Founded in 1900, the INR 547 Billion Murugappa Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates. The Group has 29 businesses including ten listed Companies traded in NSE & BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major Companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd., Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd., Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd., Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd., Coromandel International Ltd., Coromandel Engineering Company Ltd., E.I.D. Parry (India) Ltd., Parry Agro Industries Ltd., Shanthi Gears Ltd., Tube Investments of India Ltd. and Wendt (India) Ltd. The Group holds leadership position in several product lines including Abrasives, Technical Ceramics, Electro Minerals, Auto Components & Systems, Bicycles, Fertilisers, Sugar, Tea and Spirulina (Nutraceuticals). The Group has forged strong alliances with leading international companies such as Groupe Chimique Tunisien, Foskor, Mitsui Sumitomo, Morgan Advanced Materials, Yanmar & Co. and Compagnie Des Phosphat De Gafsa (CPG). The Group has a wide geographical presence all over India and spanning 6 continents. Renowned brands like BSA, Hercules, Montra, Mach City, Ballmaster, Ajax, Parry’s, Chola, Gromor, Shanthi Gears and Paramfos are from the Murugappa stable. The Group fosters an environment of professionalism and has a workforce of over 53,000 employees.
The Group traces its origins to 1898, when Dewan Bahadur A M Murugappa Chettiar went as an apprentice to Burma (now Myanmar). Quick to learn financial skills and Burmese, he realized he was destined to greater achievements; he founded a firm in Moulmein, a large port-city in Lower Burma. This grew into a prosperous family-owned business, with interests in Banking, Rubber and Trade, covering Malaya (Malaysia), Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia and Vietnam. The outbreak of the World War II and subsequent political upheavals in the region cut short the firm’s growth. While a good portion of its hard earned fortunes were lost, the family had the foresight to move significant assets to India; this financial prudence ensured that the business would rebound after the disaster. And rebound it did.