Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej
Headquarter: Mumbai
Year of establishment: 1897
Background: The duo Ardeshir and Pirojsha gave India many of its firsts like lock and lever technology, soaps made with vegetable oil, indigenous typewriter etc. It’s furniture products is still a hit and it has become a household name for its consumer products such as hair color and liquid detergents. It has its ventures in agriculture, chemicals, real estate, construction among many. The Godrej family owns and runs the Godrej Group. The company has built many landmarks in Mumbai such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, Taj International, Reserve Bank of India.
Chairman: Adi Godrej
Revenue:3,03,64,60,00,000.00 Indian Rupees
8) Shapoorji Pallonji
Name of the Founder: Pallonji Mistry
Headquarter: Mumbai
Year of establishment: 1865
Background:
Also known as SP Group and run within the founders family it has been part of many important constructions. It is also the producer of Mughal-e-Azam which had a budget of 1.5 crore rupees, the costliest movie in Bollywood at that time. It has firms is textile, appliances, power etc.