What comes to mind when asked about which is the oldest running business group in India? Perhaps the prestigious?Tata group or the Godrej group are likely to come to mind, right? If yes, then you are wrong. The?oldest?running business group in India dates back to 1736.
The oldest running company in India is the Wadia Group, whose origins are traceable to the year 1736,?with its subsidiary, The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, established in 1863, being the oldest publicly traded company in India.
Wadia Group has a presence in several diversified industries, including FMCG, real estate, textiles, chemicals, and food processing. The Wadia group has roots in shipbuilding, which date back to 1736. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as shipbuilders serving the British East India Company as the latter established its sway over India. The company went on to build 355 ships, including the first ships for the British navy outside England.?
As per Wadia Group's website, these are the companies under the business group:
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Britannia
Bombay Realty
Wadia Techno-Engineering Services
Bombay Burmah
National Peroxide
Dental Products
Medical Microtechnology
Instruments Orthopaedics
Also Read:?List Of?Tata Group?Chairmen
The Wadia group was?founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736. Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia was born in 1702 and was a Parsi from the Surat province of Gujarat. The Bombay dry-dock, the first dry-dock in Asia, was built by Lovji and his brother Sorabji in 1750.
Lovji is considered the founder of the shipping and shipbuilding industry in Bombay.?
In around 1760, the first Atash Adaran in India was established in Siganpur, near Surat, by Lovji Wadia. His descendants are the Wadia family: Neville Wadia, Nusli Wadia, Ness Wadia, and Jehangir Wadia. His great-grandsons, JBH Wadia and Homi Wadia, founded Wadia Movietone in 1933, which had its studios at Lovji Castle (Lovejee Castle) in Chembur, Mumbai. The company even had its logo as a ship, honouring their family legacy.
With a $4 billion net worth at present,?79-year-old Nusli Wadia currently heads the Wadia Group as its chairman. He is the grandson of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Wadia is often referred to as a corporate samurai by the Indian press for waging numerous legal battles.?
One notable battle was against the Tata Group and his former pal Ratan Tata, who got him ousted from the boards of three Tata firms in December 2016, as per a Forbes report.
Also Read;?Inside The World's?Oldest?Surviving Bank That Has Been Running?Since 1472
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