In the last seven decades, India has gone through tremendous changes in its entrepreneurship, innovation, and business landscape. Following its independence in 1947, India's share of the world's economy had declined to an historic low. Now, the country stands among the world's top economies and is considered a bright spot amid slowdown fears by many global institutions. This journey wouldn't have been possible without the contribution of prominent entrepreneurs and business personalities.

From the pioneering efforts of Tatas, Birlas, and Purushottamdas Thakurdas, who proposed the Bombay Plan, to the contemporary contributions of Bansal, Kamath brothers, and other young start-up founders shaping the country's new age economy, India has undoubtedly come a long way. On the occasion of India’s 76 years of Independence, we take a glimpse few leaders from India Inc who have played pivotal roles in shaping the nation, turning ideas into reality, and contributing significantly to the growth and development of India.

Pre-Independence Legacy


Before colonial rule, India had a long history of caste, region, language, and religion-based business communities. British Economist Angus Maddison estimated that India's share of world GDP was slightly less than a quarter between 1500 AD and 1700 AD. British colonisation disrupted traditional trading patterns and shifted economic power to the colonial masters.

Jayati Bhattacharya from the National University of Singapore in a 2019 essay writes that between the 1800s and 1900s local and foreign players emerged in Indian business, with traditional communities adapting their structures. The flourishing Indian business class emerged by the early 20th century, with names such as Birlas and Kirloskars becoming prominent. It was the same time when Jamsetji Tata, the founder of Tata Group and 'Father of Indian Industry', established his name in the textile business.

 


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Born in 1839 in Gujarat, Jamsetji Tata broke away from the family tradition of priesthood and embraced business. He ventured into the textile industry, aiming to challenge British dominance. Later, he founded the Empress Mills. Jamsetji Tata was a visionary entrepreneur known for his role in labor protection and introduction of advanced technologies.

 

He played a pivotal role in establishing India's first large-scale ironworks, which eventually became Tata Steel, three years after his death in 1904. Additionally, he planned and laid the foundation for hydroelectric power plants in the Bombay area, leading to the formation of Tata Power in 1906.

Business groups in Bombay became influential supporters of the Indian National Congress and the national movement against British rule. During the late 1930s, as the freedom movement reached its pinnacle, a wave of nationalism swept across the country. It was during this time that the Bombay Plan was formulated by prominent freedom fighters and esteemed figures from the business. Notable contributors to this 15-year economic plan included Purshotamdas Thakurdas, J R D Tata, G D Birla, Ardeshir Dalal, Shri Ram, Kasturbhai Lalbhai, A.D. Shroff, and John Mathai.


Also Read: Nuclear Tests, Aryabhata To Quantum: India's Top Science & Tech Achievements After Independence



Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (JRD Tata)



JRD Tata, born in Paris in 1904, was the son of RD Tata, a business partner and relative of Jamsetji Tata. He joined Tata Group as an unpaid apprentice in 1925 and, at a young age, found himself on the board of Tata Sons after his father's passing. In 1932, he piloted the first flight in Indian aviation history, which marked the beginning of Tata Aviation Service, the precursor to Tata Airlines and later Air India.


Image Source: Tata Group


JRD's leadership extended over five decades in the Tata group, guiding its expansion into diverse sectors, such as chemicals, automobiles, tea, and information technology. He promoted the idea of bringing in professionals to run the companies, making the Tata Group a federation of businesses with entrepreneurial talent at its core.


Arun Maira, a former Planning Commission member in a 2020 article for The Hindu Businessline writes, despite facing opposition from the British government, Tata established a steel factory in Jamshedpur. He also supported Sumant Moolgaokar in building an Indian company for designing and manufacturing commercial vehicles, which were exported to more than 50 countries, even before India's economic liberalisation in 1991.

 

JRD encouraged Darbari Seth to develop equipment in India when imports were not feasible, leading to the expansion of Tata Chemicals. He also backed Fakir Chand Kohli's dream of creating Tata Consultancy Services and supported Xerxes Desai in laying the foundation for Titan watches.

Ghanshyam Das Birla


Ghanshyam Das Birla, a Gandhian entrepreneur, played a significant role in shaping India's industrial growth. Born in Rajasthan in 1894, he established the Birla empire. G D Birla started his career as a small-time broker at a young age. Over time, he transformed the Birla business from trading to manufacturing and diversified into various industries.


 




Image Source: Aditya Birla Group



In 1919, GD Birla set up the first jute mill owned by Indians in Calcutta (now Kolkata), marking his entry into the manufacturing sector. He also established a cotton textile mill in Delhi in 1920. By the time of India's independence, the Birla Group had expanded into industries like aluminium, fertilisers, cement, heavy machinery, synthetic fibres, and electronics.


Beyond business, he actively participated in India's freedom struggle, working closely with Mahatma Gandhi. Birla House, where he lived, became a hub for freedom fighters during the independence movement. G D Birla co-founded the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), voicing the interests of Indian industry. An India Today article after his death in June 1983, described, Birla as “a yogi and a commissar, a man who believed in private enterprise but also drew up India's first national plan for development.”


Dhirubhai Ambani


Dhirubhai Ambani, born in 1932 in Gujarat, India, emerged from humble beginnings to become one of India's greatest entrepreneurs. He was the second son of a school teacher, born in the village of Chorwad in Gujarat. Due to family circumstances, he had to drop out of school early.  In 1949, at the age of 17, Dhirubhai went to Aden, Yemen in search of opportunity. He returned to India and founded Reliance Commercial Corporation in 1958. Over the years, he ventured into yarn trading and later set up a successful textile mill. 


 




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In 1977, Reliance went public with a successful IPO, attracting middle-class investors. Dhirubhai expanded into the petrochemical business with the establishment of Reliance Hazira and later commissioned the world's largest grassroots refinery in Jamnagar. By 2007, the Ambani family's combined fortune exceeded $60 billion. Dhirubhai Ambani's legacy lives on through Reliance Industries Limited, now a Fortune 500 company and one of India's largest private sector corporations. Dhirubhai Ambani passed away on July 6, 2002.


Rahul Bajaj


Rahul Bajaj was born on June 30, 1938, in Kolkata, in the family of Jamnalal Bajaj who founded the Bajaj Group in 1926 and his father Kamalnayan Bajaj succeeded him in 1942. Kamalnayan started Bajaj Auto and swiftly diversified into multiple sectors, such as cement, electrical appliances, and scooters, within a short span of three years. Rahul joined the family business and became Managing Director after his father's passing in 1972. 




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Under his leadership, Bajaj Auto saw significant growth, introducing popular models like Chetak and Bajaj Super. The company faced challenges in the early 2000s but recovered with the launch of the Bajaj Pulsar Motorcycle. Bajaj Auto's turnover reached from 7.2 crores to 12 thousand crores, and became the country's leading scooter and two-wheeler selling company. Rahul split Bajaj Auto into three units in 2008, and his sons now manage the company. 


Rama Prasad Goenka


Rama Prasad Goenka (RPG), known as a takeover tycoon, was a prominent industrialist who founded RPG Enterprises and built a thriving business empire. Born in 1930, RP Goenka was the eldest son of Keshav Prasad Goenka. He founded RPG Enterprises in 1979 after the split of his father's businesses between him and his two younger brothers.


 




Image Source: RP Sanjiv Goenka



He started with inherited companies and quickly expanded into various sectors, making a string of acquisitions throughout the 1980s. Through his business acumen, he negotiated several successful acquisitions, including CEAT, KEC, Searle India, HMV, Spencer's, Harrisons Malayalam, and CESC. However, some ventures faced challenges and were not profitable. Nonetheless, he continued to pursue growth opportunities and played a crucial role in the growth of Kolkata's Marwari industrialists. Goenka's appetite for risk, especially in leveraged buyouts, set him apart from his contemporaries. His legacy continues through the two groups - RPG Enterprises and RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which have diversified interests and significant real estate assets.


Ravindra Chandra Bhargava


Ravindra Chandra Bhargava (R C Bhargava), born on July 30, 1934, is the current chairman of Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automobile manufacturer. He initially served as an Indian Administrative Service officer for twenty-five years before joining Maruti in 1981. He joined Maruti Udyog, a government enterprise, as its marketing director around the time of its incorporation in 1981 and played a key role in shaping the company's trajectory. His tenure saw significant milestones for Maruti, including Suzuki's acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in the company in 1992, making it a joint venture between Suzuki and the government.




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After retiring as Managing Director in 1997, he was invited back as the Chairman in 2007, showing his continued commitment to the company's growth and success. Bhargava's pragmatic and pleasant approach earned him Suzuki's trust and respect long after his tenure as Managing Director.


Yusuf Hamied


Yusuf Hamied, chairman of Cipla, has played a significant role in revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry in India. Born on July 25, 1936, in Vilnius, Lithuania, he is the son of an aristocratic Muslim scientist, Khwaja Abdul Hamied, and a Jewish Communist, Luba Derczanska.




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After completing his education at Cambridge University, where he obtained honors and a PhD and joined Cipla in 1960. Yusuf Hamied's efforts were pivotal in changing India's patent law in 1972, allowing the production of medicines even if they were under international patents, as long as the manufacturing process differed. This step paved the way for India to become the world's largest manufacturer of generic drugs. One of his most notable achievements was in the late 1990s when he synthesised three anti-retroviral drugs into a single-dose therapy for HIV/AIDS treatment, making it more effective and affordable.  


The Hindujas Brothers


Founded in 1914 by Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja in the Sindh region of Pakistan, the family firm quickly expanded its ventures with the involvement of his four sons - Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok - both in India and abroad. Presently, most of the Hinduja family resides in the UK, leaving the management of their six listed companies in India to professionals.




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The Hindujas are known for their opulent lifestyle and are neighbors of Queen Elizabeth in London, residing at Carlton House Terrace. As Britain's wealthiest individuals, they have diverse investments, including stakes in Ashok Leyland and IndusInd Bank. Currently, there's an ongoing legal battle within the family over control of the $18-billion business group, as some members advocate for a motto of shared ownership, while others seek individual control.


Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy (NR Narayana Murthy)


NR Narayana Murthy, often called the father of India's IT sector, co-founded Infosys in 1981 with six other engineers. Starting with a small capital loaned by his wife, the company's first client was based in New York. Under Murthy's leadership, Infosys pioneered the Global Delivery Model for software development, propelling India to become the world's software back-office. 




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The company's growth soared after economic liberalization in the 1990s, listing in Indian and US stock exchanges. Murthy received the Padma Vibhushan Award in 2008 for his contributions. He retired as executive chairman in 2014 but remains a minority shareholder.


Azim Hashim Premji


Azim Hashim Premji, born on July 24, 1945, in Mumbai, leads Wipro Ltd, a multinational IT Consulting and System Integration services company. Taking over the company in 1966, Premji led Wipro's expansion and diversification into the software industry, making it one of India's largest publicly traded companies.




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After his father's death, Premji returned to India from Stanford University to take control of his father's business. He diversified Wipro's portfolio and entered the computer business in the late 1970s. Under his leadership, Wipro became successful in computer hardware and software markets, exporting custom software to the US. Premji's achievements include transforming Wipro into one of the world's largest IT services firms, with a market capitalisation of approximately $35 billion. He is also known for his philanthropic work and founded the Azim Premji Foundation in 2001.


Also Read: Independence Day 2023: Reforms To Post-Covid Recovery — Indian Economy Milestones Since 1947


India has witnessed a transformation in its industrial policy from 1947's Nehruvian socialism, the 'Licence Raj' to a market-oriented liberal economy in the 1990s. These businessmen and many like them have been through it all to make India Inc stand at the position it is now. People like Anand Mahindra, Adi Godrej, Laxmi Mittal, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Gautam Adani, Sunil Mittal, Uday Kotak, Nandan Nilekani, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Shiv Nadar, Baba Kalyani, and others have significantly contributed to the country's growth in different sectors.  


In today's dynamic age of start-ups, venture capitalism, and the IT boom, visionary founders like Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ritesh Agarwal, Bhavish Aggarwal, Byju Raveendran, Kunal Shah, Deepinder Goyal, Radhika Ghai Aggarwal, Sanjay Sethi, Ankiti Bose, Varun Khaitan, Falguni Nayar, Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, and many others are leaving an indelible mark on the entrepreneurial landscape.