Bhalchandra Digamber Garware (21 December 1903 - 2 November 1990) also known as Abasaheb Garware was an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n pioneering

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

from the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He was the Founding Chairman of the Garware Group of Industries. He was also appointed as the

Sheriff of Bombay The Sheriff of Bombay is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Bombay. The sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the or ...

from 1959 to 1960. For his overall contribution in Business and Industries he was awarded

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

in 1971.

Early life

Abasaheb Garware was born in Tasgaon in Satara district of Bombay Presidency on 21 December 1903. He faced

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

since his father wasted away all the family wealth and incurred large amount of

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

s. Due to the financial position at home he was forced to leave

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

after passing the then 6th Standard High School exam.

Struggle and rise in second-hand car market

After initial struggle in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

he started an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

business for his livelihood which made some decent earnings for him. During this time since he was in automobile business he got an idea of the potential for a

second-hand Used goods, also known as secondhand goods, are any item of personal property that have been previously owned by someone else and are offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender. Used goods may ...

car market. He then started working as an agent for selling second-hand cars. Eventually with his

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entrepreneu ...

and hard work he established his "Deccan Motor Agency" in

Girgaon Girgaon, or Girgaum, is an area in southern Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. It is near the coast. A section of Marine Drive, Mumbai, Marine Drive is located here. History Girgaon has a deep-rooted connection with the celebration of Ganesh Cha ...

, in south Mumbai (then Bombay) and earned repute as a reliable dealer in cars. He also got into the business of selling spares, accessories,

tyres A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

, etc. In 1933, Abasaheb decided to go to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

since second-hand cars were cheap in England then. In

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

he not only dealt with second hand cars but he also purchased firms from businessmen taking advantage of recession. This move brought him good profits. His move of buying cars in England helped him to get a good grip on the second-hand car business.

Entry into plastic industry

He showed his business acumen once again when he entered the

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

Industry. He identified Plastic Industry as an upcoming industry and hence he entered it. He started manufacturing Plastic buttons for the Navy during the 2nd World War. Eventually he got into a number of ventures related to Plastic industry like

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

Yarn, Nylon Bristles,

fishing net A fishing net or fish net is a net (device), net used for fishing. Fishing nets work by serving as an improvised fish trap, and some are indeed rigged as traps (e.g. #Fyke nets, fyke nets). They are usually wide open when deployed (e.g. by cast ...

Polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

Films, Synthetic

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

s, Plastic

injection molding Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...

and

blow molding Blow molding (or moulding) is a manufacturing process for forming hollow plastic parts. It is also used for forming glass bottles or other hollow shapes. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection ...

, etc. He had a good success due to his keenness of quality.

Contributions to social cause

Abasaheb was an entrepreneur who put into practice

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 ...

ji’s precepts of trusteeship for the good of workers. He attributed his success to his team. He decided to pay back his earnings to Society to distribute his profit towards social causes like

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

, education etc. He also made numerous donations for

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, gymnasia, etc. Annual Scholarships and awards were also instituted by him to promote academic excellence among students. He founded about seventy five Trusts for pursuing various charitable objectives. His contributions in the field of education has also been invaluable. Due to his efforts a number of Educational Institutions were set up such as the

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

’s Garware Institute of Career Education and Development and Smt. Mathubai Garware College for women at

Sangli Sangli (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Sāṁgalī''; ) is a metropolitan town and the headquarters of Sangli District in Maharashtra, in south-western India. It has earned the nickname "Turmeric City of India" for being the hub of the Asia's largest produ ...

. His charitable donations to the Maharashtra Education Society, Pune led to that organization renaming its colleges and a school as the Abasaheb Garware College, the Abasaheb Garware college of Commerce and Smt. Vimlabai Garware High school respectively.

Awards and honours

He was appointed as

Sheriff of Mumbai The Sheriff of Bombay is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Bombay. The sheriff is an officer of the High Court and the nominal Head of the High Court Department which carries out the or ...

in 1959. He was also chosen to lead institutions like the

State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...

, Maharashtra State Financial Corporation and many delegations to foreign countries. The Government of India bestowed on him the

award in 1971. He was also awarded the Udyog Ratna by the Institute of Economic Studies in 1989. He received an honorary D. Litt. Degree from the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

in 1989. The Department of Posts of India honored Abasaheb Garware with a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

in 2004.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garware, Abasaheb 1903 births 1990 deaths Businesspeople from Maharashtra People from Sangli district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Sheriffs of Mumbai