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Søren Kristian Toubro (27 February 1906 – 4 March 1982) was a Danish engineer who co-founded the engineering firm
Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Limited, abbreviated as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate, with interests in industrial technology, heavy industry, engineering, construction, manufacturing, power, information technology, defence and financial se ...
, an India-based conglomerate.


Early days in India

Toubro began his career as a
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
. As an employee of F. L. Smidth & Co. of Copenhagen, he came to India in 1934 to erect and commission the equipment supplied to the
Madukkarai Madukkarai is a suburb of Coimbatore, Coimbatore city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the gateway to Coimbatore, Coimbatore city from Kerala State and is located around 12 km from the Kerala borde ...
Cement Works (near
Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...
) and the
Rohri Rohri ( Sindhi: روهڙي; ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative headqu ...
Cement Factory (near the
Sukkur Barrage Sukkur Barrage (, ) is a Barrage (dam), barrage on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The barrage was built during the British Raj from 1923 to 1932 and was named Lloyd Barrage. It is considered to be the l ...
in
Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...
). Sometime after landing in India, he read a report in ''
The Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English language, English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845–1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National ...
'' that quoted
Mohandas K. Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...
as saying: "(I am) not leading a movement to rid India of its white colonial masters in order to substitute them with brown ones." Toubro felt that such an India would "offer great opportunities to anyone with modern technological and management skills."


Larsen & Toubro

In 1938, Toubro partnered with his former schoolmate
Henning Holck-Larsen Henning Holck-Larsen (4 July 1907 – 27 July 2003) was a Danish engineer who co-founded the Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) along with Søren Kristian Toubro (27 February 1906 – 4 March 1982). Early life and career Holck-La ...
, a chemical engineer and a fellow F.L.Smidth's employee, to establish
Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Limited, abbreviated as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate, with interests in industrial technology, heavy industry, engineering, construction, manufacturing, power, information technology, defence and financial se ...
. The idea of L&T was conceived during a holiday in
Matheran Matheran is a partially automobile free hill station and a municipal council in the Karjat, Karjat taluka of the Raigad district located in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Matheran is part of the Mumbai Metropo ...
, a hill station near Mumbai. Holck-Larsen was a risk-taker while Toubro was more conservative. Larsen & Toubro saw opportunities in India at a time, when few Europeans had realised the country's potential for industrial growth. The first office of L&T, located in Mumbai, was so small that only one of them could use it a time. Initially, L&T represented Danish
dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...
equipment manufacturers. However, the Danish imports were restricted during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, forcing L&T to start a small workshop that provided servicing and undertook small jobs. The imports stopped after the
German invasion of Denmark German invasion of Denmark may refer to: *German invasion during the First Schleswig War (1848–1852) *German invasion during the Second Schleswig War (1864) *German invasion of Denmark (1940) The German invasion of Denmark (), was the German ...
, forcing L&T to start manufacturing dairy equipment indigenously, a move that was successful. Seeing opportunity in ship repair during wartime, Larsen and Toubro formed a new company called Hilda Ltd. Around this time, L&T also started two repair and fabrication shops. The internment of German engineers who were supposed to build a
soda ash Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda, soda ash, sal soda, and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water ...
plant for the
Tatas The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 ...
provided L&T another new opportunity. In 1944, Larsen and Toubro established Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC). L&T started collaborating with international companies around this time. In 1945, L&T signed an agreement with the
Caterpillar Tractor Company Caterpillar Inc., also known as Cat, is an American construction, mining and other engineering equipment manufacturer. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 73 on the ' ...
of the United States for marketing earthmoving equipment. L&T also started representing British manufacturers of equipment used to manufacture a variety of products including biscuits, glass, hydrogenated oils and soaps. At the end of World War II, the war-surplus Caterpillar equipment were available in bulk at low prices. However, L&T lacked the money to purchase them. Therefore, Larsen and Toubro decided to raise additional
equity capital In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be subject to debts or other liabilities. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned. For example, if someone owns a ...
, and as a result, Larsen & Toubro Private Limited was established on 7 February 1946. After India gained independence in 1947, L&T set up offices in Calcutta,
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
, and New Delhi. In 1948, L&T acquired of undeveloped land in the
Powai Powai (Pronunciation: əʋəiː is a residential suburb located in central Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is situated on the banks of Powai Lake, and is bound by the hills of Vikhroli Parksite to the south-east, Chandivali to the south-west ...
suburb of Mumbai. Larsen and Toubro gradually transformed L&T into a large business house with diverse interests. A 2006 article in ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' described Toubro as follows: Soren K. Toubro served as the director of L&T from 1946 to 1981, and retired from active management in 1962–63. He continued to serve on the L&T and ECC board of directors till 1981.


Last years

After spending nearly five decades in India, Toubro retired to Denmark in 1981, and died there the following year. Toubro had a large house and estate in
Kodaikanal Kodaikanal () (English: ) is a municipality and hill station in Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated at an altitude of in the Palani hills of the Western Ghats. Kodaikanal was established in 1845 to serve as a r ...
, where his wife spent her last days. The Toubro Training Centre, located in the
Manapakkam Manapakkam is a neighborhood in Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A census town, Manapakkam is located along the Mount-Poonamallee Road in Chennai. It is now a home to many Core sector companies, like ABB, Hitachi Energy, DLF Cyberc ...
campus of L&T's ECC division, is named after him. The Toubro Construction Technology Centre, is also named after him, and was inaugurated by his son Ole K. Toubro in 2006.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toubro, Soren Kristian 20th-century Danish businesspeople Danish expatriates in India Businesspeople from Mumbai Larsen & Toubro 1906 births 1982 deaths